The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(24)

“It is very different. Twenty from where I come from is old already,” he argued and then took a sip of his soup. “I’m sure I’ve done a lot more living than you have. Probably more than you ever will.”

“Probably,” she agreed softly. “I haven’t done very much living at all.”

“Well, living sucks,” he said with another smile. “Don’t feel bad about it.”

She stared at him quietly as he went back to eating, seeing that his hands weren’t shaking as badly, but he still looked extremely tired and worn down. She got the impression his exhaustion was the reason he was in her kitchen, confessing all this to begin with. She wasn’t sure he would have let his guard down if he weren’t so ill.

“I think you should sleep,” she whispered. “It says you’re supposed to sleep.”

“The last time I fell asleep, I ended up with a gringa screaming over me. I’ll pass.”

“Sleep is good. Sleep heals,” she argued. “You need it. Desperately.”

“I’m not going to sleep, chica. Sleep is never my friend. Why the hell do you think I was on the blow to begin with?”

“We could figure something out.”

He paused, looking at her curiously. “Like what?”

She shrugged. “I could stay with you.”

“Stay with me?” he repeated slowly, his eyes wide in shock. “You’re not worried about getting your hands dirty?”

“Getting my hands dirty?” She frowned in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

He leaned forward, giving her a harsh look as he studied her. “You ever been with a man, mami?”

“Been with?” she repeated, and then her eyes widened in horror. “Is that what you think I mean? You’re ill. I was going to wake you up if your nightmares got bad.”

“Carajo,” he said with a laugh as he pushed away from the table and surprised her by taking his dishes to the sink. “A virgin gringa living in the same house as me with no one else around. A smoking-hot virgin gringa. This whole f*cking town is loco.”

She stared at his back, admiring the muscles under the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. “I guess you’re not a virgin.”

He turned his head, giving her a look over his shoulder that caused a ripple of something hot and unnamable to rush through her bloodstream.

“That was a dumb question,” she whispered.

“Yup,” he agreed as he started washing the dishes. “I don’t need you to wake me up from my nightmares. That would be a very bad idea.”

“But I’m pretty sure you do need supervision if you’re detoxing. Being alone is a worse idea.”

“I’m sure I’ll live.”

“I think I should stay with you.”

“I think it is physically impossible for you to be as naive as you’re acting,” he countered. “There is no way this is real. I feel like I’m being punked.”

“I’m not naive.” She shrugged. “I just think we’re capable of being responsible adults.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things, but a responsible adult was never one of them. You can’t sleep in my bed. Not unless you feel like buying a ticket to hell with me. Then, if that’s the case, we can discuss it.”

She huffed. “I wish you’d stop talking ’bout going to hell.”

“If you knew the shit I’ve done in my life, you’d agree with me.” He turned around and glared at her. “Why do you want to help me so bad? Aren’t there nineteen-year-old gringos in this town for you to f*ck around with?”

“I don’t have any friends.” She looked at her hands after she admitted it. “At least none my age.”

“We already established we’re not the same age,” he reminded her. “Not even close. Why don’t you have any friends? You look like you should have lots of friends here. You’re all neat and perfect with shiny hair and straight bleached teeth.”

Alaine ran her tongue over her teeth at the mention of the bleaching. “I bought it at the store. No good?”

“It looks fine,” he assured her. “I just told you. Smoking hot.”

“Okay.” She nodded and looked at her hands again. “I appreciate that. The compliment. You’re smoking hot too, but I assume you know that.”

He laughed. “I honestly did not think anything could distract me from this miserable shit I’m going through. You’re sweet, mami. Too bad you’re stuck living next to me.”

“I was really excited to have a neighbor,” she said as she looked back up at Chuito, finding him leaning against the sink studying her. “It’s so lonely here at night.”

“Like prison,” he mused as he glanced around her apartment. “I know why I’m stuck here, but I don’t understand why you are. You don’t make friends in college?”

“I do most of my classes online, but I drive to Mercy three days a week. It’s too far to make friends. I just go and come back, because I hate leaving Jules alone to handle everything.”

“You don’t have friends from high school?”

“I had lots of friends in high school, but they were all part of the church. When I left, they stopped being friends.” She lowered her gaze, because it still hurt her feelings. “I guess they weren’t really my friends.”