Freaks in the City (13 page)

“Where the hell have you been?” Worry and
stress, and embarrassment at being caught with his ex when she had
made moves on him dressed in nothing but a freaking towel, made his
tone sharp and accusatory.

“I left a note on the whiteboard telling you
I went for a jog.”

Tyler’s stomach turned an OMG-she-didn’t
somersault.

Nessa’s guilty expression said it all.

He fixed her with a scowl designed to burn
all the scheming right out of her. “Why?” he said, having to force
out the word because his teeth were clenched so tightly.

Nessa’s lower lip wobbled and then she dived
for the bathroom. Tyler could have grabbed her arm and forced her
to deal here and now, but…. Hell. When having it out with your ex
in front of your current girlfriend, it was probably a good idea
for all parties to be fully clothed.

He heard the lock on the bathroom door
engage. Damn. Now what was he supposed to do?

“She wiped off the message I left you on the
whiteboard,” Jay said, brushing past him to lean on the wall. “I
suspected she might.”

Tyler gave her WTF eyes. “If you suspected
she might pull something like that, why didn’t you, I dunno, write
me a note and leave it on my pillow or something?”

“I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Isn’t that what…
we
are supposed to do?”

Tyler figured the ever so slight pause meant
she’d been about to say “humans”. And it bothered him she had to
censor herself because of their unwanted guest. “She’s gotta go,”
he said. “I don’t care how dire her situation is.”

“Don’t be such a hardass, Tyler. Everyone
makes mistakes.”

He snorted. “Yeah. But she’s way the heck
over her quota. No frickin’ way is she getting a free pass on this
one.”

“Who said anything about a free pass? Tyler,
you’ve only got six point th—” She paused. “You’ve got about five
minutes before the bus arrives.”

“I’ll make it.”

“No you won’t. I’ll give you a lift.”

“And what about our little problem?” He
jerked his thumb at the bathroom door. “Do you really think it’s a
good idea to leave her here on her own?”

Jay wrinkled her nose. “Botheration.”

Tyler snickered, amused despite himself.
“Botheration?”

“What I really want to say would sear your
eardrums. Please, just this once take a cab? And leave me to handle
this.”

“You sure? I can take the next bus.”

“You’ll be late for your first class. And
I’m sure. Grab some cash from the bedside drawer.”

“Okay. Just this once. Text me if you need
me.” He leaned in to whisper, “Like, if you feel an overwhelming
desire to strangle Vanessa properly this time. I’ll come straight
home and help you get rid of the body.”

Her lips twitched. “I will.”

He pressed a quick kiss to the side of her
mouth and headed for the main bedroom to grab the cab fare. As he
wandered back down the hallway, he hesitated outside the door to
the bathroom and seriously considered pressing his ear to the door.
But with her super-cyborg hearing, Jay would know he was listening
in. And she would have every right to be unimpressed to the max he
didn’t trust her to sort this without him hovering.

