Chapter 28

Stevie McGabe

I stare at Darryl, still not quite able to compute the fact that he’d just sauntered up and inserted himself into my inaugural date.

He grabs some more fries off Calvin’s plate, and as pissed as I am with him, it does make me giggle as Calvin squirms, not quite sure how to react to the tattooed, pierced he-devil that was making himself comfortable next to him.

Darryl was the absolute opposite of Calvin in every way, and seeing the two of them side by side, I wondered what I had been thinking when I said I had a crush on Calvin.

“So,” Darryl says, his lips still spread in a taunting grin. “You ready to play?”

“Play? What?” Calvin shoots me a helpless look, and I raise my eyebrows a little, wanting to see where this was going.

“Who knows who better. I’ll go first…what is Stevie’s favorite color?” He rests his elbow on the pristine tablecloth, his knuckles supporting his chin as he turns his gemstone green eyes towards Calvin.

His eyes flicker over my outfit, a cute turquoise skater-style dress that brought out the colors of both my eyes, and smirks. “Turquoise.”

“Wrong!” Darryl shouts. “It’s black.” He shoots me a knowing look. Little did he know my favorite color was black because of him. When I was little, everything I did or said or liked was because of him, and old habits die hard.

“What’s Stevie’s favorite food?” Calvin’s eyes drop to my half-eaten salad. “I’ll give you a hint, it’s not fucking steak.” Darryl chuckles as Calvin’s shoulders drop a little.

He’d been so excited about getting a reservation at this steak restaurant, I hadn’t the heart to tell him I didn’t eat red meat.

“What’s her favorite drink? Dr Pepper,” he doesn’t even give the semblance of waiting for Calvin to answer, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.

“What’s her favorite film? The Nightmare Before Christmas. What’s her favorite character? Sally, because no matter what, she can be put back together again.”

“Wrong,” I say softly. “It’s because no matter what, she can always put herself back together.”

Pain darkens his eyes slightly. “I’m sorry I fucked up so bad.” Darryl reaches over and takes my hand in his, running his thumb gently over my knuckles. I give him a sad smile.

“I’m sorry we both wasted so much time.” He lifts my hand, and ghosts his lips over my skin, making me shiver slightly. I look over and laugh. “Looks like Calvin didn’t like losing your game.”

Darryl glances at the empty chair next to him and snorts. “Dude was a loser anyway; I did both of you a favor. He couldn’t have ever kept up with you.

“You’re a fucking shooting star, blazing through the darkness, and he is nothing more than a lump of rock destined to burn up in the atmosphere.”

***

I wasn’t sure what we were, but things were starting to feel more like the old days, with Darryl seeming to be lighter, freer to join in with life. He and his friends had started hanging out with Rhea and I at lunch, much to the chagrin of my spiky friend.

When our families had their frequent get-togethers, he always sat next to me. He’d even taken to sitting next to me on the bus to and from school.

Every time his arm, or his thigh, skated over mine when we were near each other, every single particle of my being screamed out for a more tangible touch. Other than that first toe-curling kiss, there had been no other movement from Darryl, and I was craving more.

“I just don’t know what to do,” I grumble to Rhea down my phone, flopping onto my bed. It was a rare night home alone, with my folks out on a double date with Jake and Abi, and Grayson off at a friend’s house overnight. “Why hasn’t he made another move on me?”

Rhea chuckles down the line. “Because he’s a clueless boy. I’ve told you time and again, you need to take charge, they never will.”

I swallow back my own laughter. If there was anyone who understood my lack of experience with boys, it was Rhea.

She had kissed one boy at her sixteenth birthday, and that was it. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll just march over there and demand he kisses me again.”

A shaft of light hits my floor from across the driveway, and I prop myself up on my elbow so I can see into Darryl’s room.

He’s pacing, his own phone pressed to his ear, and as I watch him, half listening to Rhea as she veers off topic to something her dumb little brother had done, he pauses his steps and stares into my window.

I lie back down, knowing he won’t be able to see me in the half-light my bedside lamp was throwing out. “Hey, Rhea,” I cut in. “I’m gonna have to go, I’m beat. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You go get your rocks off girly.”

I end the call and drop my phone down on the mattress next to me. If only I had the guts to make a move, to even bring up the subject with Darryl, maybe it would help me crawl out of this funk I felt I was in. Oh well, maybe I should just crawl back into my fantasy world again.

At least my literary boyfriends are easy to read.

I was deep into a scene about a sexy incubus getting it on with a werewolf, when the sound of footsteps on the staircase pricks my ears up. I glance at the digital numbers flashing on my clock, and frown.

I expected mom and dad to be out much later than this, and Gray wouldn’t have come home without making a huge amount of noise.

Sitting up, I can’t help but glance over at the window, but Darryl’s room is in darkness now. A soft knock on my bedroom door makes my breath quicken.