Facade

He curses but doesn’t try to stop me as I jog away. Jog toward this girl—Cheye

She’s almost to the building as I catch up with her. “Hey! Cheye

She turns and at first, I’m worried this was a bad idea. She looks like she wants to take me out, but then recognition lights in her eyes and she smiles at me. “Hi. You’re Adrian’s friend. What was your name again?”

When I reach her, I stop and return her smile. “Delaney. My brother and I just moved in here.”

“That’s who he is. I wondered after I saw you with Adrian. He’s got half the girls in the building freaking out over him.”

I shake my head. “That doesn’t really surprise me.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t. So, what’s up? I have a two o’clock class, but I’m meeting Colt for lunch real quick.”

The way she smiles, I’m sure she’s meeting him for more than that. Again that jealousy tries to creep in. I’ve never in my life had someone to meet for something like that.

“Oh. I don’t want to keep you. It’s just…” I can’t believe I’m doing this. I feel like such an idiot. “Adrian… we kind of had a little disagreement earlier and… well, I want to see him, but I’m not sure I could find his house again, and—”

“Say no more,” Cheye

Giddiness I have no business feeling builds inside me. It’s only because I want to help him. Because I want to help us both.

“It’s my night off,” I tell her. “So I have no plans at all.”

Cheye

“You do now.”

I do now.

Chapter Nine

~Adrian~

I don’t try and sleep today. Know there’s no way I could. When your mind starts cross-country ru

I watch as the smoke floats around my living room and wonder what it would be like if it could really transport me away. Lift me up and not stop going until I’m gone all together.

“Fuck.” Slouching, I lean back on my couch. I hate these thoughts. Hate living a lie between what’s inside me and what I show to everyone else. I want the weed to help me like it used to.

I start to wonder what Casper’s hiding. If it’s dark inside her like it is me, but then I try to push those thoughts away.

A few hours later, there’s no room in my brain to think of anything except the music beating in my veins. The crowd of people in my house who will always come if they know there’s a party and I count on that. Count on the distraction I know they can provide for me.

I’m sitting around the kitchen table with people whose names I don’t even know. Names I won’t ask because they really don’t matter, just like half of them probably don’t even know it’s my house they’re partying in right now.

My fingers itch to write and my mind itches to be transported away, but instead I laugh and fucking talk and pretend to see the future when some chick tells me she heard I’m psychic. What a joke.

“I need a drink.” Pushing up from the table, I head to the fridge. My hand touches a bottle of beer, but then I glance at my cell before I grab it. It’s after ten. Delaney’s at work by now and I think about the fact that in about three hours she’ll be there with no one out front if something goes down.

Closing the fridge, I lean against the counter. People go around me, through me, but all that’s in my head is that I need to stop seeing that girl. She’s not my problem and if she wants to work by herself at the same place someone held a gun to her head, it’s not my business. There’s one person in my life I really could have protected—Mom won’t ever leave Dad, so there’s nothing I can do about that. Angel got out the second she could. My sister was always stronger. She never needed me.

That left Ash and I let him die, so what the fuck do I think I’m doing pretending there’s anything I can do for Delaney?

Hell, why do I want to?

“Hey, Adrian.” I hardly get a chance to see who it is when the girl steps up to me.

“Hey, Trish.” I smile at her. She’s got dark skin and these sexy little braids that I’ve had my hands in more than once. “What took you so long to find me?” I ask.

She smiles, stepping right up next to me. “Maybe I was waiting to see if you’d come looking for me?”

And even though it should be all right, somehow this game feels wrong. It always has, but it’s vibrating through me a little deeper than it usually does. An earthquake below the surface and I wonder if it will cause a tsunami to drown me. I’m so fucking tired of it all. I want to step back into the quiet of the diner where I can pretend to be someone else. “Sorry… I’m not really looking to hook up.”

She frowns, but it looks more like confusion than a

“Oh… okay.” Trish still looks confused but doesn’t say anything else. Or maybe she doesn’t get a chance to, because Colt is pushing his way over to me. It’s surprising as hell to see him here and I’m about to tell him when he speaks.

“What the fuck, man. I’ve been texting you all night. Answer your fucking phone once in a while.”

“Miss me that much?” I tease him.

“No, though I guess your psychic ass should already know this, but…” He looks at Trish.

“Eh. I have better things to do than listen to you guys gossip like a bunch of girls anyway.” With that she walks away.

“Chey showed up with your girl today.”

What? “My girl?” I ask. “I know I’m good, but not good enough to handle girls I don’t know I have.”

“You wish, man. Chey thinks she’s playing matchmaker. Thought I’d try to warn ya.”

I don’t know what it is about those words that makes everything click into place. Before I have the chance to think about it much, Cheye

And there’s the fact that I still want her.

“If it isn’t Casper the Friendly Ghost.” I cross my arms and dare her to meet my eyes, which she surprisingly does quickly.

“Casper? What the hell’s that?” Cheye

My eyes don’t waiver from Delaney’s. I’m daring her to look away. To give in first, but she doesn’t. Her gaze is strong.

“The name’s our little secret, isn’t it, Casper?” Inside, I’m begging her to back down. To walk out of here, because the fact that I’m playing this little game with her, that I’m still wondering what she thought of the poem or if she believes in happy endings means she’s gotten inside my head when I’m usually so good at keeping it on lockdown.

“You’re totally trying to intimidate her. Colt, your friend’s being a dick,” Cheye

“ ’Bout time someone other than me gets called that,” he replies.

One of Delaney’s eyebrows rises. Is she issuing me a challenge too? Can I take her up on it?

“He’s not intimidating me,” she says.

“I like her,” Cheye

“I like you,” Colt says back to her. It’s then I glance over to see her smile at him as he drags her away.

“Looks like it’s just us.” Pushing off the counter, I stand next to her.