“How about this,” she began while tracing the rim of her coffee cup with her finger. “You tell me one truth of yours, and I’ll tell you one of mine.” My first reaction was to tell her to fuck off, but I stopped myself before I could let the knee-jerk response come tumbling out of my mouth.
“Any truth?”
“Any. But I’d really like to know more about your friendship with my brother. You’re so...protective. That has to come from somewhere. Either you have a massive crush on your best friend, or you have history. Which is it?”
Of all the things she could have asked, she wanted to know about Lance. Another brick in the wall I’d built up around her turned to dust.
“Lance and I grew up in a wealthy neighborhood. We never wanted for anything. Never really had to try hard to succeed. We had life handed to us on a silver platter—literally. But it wasn’t all easy,” I offered with a shrug.
“Why not?”
“Because when you have the world, everyone wants to take it from you,” I replied before cracking my knuckles. “Your turn.”
She sat there for a moment, marinating in my honesty. Based on the sour expression on her face, she didn’t like what I had to tell. That was a first. Usually, when everyone heard that we came from money, it made them want to latch on for dear life. That, coupled with my father’s career, usually ended with girls that had diamond rings in their eyes.
I expected her to share about her shitty childhood, compare and contrast what was different about my privilege and her suffering, but she didn’t. “I once wanted to be a scientist when I grew up.”
“What kind?”
“The kind that discovered shit. Maybe work for a pharmaceutical company. After Mama’s treatments, I learned real quick that they make good money. I could cure cancer or something,” she said offhandedly with a wave of her hand. That didn’t sound very convincing.
“And now? What do you want to do now?”
“Tell me another truth, and I’ll answer that.”
Oh, so she was bargaining now? I felt my chest heat at the challenge. “My dad played professional football.”
“Never really liked the sport. Now tell me something about you, something that isn’t laced with your ego or other people’s achievements.”
“You think I have an ego?” I asked while leaning forward. She matched my stance, propping her tits up on the table as she stared at me for a long while. I had to force myself not to stare down her shirt. I took a sip of my coffee while she mulled over her response.
She then rasped, “I think your ego’s so big it drags on the floor when you walk. Must be hard carrying around all that self-importance on your back.” I spit my coffee out into my palm in shock, looking like a damn idiot in the process. What the fuck had she said? My dick was proudly growing hard at the reference to my ego, but said ego was bruised as hell by what she thought of me.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Your turn,” I sputtered, trying to gain control of the conversation.
“I’ve always wanted to get the fuck out of Texas.”
“That’s not a job,” I quipped.
“That’s not a legit truth. Tell me something juicy, and I’ll spill all my deepest, darkest secrets, Mr. Harris,” she replied in a sultry tone, or at least it sounded sultry and hot to me. My dick stirred in my pants, and I had to resist the urge to tell him to calm the fuck down. Maybe this was just her sleepy voice. Maybe she didn’t feel the same pull as I did.
“Fine,” I gritted. “Lance saved my life in ninth grade. One of Dad’s super fans broke into our house with a gun. Lance was spending the night and tackled the bitch before she could shoot my mom and me.” Flashbacks. Gunshots. Screams. Terror. It all hit me like a punch to the gut. I squeezed my eyes shut, still remembering the sound of her arm cracking when Lance landed on her. What I didn’t mention was that Dad had been sleeping with her. She was a one-night stand that wouldn’t quit. I felt my body grow clammy with sweat. The reminders of everything else that happened afterward broke through me like a freight train. Mom’s addiction to booze. Dad’s yelling. He could deflect with the best of them.
“Decker,” a voice said softly. “Decker!” it screamed. I blinked. Blinked again. Blinked a third time before digging my nails into the table once more. My eyes went back to Blakely, who looked as terrified as I felt. “I want to be a doctor.”
The smoke cleared. The screams faded. “A doctor, huh?” I choked out.
“Don’t think too highly of me. It’s not because some doctor changed my life while Mama was in the hospital. I just think it’s the only profession that’ll fit with my terrible handwriting.”
“Wait, what? You’re picking a dream job based on the fact that your handwriting is bad?” I asked while shaking my head, all previous thoughts fading from existence.
“That’s why it’s a dream job, Decker,” she said before standing and putting her coffee mug in the sink. She didn’t ask about my parents. She didn’t ask about what happened or where my mind went just now. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was distracting me. Why the fuck was that? “It’s a dream. I can do whatever I want. Reality, though? I’ll be lucky to keep this job with Rose.”
Yeah. We’d see about that. Suddenly, I started racing through my knowledge of the admission process for the school I worked at. Something about her answer and nonchalance made me determined.
“We still on for Tuesday?” I asked as she walked down the hall, away from me. I didn’t like that she was leaving so soon.
“Yeah, I suppose,” she called back. And when I heard the door to her bedroom shut, it was like all those bad memories came flooding back.
Yep. I was definitely fucked.
7
Blakely
“This is where you wanted to take me?” I asked as Decker’s classic car, an ostentatious man-machine with black paint and shiny chrome, pulled up to a large, modern school. The manicured lawns and white concrete exterior made the building look polished and welcoming, but I was intimidated all the same. A crest hung over the front door boasting its name: Memphis Academy for Math and Sciences, or MAMS for short.
Decker rolled his eyes while he put the car in park before twisting in his seat to stare at me. “I have to get the labs ready for school. I figured I could give you a quick tour of the place, and you can help me get everything set up.”
I felt myself growing angry at another unexpected twist. First, it was the sneaky bribe to get me to tell my secrets. Now, he was taking me to school even though I hadn’t made any decisions yet. Decker bit his lip as he openly observed me, a small smirk kissing his features. He knew exactly what he was doing, and it was pissing me off.
“Who says I even want to help you? Besides, wouldn’t it be weird for a teacher to be spending his Saturday with a prospective student alone on campus?” I taunted. His easy-going expression slipped a fraction, and I watched in amusement as doubt flickered across his dark eyes. Got him.
He pulled his keys from the ignition before opening the door with a confident shove. “Are you insinuating there’s something inappropriate going on?” he asked in a deep voice that I felt in my core. “Because I was just planning on showing my best friend’s baby sister around. I’d hate for you to get any ideas about this.” He stood up and slammed the car door shut as I sputtered in disbelief. That asshole.