84
Lucy
David offered me the last pastry as he finished sipping his coffee. Even though I ate it, my stomach grumbled. He chuckled.
“Hungry?”
My face heated. “I’m okay.”
He said nothing for a moment before cupping my face and turning me gently to meet his gaze. His eyes narrowed a bit as he seemed to stare right into me. I felt my heart speeding up as I looked up at him.
“You know… it’s okay to say that you need things,” David said gently. His gaze softened. “It’s perfectly okay to ask for them too.”
I swallowed. My eyes burned as he smiled gently and tapped my chin.
“I was going to get something eat. You’re welcome to join me, if you want, or I can walk you back to the campus. Whichever would make you happy.”
My heart trembled and while I was still shaken by the attack. My body still hurt; I didn’t want to head back just yet. David was… familiar in a way that I hadn’t realized that I needed.
“Dinner… sounds great.”
His eyes brightened. “How do you feel about pizza?”
I frowned and tilted my head. “What’s… pizza?”
His jaw dropped. His eyes turned sad then he shook his head and offered me his hand.
“Some of the best food in the world. Come on. I know just the place.”
I looked at his hand. Part of me felt hesitant. There were was so much we weren’t talking about that we should talk about, or maybe I just felt like we should, but I took his hand and let him help me up from my seat. He threw everything away and opened the door for me, ushering me ahead of him. For a moment, I thought back to that moment when Tony had growled at me about walking ahead of him.
“Do you want to walk or ride?” David asked. “I… suspect you’re wary about getting into a car with me, but we can take the bus, if you want.”
I blinked at him. “The bus. I’ve… never taken it before.”
He laced our fingers together and gestured ahead of him. “Then, there’s no time like the present. Hecate’s home city is a commuter city no matter how you look at it.”
We walked side by side. He didn’t let go of my hand as he led me through the crowds of people, but I didn’t really want him to let go either. This felt… normal and right.
“Do you live nearby?”
“No, I actually live in a different city. I’m just here for school.”
I winced. “That has to be tiring going back and forth all the time.”
He chuckled as we reached a bus stop and he tapped something to a circle on the machine. He typed on the screen for a little while.
“It’s not even an hour drive away, and if I’m too tired to head home, I have a place here.” He paused as the machine spat out a card. He pulled it out and took his receipt before handing it to me. “This is your bus card. I put a hundred dollars on it.”
My jaw dropped. “Tha-That’s a lot.”
He smiled. “I think you’re going to have quite the social calendar soon enough. Besides, better to have too much on your bus card than not enough in a pinch. You can refill it with cash on the bus when you need it, or get to a dispenser and use a card.”
I shook my head, holding the card out to him. “I can’t take that kind of money from you. You’ll need it for your own bus card.”
His eyes grew soft again as he pressed my hand back towards me.
“I know it seems like a lot, but when I think about everything I should have done for you… from the moment I saw you again in that house, it’s nothing…. It’s not enough.”
I dropped my gaze. My stomach turned.
“Consider it… one small part of a very large apology in the making,” he said. “For the Council. For them. For it all. You’re still a ward… For all intents and purposes, it’s my duty.”
I frowned and looked up at him. “Your duty?”
He nodded and grinned. “As you are displaced, a refugee in some ways, and a whole host of other legal terms in the Council’s books, my duty as a leader of one of the main three packs is to ensure your care. So, take it, Future Officer.”
He winked. “Pay me back by getting me out of some parking tickets in the future, if you must.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’d get fired!”
“Doubtful.”
I smiled up at him. “Thank you, David… Really.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
The bus pulled up and we got on. I tapped my card where David showed me and shuffled toward the back where the last seat was. He ushered me into the seat and stood nearby, grabbing the handrail. I looked around at the other people on the bus as it started to move. I couldn’t say if any of them were supernaturals, but they were all very different.
“It’s… so different,” I said. “From back home. Bigger.”
He hummed. “Bigger in a bad way?”
I shook my head. “I would have liked to be able to ride a bus to work.”
He frowned. “Work?”
I winced and nodded. “One of the jobs I had was on the other side of town.”
I glanced up at him. His eyes said he wanted to ask for more, but he must have changed his mind.
“Are you looking for work in the city while you’re in school?”
“Not exactly.” I tilted my head as I looked down at the card in my hands. “The woman that’s taken me in has said that I’m welcome to work for her if I want as soon as I get my GED.”
“Is it something you want to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose I’ll have to see. I don’t know how training works for becoming an officer, if I can have another job while I’m in training or now, but I’ll deal with that later.”
“She’s taking good care of you,” he said softly. “I can tell. You’ve grown a bit since the last time I saw you.”
I blinked. “Really?”
He grinned. “Maybe half an inch.”
I scowled at him. “Not everyone can be gigantic…”
He smiled. “I remember when you used to be taller than me.”
I smiled, thinking back. It hadn’t been by much, but I had been taller than him when we were kids. Now, he towered over me by at least half a foot.
“Things… were easier then.”
His lips twitched. “I think they can be that easy again… if you let them be.”
We got off the bus and got onto the train. I didn’t know how far we’d gone from where we were, but I texted Stacy and Tina that I was going to get pizza with David. When we arrived, I texted them the name of the place.
“Cursed Slices?” I asked.
He grinned. “I know, but don’t judge it by its cover.”
He opened the door for me and ushered me inside. The hostess led us to a booth nearby, smiled, and asked for our drink orders. I hadn’t even had a chance to look at the menu.
“What’s the drink of the week?” David asked.
“Crescent Brew,” she said and wiggled her eyebrows. “Perfect for couples and friends.”
David grinned and me. “What do you think? Care for an adventure?”
“Uh… What’s in it?”
He grinned. “Probably ice cream and something diabolically good.”
I looked at the waiter as she beamed at me. “Have a bit of fun, hm?”
“Well, all right?” I said. “I’m… not twenty-one though.”
She pat my shoulder. “I could tell. We don’t serve alcohol here.”
She skipped away and I looked back at the menu then to David.
“You come here often?”
“I never pass up a chance to try their drink of the week,” David said, scanning the menu. “It’s always good, and I never have to worry about someone mixing alcohol in my drink.”
I frowned. “Is that… something you have to worry about?”
His lips twitched. “More a preference.”
“You don’t… drink?”
“Well, legally, I’m not old enough on this side of the world,” David smiled. “And I… don’t have fond memories of alcohol.”
I frowned at the tone of his voice as he hummed. “Do you… want to talk about it?”
David looked at me. His eyes widened as our gazes met. His lips twitched. “Maybe over a steaming, crispy slice of something delicious if you still want to know. No one should talk about depressing things without good food around. Do you need more time?”
I glanced down. “I don’t know what most of this is.”
“Should we have a bit of everything?” David asked.
“Sure?” I asked.
“Great!”
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