"But Derek... I can't just stay here."
He yanked on the pants he must have been looking for and grabbed a brush, pulling it through his hair.
"I wasn't supposed to fall asleep," he said. "I wasn't supposed to stay asleep."
"Derek, I live too far away to walk home, shower, get ready for work and still get there on time. It'll take me probably an hour and a half just to walk home from your house, and if Alex finds out I didn't come home last night he might tell me to find my own ride to work."
"Nikki, I'm sorry," he said, pulling his hair back into a pony tail and going into his room, grabbing his cell phone and his keys.
Was he really just going to leave me there?
"I can give you a ride home."
My heart dropped, and I realized not only had we not been quiet, I never even thought to look and see if Mike was around. I swallowed, turning to look in the living room. Mike stood there in a pair of gray jogging pants and a white T-shirt. Sitting at the kitchen table was a blonde woman, glancing curiously to see what all the commotion was.
Shit.
"There you go," Derek said, so eager to get rid of me that he didn't notice the look of horror on my face at the prospect.
I gaped at his back, but he just took off down the hall, calling back to me that he'd call me later.
Then he was gone, leaving me to stand there in nothing but his T-shirt, forced to face his father, a man I pretty much hated.
Great.
See if I ever spent the night at his house again.
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to look up at Mike.
But he couldn't seem to look at me very long, so he looked away, saying, "Grab your stuff and I'll give you a ride home," then walking back into the kitchen.
r /> I went back to Derek's room, consumed by dread, and pulled my jeans on, balling up my wrinkled shirt and opting to wear his home instead and return it to him later.
I really, really, really did not want to ride home with Mike, but I also didn't think it was a good idea to just turn him down and walk home. It wasn't close enough to walk unless I absolutely had to, or if I didn't have to work.
But of course I had to work.
Why couldn't the blonde woman give me a ride?
I followed Mike out to his silver car and got in. We spent half the ride to my trailer completely silent. Finally, once I was about halfway home, I cleared my throat and forced myself to say, "Thank you for giving me a ride home."
He nodded in response, and I didn't think he was going to speak to me, but then he surprised me by asking, "So, you're dating my son?"
At first I wasn't sure how to respond—until I remembered I didn't care what he thought of my moral character, so I replied honestly, "No, not really."
"Ah," he said, as if he understood. "Well, you're sleeping with my son?" he amended.
"Kind of strange, huh?" I replied.
He nodded again, and there was another brief silence before he said, "I don't want you to think you're not welcome at my house. If Derek wants to date you... he can. I only reacted that way before because... you look remarkably like your mother, and it just..."
"I know," I replied quietly.
"As you know, we have a history, and it was... strange."
"I know," I said again. "My mother kept journals, so I know all about your history."
He raised an eyebrow, glancing over at me. "She kept journals?"