Page 172 of Tell Me I'm Enough

She shakes her head. “Unlock the door.”

I let my eyes close, annoyed, then hit the unlock button.

She opens the door and reaches her hand out. “Come on. I’m not letting you drive like this.”

I wave my phone in the air. “Was gonna call an Uber.”

“Well, I can just drive you home, come on.”

I look down at my watch. “It’s the middle of the workday.”

“Yeah, well, I just quit so…”

I look up at her, shocked. “Why would you do that? You love this job.”

She grabs my hand and helps me out of my car, grabs my stuff, and walks me over to her car across the parking lot.

“Because,” she says, “he called me a whore who was trying to sleep her way to the top of his company, and because I heard everything he said to you, and because I’m better than this place. I can get a job at any of the firms around here if I want.”

I shake my head, leaning on her so I don’t stumble. “I hate him.”

“Yeah. I heard that part inside, too.”

She puts me in the passenger seat of her SUV like I’m a child, and then gets in the driver’s seat, looking over at me. “Seatbelt.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We ride in silence for a few minutes.

Then she asks softly, “Is Simone a girl from college?”

My throat tightens, and I stare out the window. “Yeah.”

“You’re in love with her.” She tells me, not asking

I turn and glare at her. “No.”

“You’re a worse liar than your dad.”

I flip her off, turning back to the window.

Then the guilt hits me again.

“I’m sorry about that,” I tell her. “I didn’t mean to use you like that. That was fucked up of me.”

She waves me off. “I told you it was okay. I knew this was never that…never even more than a seasonal friendship. I just never minded adding benefits to it. But you’re not that kind of guy.”

I huff. “Yeah, everyone thinks I am.”

“I used to, too,” she tells me. “But the more I got to know you, it’s obvious that you aren’t some playboy who just sleeps around with anyone. You have to care about them, and something tells me that doesn’t happen often.”

“I don’t think I like you reading me like this.”

I hear her laugh. “Have you slept with her?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, well, you were the one who said her name right before you were about to be inside of me, so I think I get to be a little nosy.”