Dangerous (5 page)

My mind worked furiously to form a comeback, one that would really kick him in the seat of his pants, but it came up empty. What scared me the most was that he was right. Well, not that I would have
nothing
to look forward to, but that I did look forward to seeing him. I hadn’t really dated much. Chance and I had been together for a very long time, so I had grown comfortable around him. Stone was nothing like Chance. Chance was the all-American guy, a phenomenal athlete, the sweet, polite date that every girl’s parents would love. Stone was much darker and more mysterious, aloof, and maybe a little unpredictable. He seemed to be in an unusually good mood at the moment. I had a feeling that he would be much more difficult to get to know. And if I did get to know him, would I like him or would he prove to be an arrogant jerk?

I probably wouldn’t get the answer to my question anytime soon. Stone avoided me for the rest of my shift. I felt awkward around him, but I tried to focus on the fact that I needed to save money for a car.

I called Granny after work, and she assured me that she didn’t need the car and encouraged me to meet up with Crimson and Scarlet. We met at Awesome Sauce, a local restaurant that was a favorite of the younger crowd.

We piled into a booth and ordered drinks and a large order of nachos. Crimson and Scarlet, whose mother named them after shades of her favorite color, sat across from me. They had an exotic look with their olive skin, long hair in a rich, chestnut color, and dark brown eyes. They were true identical twins, and the only way most people could tell them apart was by the tiny scar above Scarlet’s right eyebrow. The rest was word association. Scarlet had the scar. It was kind of lame, but it worked. Well, except for the occasional bonehead that couldn’t seem to grasp the concept.

Crimson and
Scarlet
were a year older than me. They had graduated from the cosmetology program at our school this past year, and they planned to open their own shop on Quail Mountain. I had known them my whole life, and I was with them the day that Scarlet had furiously pedaled her pink princess bicycle into an overgrown holly bush and had to go to the emergency room to get three stitches for the small gash above her eye. She had been six years old and had screamed so wretchedly loud that I thought she was going to die.

“Look, Dara. What do you think about my eye makeup?” Scarlet asked, closing her lids and leaning over the table, so that I could get a closer look.

Scarlet was the creative one. She was always coming up with unusual ways to use makeup. She had a dark, smoky gray eye shadow in the outer corner. Her brow was highlighted with shimmering white and the inner lid was a dark purple. Knowing her, there was no telling how many colors she had blended to get that exact look or how long she had worked on it, but it made her eyes look gorgeous. “It looks awesome. Are you going to do a video on how to get that look?”

“You know she is,” Crimson piped in. “She can’t pass up the chance to put her ugly mug in a video.”

“That really hurts coming from you,” Scarlet snapped. “It’s a little difficult to insult my looks without insulting your own. You do realize that, don’t you?”

Crimson smirked. “Shut up, Scarface. I’m the pretty one.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I’m the smart one.”

“I can get further on my looks than you can on your brains.”

“Beauty fades, but dumb is forever,” Scarlet countered.

Crimson cocked her head to the side, smiled, and fluttered her eyelashes. “I’d rather be pretty.”

“And you continue to prove my point.” Scarlet sighed.

“I have an idea I want to run by y’all,” I said, interrupting their playful bickering.

We all fell silent as the server arrived at our table with our drinks. When she left, they both looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

“Do y’all remember Stone Hamilton from school?” I asked.

“He’s that good-looking guy that rode the motorcycle to school, isn’t he?” Crimson asked.

“That’s him,” I answered.

“And he dated that girl who always had her tongue halfway down his throat in the hallway. A little too much PDA, if you ask me. What was her name?
Jennie or Jamie?”

“Jessie,” I supplied.

“What about him?” Crimson asked.

“He works at the bookstore, too, and he was talking about doing some special promotions. I told him that y’all might agree to do something like braids or painting fingernails for a cheap price. I figured it would help the bookstore get some business, and it could help y’all drum up some business. You know, get your name out there.”

Scarlet clapped her hands together and looked at her sister with enthusiasm. “I’d love to do that, wouldn’t you?”

“Sure,” Crimson answered. “I’ve got nothing else to do.
Why not?”

“When is the promotion?” Scarlet asked.

“I’m not sure. We talked about having one for the Fourth of July. I’ll talk to him about it again and let you know. I don’t know if the owner has approved it or not.”

“We’ll start thinking about all the things we need to do before then. I’m almost finished with our website,” Scarlet said.

The server returned with our nachos, and we each immediately grabbed for a chip. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was.

“Don’t look now,” Crimson warned, “but here comes Chance.”

Stone

I was about to leave the store and head to Awesome Sauce to meet up with Jessie and Mike when I got a text. It was from Mike.
She’s here
.

I texted back.
Ok B
there in a min
.

Mike texted again.
Not Jess.
Dara
.

Well, hell. I had worked hard all day to stay away from her, except for my one little slip-up when she asked me about the coupon. It wasn’t easy to ignore a beautiful girl whose damned pink lips kept beckoning to me, but I had managed. And now I was going to have to see her again. I could ask Mike and Jessie to meet me somewhere else, but that would be insane. I shoved my phone in my pocket, locked up the bookstore, and sped off on my motorcycle. I wanted to get there before she left.

When I arrived, I sat across the booth from Mike. Jess wasn’t there yet. I scanned the room until I found Dara. She was sitting across from the Cruze twins, and Chance was standing at the end of the table. I wasn’t sure what the circumstances were of their breakup, but I wondered if he was going to try to get back together with her. If he was, then the odds would be in his favor. It wasn’t at all uncommon for couples our age to break up and get back together multiple times.

