Lucy knew it could all be an act. He could be trying to gain her trust just to use or abuse her later, but right now she had no choice. She had to get warm and then she could think about ditching him.
“I know it’s probably hard for you to believe me right now. But I’ve seen enough grief in my lifetime and I’m not ever gonna make anyone suffer.” He pressed his lips together. “I guess you’re just gonna have to trust my word on that.”
The speech made Lucy’s insides settle. Yes, he could still be lying, but he could also be telling the truth. She knew she had to cling to that for now.
Tonight, she had to trust Marlin and so she closed her eyes and pretended that his bony chest was a pillow and that the sleeping bag around her was the pale blue comforter on her bed in the upstairs bedroom. She imagined that her parents were snuggled up together down the hall and that in the morning she’d go to school, meet up with her friends and then head to the Spring Musical rehearsal where she just might get to kiss Patrick De Luca.
Chapter 9
ZACH
March 2014
So I won the swimming. Whether she let me or not, I wasn’t sure…and I also didn’t care. As Dani slid into the passenger seat of my car, I couldn’t help letting a smug smile escape.
She chuckled and lightly punched my arm. “So you’re a better swimmer than me.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’m getting a free meal out of this, so I think I’m the actual winner.”
“Think what you like.” I shook my head with a grin. “I’m the one who gets to take out a pretty girl.” I could feel my cheeks igniting with color, but tried to act as though I didn’t. What the hell made me so bold and flirty? So not my style.
I cleared my throat and kept my eyes on the road, not wanting to see her expression.
We reached the Italian restaurant a few minutes later and Dani looked confident and relaxed as she stepped out of the car. I wanted to reach for her hand. It felt like the natural thing to do, but I squished my fingers into my pockets and forced myself to play it casual. I didn’t like this girl and I really wished I didn’t have to keep reminding myself of that fact.
Elliot, Jaeda and Liesl were sitting in a round booth in the corner. I’d warned them all that I was bringing Dani and they were all cool with it. They wanted to check out the girl I’d been giving them regular updates on anyway.
“Hey guys.” I waved at my friends who stopped their conversation short to grin at me and then Dani. Poor girl. To be ogled by my nosy friends was not a great way for her to start the night.
“Hey.” She smiled and slid into the seat next to Elliot, confident and smooth.
Liesl stuck out her hand. “Hi Dani, I’m Liesl.”
She returned the shake.
“And this is Jaeda.” Liesl wrapped her arm around her best friend and squeezed.
“Hiya.” Jaeda’s smile was bright, probably made more so by the glossy lipstick she was wearing. It looked like it had glitter in it or something. I leaned forward for a closer look and she kissed the air in front of me. “Gold Fusion. I bought it yesterday.” She wiggled her eyebrows, appreciating the fact that I noticed.
I didn’t actually know why I noticed this stupid stuff, but for some reason, I’d always been an observer and spotting the details was what I liked the most. I liked that I didn’t miss the small stuff. Like the fact that Dani had been wearing the same pair of jeans all week and that so far I’d only seen her wear a black and a dark grey T-shirt. It seemed strange for a girl who’s father had a job that paid really well. I know I thought of her as a tomboy, but surely she owned more than one pair of jeans and two T-shirts. Maybe she just hated doing laundry.
“This is Elliot.” I pointed across Dani to my non-smiling friend and mouthed over the top of his head. “Be nice!”
Elliot glared back at me and then pushed a stupidly fake smile over his lips.
Dani snickered. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to like me. I’m still figuring out if I like you as well.” I couldn’t see her face, but I was guessing she winked at him. His smile tipped to the genuine kind before dropping away.
“And dinner is served,” AJ announced in a loud French accent as he swung through the kitchen doors into the near empty restaurant.
We always came early, before the dinner rush, which was why AJ was allowed to lavish us with his experiments. It helped that Vincenzo’s was owned by his dad’s best friend. The guy was like an uncle to AJ and let him get away with a lot.
“What’s on the menu tonight, good lookin’?” Liesl tugged AJ down for a kiss after he placed the tray on the table.
Man, those two had no problems at all with the whole PDA thing and it got a little embarrassing. Dani looked at me, squashing a giggle when I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue.
“Okay! We get it. You love each other,” Jaeda practically yelled at them. “Can we please eat now?”