Sweet On You

chapter Twenty-two



Marley stood outside of Valentine's subterranean office, her hand on the door handle. She should just go in. She started to open the door.

No, she shouldn't. She stopped, biting her lip. Maybe getting Brian's address wasn't a great idea.

Except she missed him. She'd been sitting in her office, surrounded by the mildly disappointed faces of the Justice League, trying to work on the list Tony had given her in his effort to "set Marley and his sister right."

She rolled her eyes. So far, the only thing he'd managed was to drive Daniela out of the house. They hadn't heard from her in days. She wasn't even returning Marley's calls.

That made Marley feel bad, like she let down someone who was supposed to count on her no matter what. She wanted to talk to Brian about it, but he wouldn't answer her calls either.

Which made her feel doubly bad. She'd lost the only two friends she had.

The days since she'd last seen Brian were awful. They'd dragged on forever, gray and dull, without anything to look forward to. She'd have given anything to hang out with him—to see a movie or dangle their feet over the stone wall as they shared cookies.

She missed kissing him.

She sighed. She really missed kissing him.

So she pressed on the handle and went inside.

Sitting primly on one of the gilded chairs, Valentine set her phone down. "I wondered if you were going to come in or not."

"I wasn't sure it was a good idea." She sat down, unwinding the lime green scarf. "I didn't know if you'd be angry with me."

Valentine regarded her silently, then shrugged. "I'm a matchmaker, so I've seen it all. But Brian's a friend of mine, so I'm disappointed for him. He liked you."

Liked. She winced at the past tense. "You've talked to him?"

"Not much."

But enough to be annoyed with her—Marley got that much from Valentine's body language. "I need to see him, but he won't answer my calls. I don't suppose you'd give me his address, would you?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

The thought of not talking to Brian sent her over the edge. She leaned forward, intent on making Valentine understand. "I just want to talk to him. He and I have become friends in the past weeks and I feel bad leaving things the way they stand."

"That's all?" Valentine asked mildly. "You just want to fix your friendship?"

"No. Yes." She threw her hands in the air and fell back against the seat back. "I don't know. I thought we were friends."

"I thought you loved someone else."

She shook her head. "I don't know how I feel about anything. When I start to think about it, my head just hurts."

"You need to figure it out."

"I thought I had it figured out," she wailed. "I thought I loved Tony, but he's been around the house for days and instead of being excited I've just been annoyed. I try to avoid him at all costs. I even ducked into a closet to hide from him when he was calling for me."

"If you want my professional opinion, that's a bad sign."

She ignored her friend's sarcasm. "I thought if I talked to Brian, it might make it all clear somehow."

Valentine said nothing, watching her like impassively as though she were a psychiatrist.

Marley took a deep breath. "I just want to talk to him. Please, Valentine."

"I'll give you his address on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You have to kiss him." Valentine crossed her arms, looking like a militant cupid. She leaned forward, eyes blazing. "And not just a peck on the cheek. You have to kiss him with all the passion in your soul. That's the only way you're going to know."

Kissing Brian had never been the problem, so she nodded. "Okay."

Valentine picked up her phone and tapped the screen. "I texted it to you. Go now. I know he's home."

"Thank you." Getting up, she impulsively hugged her and then ran out the door.

By the time she flagged a cab and made it to Brian's apartment, she'd started to get cold feet. She stood on his doorstep, just like she had on Valentine's, not sure what to do.

He took the decision out of her hands by opening the door. "I can hear you creaking on the porch."

"Oh." She tried to smile but she was afraid she only managed a sickening grimace. "Hi."

He arched his brow. "That's all you've got for me?"

"No. Can I come in?"

Straightening his glasses, he stepped aside.

She gave his apartment a quick look, surprised that it was so tidy considering he didn't know she was coming over. Then she gasped, seeing the framed artwork on the walls. There was an entire series, all superheroes, ending with a simple abstract painting of Catwoman. "You have superheroes too," she said, dumbfounded.

"I doubt that's why you came over," he said, leaning against a wall.

"No, it's not." But it struck her hard for some reason. She tried to clear her head and focus on why she was there. "I had things I wanted to say, but I can't quite put them into words."

"Then how about I get some things off my chest?"

That didn't seem like a good idea, but she was so off-balanced she found herself saying, "Okay."

"When I said before that I wasn't interested in dating you, I was lying." He shrugged. "I'd hoped the reverse psychology would work on you. I shouldn't have tried. Hell, I shouldn't even be interested. Your priorities are screwed up. I don't need that."

She didn't know what to address first, so she just focused on the last part. "My priorities are fine."

"You're wasting your life working as a slave for someone just because you like her brother. Can you argue that?"

She clamped her mouth shut.

"See?" he said gently. "And the thing is, what are you wasting it for? Nothing, because that guy is never going to return your affections."

"I—"

"He doesn't even see you," Brian continued. "You're so far off his radar, it's not even funny. I don't even know that you really like him. He's just a substitute for the father you never had. Any idiot could see that."

Tony, the father she never had? The idea was preposterous—and kind of true. But she wasn't going to think on that now. She had to focus on what was important here. "I didn't come to talk about Tony. I came to talk about you."

Brian stuck his hands in his pockets. "There's nothing to talk about. You made your feelings clear."

"No, I haven't. I've barely gotten a word in edgewise."

"So what do you want, Marley? Because it seems to me you don't know. Or, at the very least, what you want isn't what I was offering."

"What were you offering?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"A friend and partner in crime. Someone who understands you, who likes you even when you're not at your best." He got in her face. "I wanted you, not some ideal that existed only in my head but the true package. All funny, snarky, quirky parts of it."

"You wanted?" She swallowed. "Past tense?"

"I'd be a fool to chase someone who doesn't want me to catch her, wouldn't I?"

That was the thing. Maybe she did want him to catch her. She thought about the way she felt when he kissed her, the tingly excitement. She thought about how happy she felt after she'd been with him. She'd never felt that way with anyone.

But she was scared. What if she told Brian all that she he walked away? He was already halfway out the metaphorical door.

Maybe she was really screwed up.

"I'll go," she said softly, bowing her head.

She wanted him to stop her. She wanted him to take her in his arms and convince her to stay. But he opened the door for her to leave.

She did, and it wasn't until much later she realized she hadn't been able to keep her promise to Valentine. She hadn't kissed Brian, and she was pretty sure she'd never get the chance to.