Page 17 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
I stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging. “It is.” And now I felt awkward because I invited this guy I barely knew to an event three months away when we didn’t even know if we got along well or not. Lovely.
The awkwardness continued, but after a minute or two, Miles asked, “Do you know anything about firebirds?”
That was so random, but I went with the flow. “Um, probably the same as everyone. They’re rare, catch things on fire sometimes with their wings, and their feathers bring good luck.”
He tensed.
“What?”
He shook his head.
Still eyeing him, I said, “I know that they’re hunted for their feathers because people are stupid and gross and so damn selfish. They kill them and pluck their feathers, or I’ve heard of people catching the birds and plucking their feathers before releasing them, as if they’re so much better for not killing the poor things. But you know, torturing them is fine.” I sounded hella sarcastic.
“You don’t think it’s okay to kill them or hurt them for their feathers?”
I held in a sigh because what did I expect? Miles thought I was a faerie murderer. Of course he’d think I was the type of person who’d hunt firebirds for their feathers. “No, Miles, of course I don’t think that’s okay. I know… I know you think I’m a horrible person for working for Faerie Be Gone, but I don’t actually like killing faeries. If I had another option, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
That made him glance at me. “Why in the world wouldn’t you have another option? You could get a job anywhere else.”
Yeah, I wish.“They were the only place that would hire me after…” I cringed, not wanting to tell him.
“After what?”
With a sigh, I resigned myself to my fate. As soon as he found out, he was going to treat me differently, possibly be afraid of me, and never want to speak to me again. Hopefully, he wouldn’t kick me out of the car and leave me stranded on the sidewalk—it’d happened before, so I wouldn’t even be surprised. I braced myself before quietly saying, “After I got out of prison.”
The car swerved, but he jerked it back to rights quickly, muttering, “Shit. Sorry. I… sorry. I was just surprised.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear the rumors from old classmates.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t speak to anyone from high school, so I don’t know who I’d hear the rumors from.” He paused. “What, uh, are the rumors?”
I winced. “The rumors are way worse than what actually happened.”
“What actually happened?” He sucked in a breath. “Shit. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to—shit. I… you… fuck… you don’t have to answer that, Winter. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—shit. Sorry.”
For some reason, his fumbling made me laugh, and after a few seconds, he joined in. When I finally calmed, I said, “I don’t mind telling you. I’m not proud of what I did, but I also already served my time and paid the price for it. It’s not a secret.” It was public record, after all.
“Okay.” He didn’t sound scared of me or even judgmental. Maybe he was hiding it well, but I didn’t think so. His lack of an attitude gave me the courage to continue.
Glancing away from him, I stared out the window and told him my worst not-so-secret secret. “My college boyfriend and I broke into this huge house near campus. I went away for college, not sure if you know that or not. Anyway, we broke in, stole some jewelry, and were caught when we tried selling it.” I let out a humorless laugh. “The one and only time I ever stole anything, and I got caught. And because the owner was a rich white lady, we got hit pretty hard with the sentence. I got ten years, but was out for good behavior in eighteen months.”
He was quiet for a long moment before he reached over and gave my hand a squeeze, stopping me from picking at my pants. I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. He cleared his throat and said, “Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn’t easy.”
I sent him a small smile and shrugged. “Unfortunately, I’ve had to get good at telling the story.”
“I bet. But still, thanks.” He squeezed my hand one more time before releasing me and regripping the steering wheel. The fact that he’d reached out to me like that was huge and made my belly flutter with butterflies. “I can’t believe they didn’t let you off with a fine for a first-time offense.”
I cleared my throat, ignoring the fluttering of butterflies. “Like I said, she was a super-rich lady, and I’m not exactly in the same class as her. My family has always struggled financially. The only reason I went to college was because I had a full scholarship. We couldn’t afford a good attorney, so I had one assigned to me. He didn’t give a shit what happened to me and obviously did a terrible job.”
“Did your boyfriend get out after eighteen months too?”
I shook my head. “He only served a year. But he’s not my boyfriend anymore. I broke up with him before we even went to sell the jewelry and everything went down. I was… pissed that he convinced me to rob someone in the first place. It was my fault, obviously. I should never have done it, I should’ve stuck to my gut, my morals, but I didn’t like the person I was when I was with him. We had a huge fight”—that was putting it mildly—“and broke up, and when things went down, I just… I guess I never really forgave him.”
“Why did you do it? If you don’t mind me asking?”
With a sigh, I went back to messing with the knee of my pants. “Ricky lost his scholarship because he failed one of his classes, and he needed the money to stay in school. I was infatuated with him, and clearly, he wasn’t a good influence. But I was a stupid kid who only thought with his dick, so you know.” I winced. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”
To my surprise, Miles started cracking up.