She was looking at him, laughing. I sat silently assessing my options. If he was trying to get back together with her, then I would only have a small window of opportunity. Not that I wouldn’t go for her anyway, but it would be easier before she became his official girlfriend.

My mind told me to turn away. Dara wasn’t the kind of girl that I needed. Chance laid his hand on her shoulder, and I forced my eyes to Mike’s face.

“Have you asked her out yet?” he asked.

“Is she with me?” I shot back, toggling between being angry that I hadn’t asked her and being glad that I didn’t.

Mike grinned. “She could’ve turned you down.”

“Yeah, and you could’ve been voted Homecoming Queen.”

“If it matters that much to you, then why don’t you go ask her now?” he asked, turning in the booth to glance her way.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you were right.
She’s not my type.”

The front door opened, and Jess walked in. She wore a shiny, silver tank top with a black miniskirt and silver, beaded high heels. Her jet black hair hung in long, wavy curls. She was voluptuous, and many heads turned as she made her way down the aisle to our booth.

She sat beside me and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Hey, baby,” she cooed as she took the napkin and wiped her lipstick from my face.

“Hey, Jess.” I put my arm around her shoulders and hugged her to me. Jess and I had been dating for the last few months, but never exclusively. We both liked our freedom, and that was what made our relationship so perfect. Neither of us was clingy. We liked keeping our options open.

“You want something to eat?” I asked her. She wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful, but she knew how to dress to get a guy’s blood pumping.

“No, I’m not hungry,” she replied. She looked across the table at Mike.
“Hey, Mikey.”

“Hey,” he said, nodding his head to her in greeting.

“So what do you guys want to do tonight?” she asked. “Are you on your bike, Mikey?”

“I am. It’s much too nice of a night to be in a car.”

“So why don’t you pick up a girl and we’ll all go riding? You do have your extra helmet with you, don’t you?” she asked.

“You know I always have an extra helmet with me.” Mike looked around the room. “So should I just pick one, chuck her over my shoulder, and tie her on the back of my bike?”

“Mikey,” Jess purred. “You’re so shy. It’s really cute.”

“What’s cute about it?” I asked. “He’s going to die a virgin because he doesn’t have the balls to look a girl in the eyes.”

“Heck, Stone. It’s not like I’ve never been on a date.”

I laughed. I could tell I had gotten under his skin.

“I’ll be right back,” Jess said softly.

I had no idea where she was going or what she was doing. I was as shocked as Mike when she walked up to the table where Dara sat. Chance was gone, and it was now Jess standing at the end of the table, talking to the three girls at the booth.

I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she was smiling and motioning with her hands. Then, she pointed at our booth.

I was even more shocked when one of the Cruze twins got up and followed Jess back to our booth. “Mikey, you remember Crimson Cruze from school, don’t you?”

Crimson smiled. “Hey, Mike.” She waved.

“Hi, Crimson.”

Jessie motioned to me. “And this is Stone Hamilton.”

“Crimson.”
I nodded my head in greeting, and she waved.

Jess continued, “Crimson’s going to ride with us. So let’s go, guys.”

Mike picked up his check and paid it on the way out. I glanced at Dara as I made my way to the door. Since her back was to me, I couldn’t see her face, but Crimson’s twin sister was watching us as we all left the building.

The sun was sinking below the horizon, casting pink and orange hues on the clouds that dotted the sky. Jess climbed on back of my bike and wrapped her slender arms around my waist. She had ridden with me numerous times, and she loved motorcycles almost as much as I did. I rode my bike through the parking lot and waited at the edge of the road for Mike and Crimson to pull up behind me. When I spotted Mike’s bike in my mirror, I hit the road, eager to put some distance between Dara and me. That girl was beginning to consume my thoughts.

***

The next morning, I didn’t arrive at the bookstore until almost eleven. I had stayed out late with Jess, Mike, and
Crimson
the night before, hoping that if I busied myself with their company, I would forget about Dara. I even tried smoking a little weed after I got home, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. I had wondered if Chance was trying to get back together with her. Thankfully, Crimson was quite talkative, and she volunteered the information without anyone having to ask. Chance hadn’t said anything about getting together with Dara when he was standing at their booth last night, but who knows what he might have said to her later after we had left? Hell, why did I even waste my time thinking about them?

I needed a cigarette.

I walked through the store, grabbing a loose cigarette from my front pocket. When I pushed the back door open, I was shocked by what I saw. Smoking was no longer on my mind, and I shoved the cigarette back into my front pocket.

Chapter 3

Stone

I wasn’t sure which of us was the most surprised, but Dara’s sweet, pink lips formed a perfect “O” as she gaped at me like a frightened rabbit.

“Oh, I…I…I’m so sorry,” she sputtered.

I had visions of Dara on my motorcycle, but I had never expected to catch her sitting on it, her delicate hands wrapped around the grips on the handlebar, her tiny, sandaled feet resting on the pegs. She stared at me with wide, green eyes, her blond hair gently blowing in the balmy breeze. Damn, she was beautiful. The only thing wrong with this picture was that I wasn’t sitting on it in front of her, her hands clutching me. Not yet, anyway.

She
finally
spoke again. “Please don’t be mad. It’ll never happen again. I’ve just never seen a motorcycle up close before.”

Several emotions coursed through my body. Anger wasn’t one of them. She was still staring at me as if she were afraid to move until she had gotten a response from me. I should put the poor girl out of her misery.

“You want to go for a ride?” I asked her, amused at her present predicament.