Page 72 of Darcy
“The girl under it is pretty cute too,” Arlo adds, peeking over her shoulder.
She waves him off with a tiny blush, then skips away. “Come on. The tide pools are this way!”
Before I follow, I send the photo to the group chat, grinning as theba dum tssechoes from up ahead. When my phone dings a second later, I assume it’s her, and check with a half-smile on my face.
No such luck.
Gabrielle
A last-minute photo op has come up. Get back to the hotel and bring the others with you. Dress for sailing.
“Come on, Prophet,” Darcy calls from up ahead. “They have anenomenomes, anemo—you know! The colourful sea things with cute wavy hair!”
“Anemones,” Dodger corrects, dryly.
The sound of a raspberry floats through the plants to me, and I glance down at my phone again. Gabrielle’s message floats around on my lock screen accusingly, and every cautious part of me warns that, depending on Miguel’s mood, ignoring her could see a repeat of what happened to Darcy’s room. Especially if he learns that she was the reason we didn’t follow orders.
Let him try, I think savagely.We’ll just buy her new clothes.
All I want is one day to ourselves with our girlfriend. I mean,friendwho happens to also be a girl and definitely not ours—mine. Fuck.
Tonight, we’re on stage again, and after that, we’ve got early flights to Austin. We deserve a tiny break.
I turn off my phone and drop it into my pocket before jogging after the others, praying that I don’t regret this.
I almost expect Gabrielle to try the others’ phones, but if she does, they’re just as guilty of ignoring her as I am. To be fair, it’s easy to ignore your phone when Darcy is around, smiling so brightly as she gently dips her slender fingers into the tide pool and hums with happiness as the starfish tries to climb onto her hand.
“Should I add an aquarium to the list of requirements for that house you want?” Slate asks casually—too casually—as he leans against the side of the tank, watching her. “I’m sure we could have one of those cool glass walls with jellyfish in if you wanted.”
Darcy rolls her eyes at him. “That’s just ostentatious.”
“Ouch.” Dodger presses a hand against his heart in mock pain. “You realise we’re rock stars, right? Ostentatious is part of the territory.”
She laughs them off. “Well, I’m not, so I think I can live without that shit.”
“But we’ll need a proper gaming room,” Slate continues, and I glare at him.
It’s obvious what he’s doing. Painting a picture of the future. Tempting me.
“Obviously,” Darcy retorts. “But computers are far easier to keep alive than fish.”
Arlo shrugs. “It says here they aren’t fish. They’re cnidaria.”
Darcy chooses that moment to drop one of the biggest bombshells of my life. “Actually, there’s technically no such thing, scientifically, as a fish.”What the…? No such thing as a fish?“Regardless,” she continues, without bothering to explain. “I don’t fancy keeping something which can sting me as a pet.”
Slate doesn’t miss a beat. “I guess bees are out too, then?”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “I’m all for saving the bees, just as long as they stay far, far away from me.”
“And me,” I grouch, groaning internally as I realise Slate’s plan has worked to draw me into the conversation. “You know I’m allergic.”
Darcy blinks, then mumbles something like. “I thought you were just allergic to smiling.” Then her face brightens as she adds, “As long as my office is good, and we’re close enough to a great pizza place, I don’t care much about the rest of the house. It’s more about the people who live in it, anyway.” Her expression dims for a second. “Most of my sisters have moved out to be with their guys now, and I actually really miss having people around all the time. Not necessarily to talk to, but just the noise, you know? I like knowing that people are there.”
I can relate. My two other sisters moved their young families out-of-state years ago in an attempt to shake the cartel. Even though Destiny stayed—too stubborn to give in when she was being threatened—I still miss Page and Shayla. Some small stupid part of my brain expects them to just be there whenever I return to our parents’ house.
Darcy’s lonely, I realise. Before I can so much as begin to fumble for the words to cheer her up, Arlo is there, dragging her into a sideways hug. “Well, you won’t have to worry about being alone with four boyfriends.”
“Yeah,” Slate continues. “Most of the time, you’ll probably just want to order us all out of the house so you can get some peace and quiet.”
