by A. M. Brooks
“Holy shit,” she breathes out. I look from her to the parking lot where my eyes land on no one other than Darrian King himself. My stomach drops and all those accusations from earlier are swiped from my tongue. He has caused me to literally lose all thought except for how sexy he looks in his dark grey pants that are fitted to him perfectly and tucked inside his brown Timberlands to the deep blue quarter button-down long sleeve shirt.
“No way,” is the only words I can manage to say. This can’t be happening. I blink and nope, he’s still standing there. A large bouquet of purple roses wrapped in black paper signifying love at first sight.
“Guess you do have plans now,” Lily says out the side of her mouth as she starts prying my fingers from her arm and pushing me forward. I hesitate and Darrian never wavers. The cool look on his face doesn’t change. Only his eyes, the silver in them burning brighter as I get closer, lets me know he’s an actual person and not a figment of my imagination.
I make it to the bottom of the stairs on shaky legs, my heart ready to jump out of my chest it’s beating so hard. My last step toward Darrian brings me within an arm’s length.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby,” he tells me loud enough to hear but meant solely for my ears alone and not the other gawkers nearby. I feel them staring and I try to block it out. Instead of concentrating on them, I bring the roses closer to my face and inhale their milder scent. They’re perfect.
“Thank you,” I tell him, meeting his gaze again, hoping he’s reading the hint of fear mixed with longing and love in mine. “They’re beautiful.”
He steps forward and takes my hand in his. “I know we didn’t make any plans, but I was wondering if you’d be my date tonight?” I flinch slightly and pray it wasn’t noticeable, but it was. His features darken and that damn muscle snaps in his jaw. Darrian crowds closer to me and angles my head up with both of his hands resting by the base of my neck. “I love you. I know this is scary and that I’m asking you to be vulnerable right now, but please trust me. I will take you to dinner and then right home if you want me to. I just want to be with you, Nora. To give you the memories you deserve to have. Please go out with me tonight?”
I bite my lip and nod, too scared to try and actually form a sentence. I can do dinner. He’s also giving me an out if needed. Darrian’s face visibly relaxes when he realizes I’ve agreed. Bringing my hand to his mouth, he kisses the inside of my wrist before wrapping it under his arm to direct me toward his waiting Jeep.
“I’ll bring you home first,” he tells me while turning the key.
“Okay,” I manage to say even though my voice sounds distant and not like my own. Instead of talking, Darrian takes my hand in his and brings it to his lap. I have the entire drive to calm myself down and logically shift through what is happening right now. By the time we reach my home, some of the anxiety has changed into excitement.
“Where are we going?” I ask him, trying to plan ahead on what to wear.
“Whatever you grab will be fine,” he tells me, giving me a secretive smile. I laugh, feeling a little unsure, but I decide not to question it. Instead, I bound through the door and head for the stairs.
“Nora!” my dad calls from the kitchen. I stop at the bottom step and wait.
“Hey,” I say. “Don’t you and Jodi have plans tonight?”
He smiles. “Yes, I’m on my way now. How do I look?” He unbuttons the second button from his dress shirt.
“Casual but nice enough to get into a good restaurant,” I tell him.
“That’s exactly what I was going for,” he jokes, pretending to wipe sweat from his forehead.
“You nailed it,” I say and wink. “I’m going out I need to change quickly,” I fill him in.
“With Darrian,” he states, not asking. I hold my breath and nod. My eyes scan his face for disappointment, but there isn’t any. Instead, a resigned smile tugs at his mouth. “I think there is a little something waiting for you upstairs,” he tells me. My eyes narrow. “What?”
He shrugs and walks away.
“Dad!” I call after him, but he ignores me, chuckling.
I sprint up the stairs two at a time until I reach my room. Sprawled across the top is a heap of silky yellow material. My fingers slide over the fabric, realizing it’s actually a dress. Without question or hesitation, I shrug out of my jacket and pull my jeans down. My peach top is next when I fling it over my head. Carefully, I slip the dress down over my head and of course it fits perfectly. The skirt flares out right above my knee. I twirl in a small circle and feel like a princess right out of a Disney movie. A shoebox rests on the bed as well with a white card on the top.
Kill it!
-Love, Jodi
The note reads.
My eyes mist when I realize this whole day was planned. My head had automatically gone to worst-case scenario options for the night and here everyone was trying to give me a better day. No one said a damn thing and right now, I’m just happy I showered this morning. I slipped the nude heels on and grab my nicer black coat from my closet and tie the sash tightly at my waist.
“Here goes,” I say to my reflection in the mirror. I commit right then to leave the past behind. Tonight is a new night. If we’re going to have any fun, I need to trust Darrian and give him the chance to make it right.
The minute my foot hits the first step outside the air is instantly electrified. I feel his eyes track from the toe of my shoe up the leg I’m showing and over my body until he’s eyeing me. Things are about to change, I can sense it. Shivers run over my arms with anticipation.
“Ready?” he asks. It feels like a loaded question.
Instead of overthinking it, I answer, “Ready.”
Darrian drives us through town, and I notice the lines of people waiting for seats at the numerous restaurants lining the roads. “Where are we going?” I’m curious.