He raced upstairs, grabbed his artwork from
the studio, and headed out the door.

~~~

Jay stood to one side of the shower cubicle
and waited for Tyler’s oblivious ex-girlfriend to notice she wasn’t
alone. Vanessa hadn’t switched on the extractor fan and steam
billowed from the cubicle. It lingered in the air like a finely
woven shroud before descending to pearl each surface with a
delicate mist. Jay extended an arm and watched as her outer dermal
layer absorbed the moisture.

The water shut off. Jay heard a breathy
sigh. There was a pause, and then the shower door opened. Vanessa
stepped from the cubicle and blindly reached for the towel she’d
left on the heated rail.

Jay handed her the towel.

“Thanks,” Vanessa said automatically.

Wait for it….

Her shriek was slasher horror-worthy. She
certainly had an impressive lung capacity.

She whimpered and clutched the towel, vainly
trying to hide herself behind it.

“Oh, please,” Jay said. “It’s not like I
haven’t seen naked bodies before.”

Vanessa blinked water from her eyes. “I
locked the door!”

“Yes, you did.” Jay left it at that because
the implications should have been obvious.

Vanessa’s eyes grew huge. She reminded Jay
of a bedraggled bushbaby—one of those small nocturnal primates with
the big round eyes, native to continental Africa. Except Jay didn’t
find Vanessa the least bit cute.

“Wh-what do you want?”

Jay folded her arms across her chest. “What
do you think I want, Vanessa?”

“I-I have no idea!”

“Sure you do.”

Vanessa thrust back her shoulders and stuck
out her chest.

Oh, please. Really? Jay resisted the impulse
to roll her eyes.

“If we’re gonna have a bitch fight, can I at
least get dressed first?” Vanessa asked in a calm, even tone that
belied her frantic heartbeat.

Okay, that was mildly impressive. Jay gave
her points for sheer guts. “Whatever makes you comfortable.” She
made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “After you.”

Vanessa scuttled past her and headed
straight for the dubious sanctuary of her bedroom. Jay gave her two
minutes to armor herself with clothes before striding after
her.

She had pulled on sweatpants and managed to
struggle into the crop top Jay had provided for her by the time Jay
entered the bedroom. She snatched a look at Jay and grabbed for a
t-shirt. Her moan of distress sounded unnaturally loud.

Jay halted, waiting until Vanessa had shoved
herself into the t-shirt. Cornered animals tended to attack, and
she had no desire to inadvertently injure Vanessa if the girl
lashed out.

Mmm. Interesting. The need to “bitch slap”
Vanessa and yank a few handfuls of hair from her scalp—maybe rake
her nails down that pretty face—had all but vanished. And
thankfully, the seething heat that had rippled over Jay in waves
from the instant Vanessa had invaded her home had been replaced
with a more familiar cool calm logic.

A quick analysis of her reactions to various
events led Jay to conclude her normal state of being had returned
because Tyler had displayed no overt signs of being physically
attracted to Vanessa—despite her accosting him clad only in a
towel. He’d been angry, irritated, exasperated. But there had been
no hint of underlying sexual tension that would suggest a hidden
attraction to his ex.

Jay found it even more interesting that she
had unconsciously registered this fact and her physiology had
reacted accordingly, allowing her to deal calmly and logically with
Vanessa. Processing information at an unconscious level and
reacting accordingly might be the norm for humans, but not for
cyborgs. She was still changing, evolving. Becoming more and more
humanlike.

“So?” Vanessa visibly trembled with
tension.

“So, I’ll make this easy for you, Vanessa.
And I’ll be painfully blunt so there’s no misunderstandings. Tyler
is mine. You had your chance and you blew it. If you even think of
making a play for him, I’ll make you sorry you were born. Is that
clear?”

“Y-yes. Of course. I wouldn’t…. I would
never—”

“But you did, didn’t you?”

Vanessa’s lower lip did what Tyler would
describe as a “primo wobble”. Jay remained unmoved. “Didn’t you,
Vanessa?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I made a play for him.”

“You kissed him.” That much had been obvious
from the state of her lips.

“Don’t worry, he didn’t kiss me back.”

“Oh, I’m not worried. But I would like to
know why you kissed him.” Jay asked out of genuine interest. Human
emotions and the often illogical actions they provoked were
endlessly fascinating.

Vanessa sank onto the bed and sagged. She
clasped her hands tightly before wedging them between her knees.
She couldn’t meet Jay’s gaze. She wiggled her toes and stared
fixedly at them. “You want the truth?”

“That would be nice.”

Vanessa peered up at her, suspicion etched
in her features.

Jay puffed out a sigh and trusted it
successfully conveyed exasperation. “I was not being sarcastic.
Just tell me the truth and then we can move on.”

“Okay. Tyler’s a great guy. And when we were
together, I was happy—really happy. Only….”

When she didn’t continue, Jay prompted,
“Only, what?”

“I didn’t realize it at the time. So I threw
it all away. I threw
him
away. And I just wanted….” She
