“Okay . . . how about Till ‘The Lights Go Out’ Page? Come on! You have to admit that’s a good one!” Quarry exclaimed before shoveling chocolate cake into his mouth.
“Oh! I like the play on your name in that one,” Eliza replied, passing me a slice.
I rubbed my chin, pretending to consider it. “Well, I love it. My only concern is what if I fight someone who isn’t afraid of the dark like Q?”
“I’m not afraid of the dark!”
Even Eliza laughed that time. “The Fatal Kiss.” She leaned up and gently pecked my lips.
It caused Quarry to make a gagging sound, Flint to yell, “Veto!” and me to drop my hand into her lap. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks heated as I snuck it under the edge of her skirt.
“The Hell Greeter! You know, because of you and the whole purgatory thing.” Quarry’s eyes flashed to Eliza, who was biting her lip as she pried my hand from between her legs.
“I feel like this is purgatory,” I mumbled. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” I slid out of the booth, dragging her with me.
I threw an arm over her shoulders and the four of us walked to Eliza’s car. I was genuinely happy for quite possibly the first time in my life. I’d just paid for my entire family to have dinner at decent restaurant, and I hadn’t had to save for six months to do it. I had a job I loved, Quarry had a birthday present waiting for him at home, and Eliza was going to end the night calling my name. Life was good.
And it made me so fucking paranoid.
“Hey, can you drive home?” Eliza handed me the keys.
“You okay?”
“I have an idea.” She rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine, biting my bottom lip as she pulled away.
“Suddenly, I have ideas too.” I looped an arm around her waist and rolled my hips into hers.
“Well, you need to get rid of those ideas,” she whispered looking over her shoulder to where the boys were waiting by the car. “I’m on my period.”
“Ah, yes. Natures very own cock block.” I nodded before releasing a frustrated groan.
She giggled. “Yes, but it also means that I can start my birth control so we can get rid of the condoms.” She lifted her eyebrows suggestively.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, woman. Now you are speaking a language I understand.” I grabbed both sides of her face and planted a hard closed mouth kiss to her lips.
“Let’s go!” Flint yelled, grabbing our attention.
“Next weekend is the lock in at the gym. They will be gone for an entire night. You should rest up while you can.” I winked as I walked away.
As we loaded into the car, she pulled a sketchpad out and went to work. I didn’t recognize the movements as her pencils glided across the paper. I tried to peek over her shoulder at every red light we hit, but I was never able to catch a single glance. She was acting weird, and my heart raced while waiting for the sky to fall.
“You sure you’re okay?” I squeezed her leg.
She glanced up with a warm smile. “I swear. I just wanted to draw something.” She lifted my hand from her leg and kissed the palm, reading my nerves like a freaking book.
As soon as we walked through the front door, Eliza sat us all down.
“So,” she started, but nothing followed for several seconds. “I’m not sure how you guys are going to feel about this, but I had an idea at the restaurant. I know this is kind of a touchy subject, but I don’t really think ignoring it does anyone any good.” She flipped the sketchpad over.
I blinked.
Flint gasped.
Quarry cursed.
She had drawn a pistol that appeared to be shooting an intricate sound wave, which eventually fell flat. Inside the spikes of the wave were the words “The Silencer” in block letters.
“Till, I don’t mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but every single day that passes, you fight to keep the silence at bay. I think it’s only fair that your opponents should have to face The Silencer.”
“Hell yeah!” Quarry flew to his feet.
Flint watched me closely for a reaction, but with one look at the paper, I was rendered speechless.
If I could have taken a step back, I would have realized that the logo she’d whipped up on a twenty-minute car ride home was just good and the nickname she’d picked was just catchy. But I couldn’t do that at all. What she’d put on that paper was extraordinary to me.
It gave power to my flaws, purpose to my life sentence, and pride to my future in silence.
It was a symbol depicting who I was, drawn by the very hands that had made me who I was.
I mentally vowed that, from that moment on, I would always be “The Silencer” Till Page.
She nervously chewed on her lip as everyone in the room waited for me to speak. I stood up from the couch and walked over to where she was standing. After grabbing the sketchpad from her hand, I roughly tore off the top page.
“It was just an idea. Don’t get mad,” she said, starting to apologize.
“Oh, I’m furious,” I responded, gripping the back of her neck. “You’ve been holding out on me. I had no idea you could draw anything but eyes.”