Chapter 29 – Thomas
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Thomas
Clover whacks me again in the torso. Ouch.
“I don’t need you staying over. Thanks for ruining my plan.”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“I don’t need that.”
I know she’s lying. I heard her crying. There’s a girl in there who is in desperate need of protection and love.
I saw for a moment that tough girl exterior crack.
I don’t want to think of what I feel for her as love.
I’m not capable of that. But that thing I’m not capable of is exactly what she needs.
“Let me at least walk you back to the dorm.”
“Fine,” she snaps, but her shoulders visibly relax and release tension. She knows it’s not safe alone.
“Did you get any hint of the attacker’s identity? Male? Female?”
“No. Did you?”
“No. But they were small. So perhaps… female.”
“A lot of British men are small,” Clover points out. She’s right. I’m an anomaly everywhere. I’m ‘too swarthy’ as dad puts it, and significantly taller than most other Englishmen. Still, I don’t many men who were smaller than Clover. The dark, disguised figure definitely seemed smaller than her.
She slings her bag over her shoulder and makes an attempt to fix her hair.
I want to push the stray dreadlock out of her face, but she’s battered me enough as it is.
I don’t know what to say to her as we walk to the dorms, but I feel like I should say something so it’s not so bloody quiet. I never know the right thing to say.
“Whoever did this really wanted to hurt me,” she says, breaking the silence and honestly surprising me. I never thought she wanted to speak with me at all.
“Glad they didn’t.”
“Right. Because you’re still biding your time…”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I swear.”
“What’s your deal Thomas?”
“My deal? What does that mean?”
“Never mind.”
“I like you, Clover.”
“Shut up.”
“Okay.”
I stick my hands in my pockets and walk her all the way to the door of her dormitory. Does she want to rush off or something else? I doubt I could get away with kissing her again. I stop in front of the door and face her.
“You shouldn’t sleep alone tonight.”
“I have a roommate, Thomas. Molly will be here. You can’t come in.”
“Right.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“That person could climb in through your window.”
“You climbed in through my window,” she grumbles.
“That’s how I know how easy it is.”
“Good night, Thomas.”
“Kiss before I go?”
“No way.”
Then she stops, sighs and tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek.
“That’s it,” she says. “Now go away.”
“Cheers.”
I walk back to my dorm with my hands in my pockets.
I want to turn around and look back about a hundred times but…
not cool. Totally not cool. I’ve already messed up so many times with her.
Like tonight. She could have gotten herself killed with that insane plan.
What the hell was she thinking? Why didn’t she come to me for help?
My phone buzzes. It’s Kit.
Kit: shagging someone, please don’t come in.
He’s probably having a wank and pretending it’s a shag.
Whatever. That gives me an excuse at least to wander the girls’ dorms. I stop outside Clover’s window but she has the shades down and the lights off.
Still, wouldn’t hurt to hang around and make sure no one thinks of sneaking in through the window.
I lean against the wall and then crouch down, pulling out my phone for entertainment. I wish I had a bloody cigarette.
I message Kit back and then get an email. I feel the buzz in my pocket and know who it’s from without looking.
From: spicyfreak69@
To: tbainbridge@
Subject: fuck you
You both fucked up.
Thanks for the money, but you betrayed me.
Clover’s dead meat and you can’t stop me.
All you have to do is break that bitch for me.
Tell her exactly what you think of people like her.
Or I’ll gut her like a fish and spread her entrails on your bed.
Sleep well, Thomas.
I love you.
Spicy
There’s no universe where this is okay. Now, I don’t want to leave her window.
I can’t. Kit texts me when he’s done with his shag, but I just lean against the wall and watch shit on my phone until the morning.
I’m fucking tired, but I get to my feet after too long crouching down and wait for the sun to come up properly.
By 6 a.m., I should probably get breakfast. This arsehole won’t strike during the daylight.
Whoever this is, they’re a fucking coward.
I stand up and press my nose to Clover’s window at the moment she flings her shades open. When she sees me standing there, she screams at the top of her lungs. Fuck’s sake. I didn’t mean for that to happen.
“THOMAS!!” Clover shrieks, flinging the window open after the shades, complete outrage all over her face. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
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