swallowed. “I just wanted to feel like that again.”

“Happy.”

“Yes. Is that so wrong?” Defiance colored
every word.

“It depends on your personal code of
ethics.”

A tiny frown pleated Vanessa’s brows as she
processed this statement.

Jay decided to put her out of her misery and
help her along. “
You
might have been happy.
Tyler
might even have been happy… once he got over the guilt of
two-timing his girlfriend and figured out how to put the past
behind him. And your happiness would have come at a price. Mine.”
She cocked her head, as she reviewed her argument. “Truthfully, I
don’t believe Tyler could ever be happy with you. Not only does he
not do guilt very well, trust is a huge issue with him.”

“Trust?” Vanessa’s question lacked
conviction. She knew very well what Jay was getting at.

“Tyler. Matt. Shawn. Tyler again. Gosh, who
might be the next best thing?”

Vanessa winced.

Jay hammered the point home. “And the lies
are a problem, Vanessa. He has to have wondered how far would you
have gone. Would you have let the principal expel him? What if
Shawn had decided to really stick the knife in by notifying the
authorities instead of contenting himself with rumor-mongering?
Would you have let Tyler be charged with attempted date-rape just
to cover up your drug-dealing and Shawn’s nasty little steroid
habit? You could have ruined Tyler’s life with your lies. You
nearly did. So what on earth makes you think you can flash a bit of
bare skin and a pouty smile and he’ll want you again?”

Vanessa’s mouth worked but she couldn’t
manage to speak actual words.

Jay didn’t wait for her to get it together.
She could be as relentless as any other machine programmed to
perform a task. “Even if I wasn’t in the picture, why would he want
to have anything to do with you after what you did to him?”

Vanessa hiccupped. Tears slipped down her
cheeks and her shoulders shook. But she didn’t look away from Jay.
She didn’t duck her head and bury her face in her hands and try to
hide from the truth.

Courage of a sort. There was hope for her
yet.

“You’re right,” Vanessa said.

“Yes. I generally am. It’s an annoying habit
of mine.”

Vanessa managed a watery smile.
“Thanks.”

Jay blinked. “For what?”

“I needed to hear that.”

“Then I’m pleased I could oblige you.” She
didn’t believe Vanessa would be throwing herself at Tyler again
anytime soon, but it might be prudent to introduce her to other
eligible males—not that she would attract anyone suitable in her
current state. In Jay’s estimation, Vanessa was not one of those
females who could cry and still look attractive.

“Finish getting dressed,” she said.

“Why?” Vanessa chewed her lip, looking all
woebegone with a hefty dash of uh-oh! apprehension.

“Because I’m taking you shopping.”

Vanessa shot her a look that clearly
suggested she thought Jay had lost her mind. “You serious?” she
asked.

“Yes.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“There’s nothing ‘nice’ about taking you
shopping,” Jay assured her. “You need clothes. I would rather not
have you borrowing mine—or Tyler’s for that matter. Buying you
clothes solves both our problems. If you’d rather stay here, I can
pick out a range of items for you. But I’m guessing you’d rather
accompany me and help choose your own clothes. From what I recall,
your style and mine don’t exactly mesh.”

Vanessa’s gaze took in Jay’s current attire.
She didn’t quite stoop to a shudder but it was a close call. “I’ll
be ready in five.”

“Make it ten. I’d like a quick shower after
my run. Oh, and Vanessa?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you leave Snapperton?”

Vanessa worried her lower lip with her teeth
but she did manage to meet Jay’s gaze. “I needed to get away. From
my parents. From the kids who keep judging me. From… everything. I
needed a fresh start.”

Part of the truth at least. But there was
something she wasn’t revealing. Jay didn’t push it. She left
Vanessa to “get ready”—whatever that entailed.

Jay had only been on two clothes-buying
sprees in the company of another female. Both times that female had
been Tyler’s sister, Caro, who had a knack for finding bargains at
pre-loved clothing boutiques. Jay’s own idea of shopping was to
enter a store, analyze the offerings, pick suitable garments off
the racks, and pay for them. Quick. Efficient.

She didn’t believe for a second Vanessa
would appreciate shopping for pre-loved clothing. Nor would Vanessa
likely appreciate Jay’s preferred method—a method that had resulted
in Caro turning a rather interesting shade of plum.

This excursion should be enlightening. It
would gave Jay the opportunity to observe Vanessa when she was out
in public and likely to be distracted by the prospect of spending
someone else’s money.

There was something irregular about her
sudden impulse to leave her life in Snapperton behind and come all
this way to throw herself on Tyler’s mercy. Why Tyler? Why not
Caro, Vanessa’s former best friend since their first day at
Greenfield High? Caro pretended to be a hardass, but she wanted to
believe the best of people. Despite their falling out it would have
been highly unlikely for Caro to have refused to help Vanessa in
these circumstances.