With my clothes bundled in my arms and my shoes swinging from my fingers, I pad toward the door. Really, I need to use the bathroom. What is going on between my thighs is beyond gross. But mostly, I just need to get out of here.
Walk of shame from Nico Cirillo’s flat two nights in a row, you hussy.
I shake my head at my own thoughts.
Walking away now when he’s asleep is easier. I can only imagine how he’d react if I were curled up beside him when he woke in the morning, or more likely tomorrow lunchtime after the amount of alcohol he drank and how we went at it.
Exhaustion pulls at every muscle in my body as I move toward the door.
At the last minute, I pause and look back.
I regret it instantly.
Nico is passed out naked with one arm thrown over his head and the other resting across his stomach. One of his legs is twisted up in the sheets while the other is free, giving me full view of everything.
“Damn you for being so fucking beautiful,” I mutter quietly before ripping my eyes away and leaving him to sleep.
Dragging on my clothes, I try not to think about my overused pussy rubbing against the roughness of my jeans as I push my feet into my shoes. After sucking in a deep, calming breath, I pull the front door open and step out, letting it close quietly behind me.
Thankfully, and as expected, seeing as it’s the middle of the night, the building is silent and deserted.
I pull my phone from my bag as I descend in the lift, and unlike last time, I open up the Uber app and set about ordering myself a car.
Only, the bloody thing refuses to confirm my journey because my bank card gets declined.
“Fuck,” I hiss, trying Apple Pay and discovering the exact same thing. “No, no, no.”
The lift dings and the doors open. I spill out into the entrance with my head spinning.
I can’t walk home from here. Even if it weren’t the dead of night and I were wearing knickers, it’s still too far. Especially in these shoes.
I step out into the darkness, hoping that some fresh air might provide me with clarity.
It doesn’t.
Looking up at the imposing building before me, I consider going back up and waking Jodie and Toby. I could crash in their spare room and they’d even give me a lift back in the morning.
But the thought of that, of having no choice but to confess the reason I’m still here fills me with dread.
I didn’t actually leave, I spent the night fucking one of my students.
My stomach turns over and I have no choice but to twist around and heave into the bush beside me.
But it’s while I’m barfing up what’s left of tonight’s alcohol that an idea hits me.
Flipping open my purse, I pull out Nico’s credit card.
I hated using it yesterday. It’s something I’m probably always going to regret, and never be able to forget, seeing as I need to wear the clothes I bought with it to school. Unless I want to turn up looking like a Primark model. Anywhere else, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. But there, where I know people, where I’m going to need all the armour I can find to deal with Nico? Yeah, it was necessary.
And right now, unfortunately for me, he’s my only option.
I update my Uber app with his card details. Thankfully, it doesn’t need any kind of approval from him, and it books my car.
I push any unease about what I’ve just done aside and walk toward the car park entrance so I can hop into the back of the car the second it arrives to get me the hell out of here.
12
NICO