Page 34 of Phantom
“Makes sense.” There was a gravelly quality to Colin’s voice that made me look in his direction. “What?”
“Is everything okay? You sound weird.”
“It’s just a lot of people. It’s gonna make ensuring that this place isn’t bugged a little more difficult.”
Colin’s consideration for things that no one else would think about was almost supernatural. “It’ll be okay. Now that the Rebels and Raging Vipers are around, too, it’s safer. Come on. Let’s check the clubhouse.”
We passed through the fence’s gates surrounding the desert plot and passed through the people, bound for the clubhouse. Those Raging Vipers who I recognized as I passed, I nodded hello to, but Colin’s pace was too rushed for me to stop for any proper conversations. He suddenly seemed much more erratic than he had been. Was he that nervous about the influx of people?
When we reached the clubhouse’s door, I reached out to unlock the door but stopped and faced Colin. “Hey, are you sure you’re good?” Colin’s head was on a swivel. He was folding up and releasing his fingers in a continuous pattern. It was the most unsettled I’d seen him since the day he arrived. “Colin.”
I grabbed his face and turned it toward mine, and he immediately leaned in. Never one to turn down a kiss from him, I mirrored his actions, and our lips met. His lips had a slight tremble to them. I pulled back and unlocked the door to the clubhouse, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind him. He didn’t resist when I brought him back in for another kiss. In fact, his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer.
This kiss reminded me of the one we shared right before Colin asked for more time. He dragged me as close to him as he could, like he was afraid he may lose his grip. Whatever comfort he was taking from our connection, I wanted him to feel secure about, so I held on tight and worked him through it. Finally, he pulled away.
“Sorry.”
My head was shaking before I could stop it. “For what?”
“I don’t like large groups of people.” He bobbed his head a little. “I don’t like large, uncontained groups of people.”
When I pulled on Colin’s hand, he relented, and I dragged him over to one of the clubhouse couches. We sat, and I flicked him on his forehead. “You probably should have brought that up before now.”
“Yeah.” Colin’s hands tightly held on to mine. “It didn’t really occur to me until I saw everyone.”
“Well, MiD isn’t a small event. Are you gonna be okay?”
He nodded. “I will. It just needed to hit me, that’s all.”
“Okay. Are you sure? My dad’s probably gonna be leaning on you a little this weekend. He trusts you.”
One of Colin’s hands drifted up to my face and stroked my cheek. “Yeah. I’m sure. Sorry.”
With a chuckle, I pecked Colin on the lips. “It’s okay not to be a superhero all the time, you know?”
Colin let out a laugh to match mine. “I’m hardly a superhero.”
I left it at that because arguing with him about that particular fact was hardly worth it. We stood up and gave the clubhouse the traditional sweep. Then Colin mustered up his courage, and we started to cover the grounds. Even though he claimed to be okay, Colin stuck to the stalls’ shadows, and on more than one occasion, I completely lost track of where he was. More than enough trust existed between the two of us, but every time I seemed to lose him, my heart would race a little quicker until I found him again.
In just the little bit of time that we’d been in the clubhouse, most of the Raging Vipers and vendors left, leaving their locked booths behind for the big day, and those who were still hanging around left while we were walking around. Once everyone was gone, Colin’s head stopped whipping around so much, and his stalking movement abated, leaving a more normal pattern of movement behind.
Due to the little hiccup in Colin’s habitually confident demeanor, and since the grounds now held about a dozen vendor booths, the crawl across the grounds took longer than usual. The sun was already setting by the time we were done with the sweep. Colin and I would usually climb into the loft to relax and talk at this point. Even though his actions had become more normal in the time elapsed, his energy still felt a little unsettled. I didn’t want to give up our time in the loft, but he seemed like he could use a drink.
“Wanna head back?” I asked. “It’s hot out here, and a beer sounds great.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay. You head to your bike. I’ll go lock up and—”
“I’ll come with.”
I flipped around and stabbed a finger out toward him. “Hey! Don’t fucking damsel-in-distress me. I can take care of myself.”
Colin’s jaw dropped. “I, um… no. I just…” He sighed. “Never mind. I’ll meet you at the bikes.”
“Okay.” My auburn hair whipped around as I turned again to head to the clubhouse, and I immediately felt bad. If he was uncomfortable and just wanted to stick by me, that wasn’t bad. “Fuck,” I grumbled out loud to myself as I walked. I was too impulsive. Colin was good at thinking before he spoke. I needed to try that sometime.
With the lights off and alarm set at the clubhouse, I made my way back over to the bikes. Colin was already on his, and when I walked back out of the gate and locked it, Colin’s bike roared to life. I hadn’t even made it back to my bike when Colin revved his to life a few times and pulled out onto the street, starting off down the road without me.
