Page 10 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

I swallowed hard, trying to stop my body’s bizarre reaction to Daniel’s intensity. “You too,” I managed to choke out.

Fumbling with my keys, I tried to unlock the car, only to find I’d already done it, and climbed behind the wheel. With shaking hands, I turned on the ignition and reversed out of the drive.

I knew Daniel was watching me. I didn’t know how, but I just knew he was. The thought gave me goosebumps, and not the kind you get when you’re freaked out. It was the kind you get when you find something thrilling.

I tried my hardest not to look as I drove away, but I’ll admit it. I was weak. I just had to know if he really was watching me.

As I glanced toward the house, I found him exactly where I’d left him, his arms down by his sides, his perfectly sculpted torso s

oftly illuminated under the streetlight, and his gaze never leaving me.

It wasn’t until I was a few blocks away that my pulse returned to somewhere near normal and confusion set in. What the hell was that? Was I so upset by everything that had happened that I was clinging to the first person who showed me kindness? Or was it the fact that he was a carbon copy of Ryan and my mind was trying to pretend it was him giving me such intense feelings?

I scowled at the last thought. No. I was done with Ryan. Even if he came to beg for my forgiveness, I could never give myself to him after seeing him like that. With Kacey.

No. It definitely wasn’t anything to do with Ryan. It was just Daniel. It was the way he seemed to genuinely care about how I felt after what I had seen. It was the honesty, deep in his eyes. I’d never seen anything like it. Not from my parents, and certainly not from Ryan.

Ryan could go sleep with every other skank girl we knew and then some, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t care. But that left me with a problem. A real big problem. My parents. Ryan wasn’t coming to their dinner, and they were going to lose face.

And it was all my fault.

The nerves started before I’d even driven through the gates. By the time I’d pulled into the ten-car garage, I just felt sick. I had no idea what Mom was going to do when she found out I’d failed to get Ryan back. I just knew it wasn’t going to be good.

I’d hoped I’d be able to slip on up to my room without being noticed. That was usually how it happened. Neither of my parents usually gave me the time of day, unless they needed me to do something for them. Unfortunately, Mom was waiting for me.

She didn’t even say anything. She just raised her eyebrow with her usual expectation.

I swallowed, standing stock-still just inside the doorway. When I couldn’t bring myself to say anything in return, she snapped.

“Well?”

“I . . . uh . . . I couldn’t. He didn’t . . .”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Amy. Just spit it the hell out!”

My shoulders sagged. “It didn’t work. He’s not coming.”

Her glare caused a lump to grow in my throat. “Unbelievable! Just . . . you’re pathetic. What the hell did I do to deserve a daughter as ungrateful as you? It’s not hard to catch and keep a boy, Amy. They think with their goddamned dicks! Your father and I gave you the best genes possible. I gave you the tools, the know-how, to use those genes to your advantage, and what do you do? You squander it. You absolutely throw it back in our faces! You’re the most ungrateful child I’ve ever met! Thanks to you, your father and I are going to be a laughingstock tomorrow night. You can forget Paris, miss. And don’t think you’re going anywhere with those friends of yours this summer.”

If I needed any further proof of what kind of love my parents had for me, this was it. Strangely, I didn’t feel like crying. I just felt kind of empty and numb. Didn’t they know it wasn’t the trips to Paris, the fancy cars, or the expensive clothes I was looking for?

I’d have given it all just to have them love me.

Bitterness crept up inside me. “Sorry, Mother. By the time I got there, he already had his dick inside another girl.”

With that, I shouldered past her and ran up the stairs to my room.

Chapter 6

Daniel

Standing on the front path, I watched the messenger drive off before opening the letter he’d just given me. Scanning the short message, I folded it back up and tucked it back in the envelope it came from.

It wasn’t anything I hadn’t been expecting. Just reiterating what we’d been told about our leave before we left base. Companies Alpha and Delta were due to deploy for Australia September first. That meant those of us on voluntary leave needed to be back on base by August twenty-fourth. A good ten weeks away.

“Who was that?”

I turned to see Ryan standing on the porch. It’d been almost a week since the incident with Amy. I knew I shouldn’t have let it get to me, but the whole thing had left a very bitter taste in my mouth, and it’d been a real struggle to be civil to him whenever we were in the same room together.

---