Page 23 of Raw & Vulnerable

He snorts, paying for her beer before pulling her along outside to his ride. His hand is warm, gentle around hers as he leads the way. “As the princess wishes.”

She feels a shiver run through her as she gets in his truck. A whisper of fear, echoing in her ear.

Minnie tells herself to stop thinking he’s going to harm her. He’d feel awful, knowing she has these fears about him, jumping around under her skin. When the car turns on, the radio is blasting the loudest heavy metal she’s ever heard, causing her to jump, her eyes widening. Fast as a serpent, Gage turns the radio off, looking sheepish.

She gives him a look, slowly leaning over to turn it back on, though with lowered volume. It bothers her that he does little things like this, trying to hide who he is. Not because he’s secretive, no, it’s more because he’s worried that she’s judging him over everything. “Driver picks the music. That’s how it rolls in my family.”

When they finally grab their chosen fast food, they drive off towards his place, the food sitting in her lap. Minnie’s stomach is growling, so she sneaks some fries out of the bag while he cruises through a few alleys and back roads, through a part of town she never goes.

The fingers of her right hand rest close to the door handle, as if ready to dart out at any time. Her heart is fluttering under her skin, even though she’s inwardly telling herself that her fears of riding in a car with this man are unfounded. Mostly.

Watching the landscape helps very little, but chewing on hot fries distracts her slightly.

The houses are very old, with lawns a little untamed and multiple cars strewn across the grass. Junk and things piled up on the sides of the run-down homes. She imagines some property owners have a blast renting out multiple rooms in these places, like a college town would, each inhabitant paying a decent sum to exist there.

It makes her feel like she’s going to get mugged stepping out of the car. The neighborhood she grew up in would have thrown a homeowner in HOA prison for letting their property look like this.

They pull up to a decently sized two-story place, the front porch looking like its seen better days. The lights are on and music is blasting, so loud that it can be heard out on the cracked driveway. Minnie sucks on her soda, glancing at Gage, seeing apprehension in the lines of his body. “I can see why you don’t want to study here.”

He makes a little noise between his teeth. “Yeah. Just. Don’t run out screamin’, okay?”

She’ll try not to.

She’s already thinking of the front door and contemplating how well it locks.

The door doesn’t look very strong.

Chapter 10

Minnie expects that the place will look like a bunch of single men live in it. She’s not disappointed.

Beer cans are on the floor, empty pizza boxes on dirty coffee tables, loud music echoing off the walls. She’s pretty sure she can see the edge of a nude poster poking around the corner. Looking up at her host, Minnie comments lightly, “This is very charming.”

She sucks on her straw loudly. She has plenty of other thoughts on the matter, but she’ll keep those to herself.

“Aren’t you a jokester?” Gage rolls his eyes. Sarcasm is vibrant in his tone. “Clearly our maid hasn’t been by today.”

“Or ever,” Minnie smiles lightly, waiting for him to show her where they are going to go coop themselves up.

The music turns down. “Gage? What the hell, man, you’re back already-”

A scrawny guy with reddish blonde hair comes around the corner, a cigarette dangling between tattooed fingers that read F-U-C-K. Minnie also sees a tattoo of some creepy grey-faced monster on his skinny wrist. A vampire, perhaps. A zombie?

He pauses upon entering the room, narrow face twisting oddly when he sees Minnie. His pale eyes rove up and down her body. “Ho-lee-shiiiit. I knew you always had champagne tastes, but how did you buy this with your beer money?”

Minnie studiously ignores him, pretending he’s not worth her notice. He makes her uneasy; there’s something unpleasant in his pale gaze. A mix of envy and intense dislike, a bad combination. Not only that, but his voice…it sets her teeth on edge. She can’t pinpoint why.

Gage doesn’t seem overly fond of him either. “Nobody asked you anythin’.” Gage turns to Minnie. “Come on. I’ll take you upstairs.”

His housemate comes a bit closer, dragging off his cigarette deeply, blowing it at Minnie’s averted face. “Not so fast. It’s rude not to say ‘hello’. Thought an uptown girl like you knew that.”

Her jaw works a bit, refusing to cough from the smoke. She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he’s getting to her. “I’m Minnie.” She doesn’t think he wants to shake her hand. That’s fine, she doesn’t want to shake his. He’s got an air about him, a certain hostility about her being from uptown. He clearly thinks she’s a stuck-up priss. He’s not entirely wrong.

“Minnie?” He coughs on his own smoke, hiding a nasty laugh. “What sort of yuppie name is that?”

He takes another step closer to her and Gage swats lightly at his face, catching him in the nose. The scrawny ginger jerks back, groaning in pain, hand to his nose as he hisses, “Fuck man, what the fuck? I wasn’t going to touch her.”

Unrepentant, Gage tugs Minnie towards the rickety looking stairs, leading her upwards. “Don’t bother us, Red,” he calls down. “We’re busy.”

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