Read Sleeping With the Help (Toyboy Lover) for Free Online Page B

felt the front wheel of my Mercedes mount the pavement as I pulled up. I'd probably squished a snail or something, but I had no time to worry about that. The street around me was midnight blue; only two of the street lights that lined it were working, but even those were dim, providing a faint glow over the basketball court. As I stepped out of the car I saw two figures in the middle of the court behind the mesh fence. Both were still moving – a good sign.
    I darted to them. “What happened?”
    I knelt beside the two figures, Eduardo's face coming into full view. The blood that covered it was so plentiful it could have been a complete stranger in front of me. His cold eyes locked on me, even now so indignant and hateful. He winced in pain, wrapping his arm around his torso, where patches of blood had stained his white T-shirt.
    “I told him not to do it. I told him that he couldn't take on three at a time. He thinks he's Superman. Idiota !” Her frustration caused tears to stream down her face.
    “Help me get him up,” I ordered.
    We took a side each, draping his arms around our necks and hoisting him up, his weight threatening to tug us right back down. We steadied him on his feet, and he growled in pain as we made a slow advance to my car.
    “What were you doing out here at this time?”
    “This is what he does. It pays well when he wins.”
    “He was street-fighting? For money?”
    “All the boys from our neighborhood do it. But he took it too far, said he could do three at once. I told him the money wasn't worth it if he was dead.”
    Eduardo groaned. “Claudia, stop talking!” he demanded, from bruised, bloody lips, putting all his remaining energy into that command.
    “Why? You don't want her to know how stupid you are?”
    “ C á llate !”
    “No, you c á llate !” Claudia shouted back. I expected her to release him, leaving me to hold his weight alone, but she stayed in place until we reached the car. “If Mama knew you were doing this to make money it would put her back in the hospital.”
    We managed to get him into the back seat, and Claudia climbed in beside him.
    “I'm taking you to A&E.” I turned the key in the ignition.
    “No, you're not. No hospitals.”
    I spun around to see him grimacing, whilst maintaining his steely-eyed glare, his adamant look. How did he pull it off in his condition?
    “I hate to break it to you but you look like crap,” I said. “Now, I'm no doctor but I'd bet you have a couple of broken bones.”
    “I said no hospitals, or I'll get out right now and walk home.”
    We stared at each other, neither of us wanting to give in, each certain we'd win this new battle. But I was the first to cave.
    I threw up my hands. “Fine.” I started off at full speed.
    “Where are you taking us?” Claudia asked, her worried expression so clear through the rear-view mirror. With the car light illuminating the space I could see Claudia's beauty in all its glory. She couldn't have been older than seventeen – there was a childish youthfulness in her eyes and attire. An older girl would have outgrown that skater-girl look already. Her jet black hair had a couple of bright pink streaks in the front, and in both ears an assortment of different sized earrings filled numerous holes. She shared the same dark pupils as her brother, though her eyes were soft, gentle. She resembled her mother so much that I imagined Lupita had looked exactly the same at that age.
    “Where are you taking us?” she asked a second time.
    “To my place.”
    There was no resistance.
     
    “You live here all by yourself?” Claudia asked when we stumbled into my house, her eyes bulging as she took in my far from humble abode, probably startled by its size. Did one person need so much space? Three bedrooms and bathrooms; anyone would have thought I'd bought it in anticipation of a big family. The reality was that I had no intention of starting one.
    “Yes.”
    We settled Eduardo gently onto the leather