He laughs. “We’re actually probably a little over-dressed, but I wanted to take you to my favorite spot.”
“Oh,” I say, trying to think if he’s ever mentioned this before or if I’ve ever asked.
“I should rephrase,” he says. “Tilly’s is actually my favorite, but they’re only open on the weekends for breakfast. This place is actually our favorite place. The twins and me.”
“I’m intrigued,” I tell him. I learned something new about Darrian tonight, something I had not been privy to before. At the end of the block, we finally pull into a parking lot in front of a sign reading Papa’s.
“This is your favorite?” I ask while I’m totally enthralled by the green, red, and white decorated building. It looks like a slice of Italy.
“Wait ‘til you try the pizza,” he promises while taking my hand.
I shrug. “I’m game. Sounds amazing.”
There is no wait and we sit right away. Darrian was right, we are over-dressed, but I don’t care. We drink our sodas and share a pizza. We talk about anything and everything. All the small victories Darrian chooses to celebrate with me tonight. We don’t talk about last year. We don’t discuss the past mistakes, only touching on the here and now. I am blissfully happy with no worries until the topic changes.
“Did you get your room assignment yet?” Darrian asks.
My smile falters for the first time all night. “Darrian.”
“What’s wrong?” he questions, taking my hands in his under the table.
“You want to talk about this now?” I almost yell. A burst of panic goes off in my chest. Is this why he brought me out tonight? Are we ending things already?
“Talk about what babe? I was just curious, you haven’t said if you and Lily for sure get to room together or not,” he responds. His face is concerned, and I start feeling like I made a mistake.
“Never mind,” I whisper, trying to defuse the situation I created. “It’s nothing.”
“Tell me,” he says, gently tugging my hand. I stare at him, still trying to figure out if he’s fucking with me right now or if he actually has no idea what I
’m talking about.
“We’re going to schools on the complete opposite sides of the country, Darrian,” I throw it out there. I don’t understand how he hasn’t thought more about this.
“So?” he says, both shocking me and pissing me off.
“So?” I repeat. “So aren’t you worried how this will work?” Because I’m freaking out, I think but keep my mouth shut.
He shakes his head. “I’m not worried. We’re together and everything else will work out how it’s supposed to.”
My jaw snaps open. “How?” I ask.
“Planes,” he answers like it’s obvious.
“But you’re going to be super busy,” I remind him.
“So are you.” He squeezes my hand, pulling my gaze back to his. “I have no intention of losing you again, Nora. I love you and I want to be with you. Everything else that’s happening over the next few years is just noise. A blip on the long spectrum of time I want to be with you. I’ll call you every day, text, FaceTime, whatever you need. I’ll visit you when I can too. I’m not saying it won’t be hard some days, I’m not naive enough to think that, but I also know us. As long as we’re together and honest, I’m not worried. It’s such a short time if you look at in the long run.”
My vision blurs while he talks. I drink his words in and lock them away in my heart and my memories. Every conversation with Darrian this time around is deeper and more meaningful than ever before. He’s letting me into his heart this time.
“Okay?” he asks. I smile a watery grin at him and shake my head yes over and over.
“Okay,” I push the words out, trying to sound as convinced as he is. “We’ll be okay.” He gives my hands one more squeeze before he goes back to picking up a huge slice of cheesy pizza.
“Now back to my question,” he says, smiling. “Do you know if you guys are roommates yet?”
“Yes,” I tell him, feeling much more enthusiastic about the entire plan now. “We found out yesterday actually. Lily is already planning the decorating.”
Darrian laughs. “I’m not surprised. Sounds like the twins are set up too. It’s weird to think Ethan will be at NYU and Elijah will be at UCLA.” He shakes his head.
“I sort of pictured them switched,” I say, flipping my fingers in the air.
“Me too,” he shares. “I’m surprised it turned out this way. Actually I’m not in the long run. Tara wanted to go to UCLA and well, Lily was going to NYU. He’ll be on the same coast at least,” Darrian laughs.
“It will work out, I think,” I tell him.
“I hope so,” he says before drinking his soda. I watch his neck ripple while he swallows. A heated flush spreads over my chest and up my neck. The realization of what we’ve been dancing around for months is constantly on my mind these days. Even when Darrian was staying with me every night, he never moved past kissing me. His restraint was incredible, and I was sick of it. I had no idea how to approach him though to let him know I wanted more.
“What?” he asks, and I feel my cheeks blush a deeper shade of red.
“Nothing,” I smirk. “I’m just happy.”
His eyes darken and I hope he is starting to feel the same as me. I need him to make the first move. Even though we’ve talked about what happened with Hannah, I still need a little reassurance to jump back in.
“We should get going,” he says, looking down at the time on his phone. “We’re going to miss it if we don’t.”
“Miss what?” I ask, confused.
“Come on.” He throws bills down on the table and helps me into my coat. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me out the door and across the parking lot. Other people are starting to gather outside as well, pouring out from the restaurant.
“Now,” Darrian says when the first explosion of glittering color explodes over my head. Shot after shot of fireworks are launched into the air. The crowd whistles and cheers.
