Page 3 of A Light in the Darkness
I bite my lip, wishing I could take the stupid joke back as soon as it’s said, but Austin laughs. “Well, you know what they say… don't stop believing.” He shifts and grabs his phone out of his back pocket.
“Oh, right. My number.”
I recite the numbers while Moose glares at me with his arms crossed over his black tee, and Austin punches the numbers in. He calls me before walking away, either so he can ensure I gave him the right number or so I can save his contact, too.
For a moment,he stands there, like he’s waiting for something more, and my head spins with implications. The silence is awkward until he manages a grin. “I’ll see you Saturday, then.”
I only nod in response, my head too busy trying to figure out what just happened to come up with an appropriate response.
A date? Did I really just agree to a fuckingdate?
I know I’m supposed to try to be normal now. And I guess this is even what normal people do. But this feels, somehow, like a betrayal. Whether it’s a betrayal of myself or Remy, I don’t know, and I don’t care to contemplate it.
When he turns to walk away, he nearly steps right into Moose’s broad chest.
“Sorry, man.” Austin says sincerely, clapping Moose on the shoulder. When Moose only continues to glare at him, Austin sidesteps him and turns around to smile at me.
As soon as he clears the room, one of Moose’s perfect, dark eyebrows lifts. “What's Saturday?”
I roll my eyes and don't bother trying to walk around him, clipping his shoulder instead as I pass him. His long strides follow right behind me. I can't outpace him… the only time I get away from him is when I’m in my apartment with the door locked. And even then, I know he isn't far… just next door, watching, waiting, and generally creeping me out.
Moose has made no show of interest in me in the six months since he’s been here. He’s made no show of interest inanywoman since he’s been here. Maybe men do it for him, or maybe he’s asexual. Either way, he doesn’t creep me out because he looks like he wants to fuck me or peel my skin off. He creeps me out because he’s so intense. Any time he’s near, I canfeelthe energy shift. He unsettles me, and while I’m confident he wouldn’t hurt me since Remy is paying him to do the exact opposite, I can just tell that he’s more than capable of it.
Moose looks like the man you call when you need a problem solved. He looks like the man who can make a goddess fall fromMount Olympus to offer herself up at her own temple. And he looks like the kind of man who can ruin your life in a million dark, and beautiful, and terrifying ways.
He may not have shown any interest in me, but I know he won’t be thrilled when I tell him what I’m doing Saturday. “I have a date.”
The displeasure is obvious in his dark eyes, which flicker with something like anger. I don’t bother facing him head-on. Just a glance from the corner of my eye shows me all that I need to see. It seeps into his voice, too, making his words tense when he asks, “Where are we going?”
I stop so abruptly that he runs into the back of me, and if it weren't for his quick reflexes, reaching out and grabbing me, I'd have fallen straight to the ground. That only makes my irritation all the more obvious. “Notwe, Moose.Me. I’m going on a date. You can stay home and torture puppies or whatever you do when you're not breathing down my neck.”
“I don't torture puppies,” he chuckles. “Just humans.”
“I know.” I snap. “You’ve tortured me every day for the last six months.”
“Anybody ever told you you're melodramatic?”
“Has anybody ever toldyouthat you're an asshole?”
“Oh, come on, Claire.” He chides. “You can do better than that.”
I narrow my eyes at him, wondering if he’s referring to my insult, or to the man I’m going out with. Obviously, I know I can do better than Austin. I already did.
It isn’t that there’s even anything wrong with Austin. He just isn’t Remy. I’m unsure what his kiss tastes like, how he likes his coffee, or even if he likes coffee at all. I’ve never been in his arms, so I’m not sure if it will feel like I’m meant to nestle there, or if our bodies will fit together like they were made for one another. But at one point in time, I was drawn to him. And Remy isn’t an option, so what’s the harm?
“Take a night off,” I suggest. “And maybe use it to get laid.”
Moose’s eyes are unamused as they wash over me. “Worry about your own love life, princess.”
A shrill chirp confirms that he unlocked the car door, so I pull the handle open and slide into the passenger seat. “What's love got to do with it?”
I’m not looking for love from Austin Lennon. I’m looking for someone to make me feel alive again, no matter how quickly it passes.
Moose has been following me around for months on Remy’s demand. In all that time, I've never seen anything to indicate that he’s capable of understanding something as complex as love.
“Touché.”
I reach for the radio dial, but Moose’s hand shoots out at the same time, landing on the button before me. He doesn’t have to grin for me to see how smug he is.
