Page 73 of Show Me How
“How is it that I know who you are, but you don’t know me? Shade’s a fucking blabbermouth.”
I frown, brows stitching together. The man shakes his head and reaches up to pull the heavy black hat from his head. The buzzed head isn’t as surprising as the tattoos that are revealed now that there’s no shadow to hide them.
Jaw to throat and down beneath the collar of his dirty button-up, he’s covered in black ink. I scroll my eyes over him, trying to make sense of the number of them, but I’m not able to. There are too many to look at.
The curl of his lips tries to pass as a smile, but it’s too cruel. I avoid looking at it when he sets the hat back on and continues toward me. I shuffle closer to the brick wall, and he watches me move, his nostrils flaring. I get smacked with a wave of guilt when he passes me slowly, eyes on the ground.
“Not gonna touch you, Millie,” he mutters roughly.
My eyes burn at the pain in his tone. It’s familiar in a way that strikes me deep, ripping open my chest. I twist, facing his back.
“I’m sorry. It’s not often that I have to share a dark alley with a man I don’t know,” I ramble.
The man stalls, the heels of his black boots scuffing the pavement. “My name’s Rowe.”
“Rowe,” I repeat on a loose exhale. “Shade’s friend.”
“So he has spoken about me.”
“A few times. I just?—”
“Never saw me before. Yeah, kitten. Got it. Don’t blame you for scurrying away.”
“I’m sorry,” I push out quickly.
His throat bobs before he leaves that sharp gaze on me for a beat longer. Once he looks away, he moves, abandoning this interaction in the rearview.
I’d be lying if I said having him leave doesn’t allow me the space to catch my breath. The cool wind blows over me, calmingthe fear that had clung to me like a second skin. Guilt comes next, punishing me for judging someone the way others have judged me. One look and I was labelled as something I never wanted to be.
Is that how Rowe feels too?
“Millie?”
Shade’s voice soothes me, pulling me from my head. I turn to the door, where he’s watching me, holding it open. My smile is genuine as I go to him and slip inside.
“So, that’s Rowe,” I say.
“You saw him?”
I let him touch my back and guide me up the stairs to his apartment. “Yeah. We ran into each other as he was leaving.”
“Are you okay?” he asks, stroking my spine.
“I was cruel to him.”
His touch stutters. “You?”
“Don’t make it sound so hard to believe.”
“It is hard to believe.”
I glance at him over my shoulder once we reach the open apartment door. Stepping through the doorway, I slip out of my heels.
“He scared me,” I admit.
“He scares everyone, Millie. Being fearful doesn’t make you a cruel person.”
“It was more than that. I judged him without even hearing him speak.”