“They wanted to do something new this year,” Darrian whispers close to my ear, sending chills down my neck. I lean back against him.
“It’s beautiful,” I tell him, meeting his gaze.
“You are beautiful, Nora Sutton. Inside and outside. Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask.
“For this. You. Another chance.” He shrugs, but his grip around me tightens.
I put pressure on his neck to bring his head closer to me. “I love you.”
“I love you,” he replies. Three words, eight letters, and my heart bursts with happiness just like the fireworks above us.
There is that saying waiting for the other shoe to drop, referring to the idea that things are going so well that there is bound to be something to come along and fuck it all up. Things have been going well with Nora. Too good probably. I was on edge, waiting, figuratively, for this damn shoe to drop. Inside our bubble, everything was hearts and flowers. All the outside noise was just waiting to pop it. I knew it. Could feel it. With Roman locked away and Camilla being investigated for assault, Zero-Thirteen was leaning hard on the King empire. Charles was constantly in his office making calls and receiving death threats. I shook my head knowing Pierce was probably fuming, off his rocker, crazy mad right now. Araminta had his number and now higher-ups were watching him too. And when a crazed gang boss spiraled…it was only a matter of time before things would start popping off.
I was planning for this. We were just waiting for the call. My phone buzzed at 2:47am and the name lighting up the caller identification had me pausing.
“Yeah,” I answer, trying to keep the annoyance to a minimum.
“I’m in jail,” Nichol’s voice grates. “It’s time for you to keep your end of the deal now.”
He hung up without letting me get a word in like which jail exactly, asshole. Last I checked, their classic was in San Fran and there were a few jails between here and there. Without wasting time, I dialed Elijah, knowing I stood a better chance of getting him than Ethan, who slept like the dead.
“Yo.” Elijah’s voice sounds as thick as mine.
“Nichols did it,” I tell him.
“Finally,” Elijah says before yawning in my ear. “Where is he?”
“Jail,” I answer. I begin slipping on my jeans and one of my favorite Henley long sleeve shirts.
“No shit,” Elijah scoffs. “He went all out. You let your dad know?”
“On my way right now,” I mumbled. This was going to be my least favorite part of the plan. Charles thought he was always in control and that the past few months he was orchestrating everything down the line. I was about to tell him he’d been side barred by his son and nephews. Let’s be honest, we’ve been running this show for a while now.
“Have fun with that.” I can hear Elijah shuffling around his room. “I’ll wake up the child and meet you in twenty.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him before pocketing my phone. I take the stairs down two at a time and pause at the bottom. Sure enough, Charles is shuffling around in his office.
“How the hell did that happen?” I hear him yell. Silence follows and I guess he must be on the phone. Before I can stop myself or chicken out like a pussy, I let myself into the room. He comes to a halt but does not look surprised to see me. “I’ll call you back David,” he says before hanging up his old school receiver. We study each other, neither of us blinking. Finally he releases a long breath and pinches the bridge of his nose between his eyes.
“Let me guess, this is related to that Sutton girl too?” He sits in his chair on the other side of the oppressively large desk.
“That Sutton girl?” I question, clicking my tongue. “You mean the daughter of your best employee right now? The family that your business partner almost ruined? The girl who blew open a drug ring that was going on undetected in your city?” I meet his eyes, but his face is blank. The only tell-tale sign that he is ready to lash out is the way he keeps twisting his pen cap.
“Yes,” I tell him. “This is all part of the plan to save Nora. Who knew that your track had been as corrupt as your hig
h school?” I ask. It didn’t take long to figure out that there had to be a money-laundering service somewhere nearby. Find the money source and find a way to get Pierce. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Nichols was in the wrong place at the right time that we figured it out where exactly. Turns out the track was raking in large amounts of clean money and filtering out with the dirty money. One call to Investigator McCall and Trent was brought in to help them bust the case wide open. My only job left was to get Trent out of jail without it looking too suspicious.
Charles King was fuming. A red hue colored his dark cheeks. I could practically hear the steam whistle coming out of his ears. He was going to blow.
“Trent Nichols,” I explain to him. “He more or less narced. He’s at the jail right now. Use your fancy connections to get him out and you’ll look like a hero for saving the poor racers who had no idea their races were being used to bring in drug money.”
“Is this all really worth it?” he interrogates.
I clench my teeth, turning to face him again. I can see the wheels spinning in his brain as he fights to find a good angle for this story. The world would end if the people of Araminta discovered their King kept getting the wool pulled over his eyes.
“She is worth it,” I confirm. Nora is worth more than everything and if she will finally be safe, that’s all I can ask for.
“You didn’t keep your end of the agreement,” he reminds me again. I know he saw my official acceptance letter and start date at Gonzaga.
“I did. I went and saw Stanford again. Still not choosing your alma mater. The difference between us, Charles, is that keeping our word looks differently. Did you even read the major I selected?” I ask. He huffs.
“Business,” I tell him. “I’m going to Gonzaga to get my business major. If and when I’m drafted, I’m going to play until I retire or until you die. Only then will I take over King Corp. There is not a chance in hell I’ll work under you ever.”
