“What can I do, Lexi? How can I help?” I whisper in her ear, and she pulls away just enough to see me. We’re both inches away from making more bad decisions as she stares at my lips and starts moving closer.
“You don’t even know me, James.”
“We can change that. Say it again, please?”
“You barely know me?”
“No, my name. It sounds fucking beautiful when you say it.”
“James.” It’s breathy and sexy and perfect as her lips graze mine.
“Lex Luthor! Are you out here?” Dani’s voice pulls us apart again as the night of near misses continues.
“Shit,” she says as she slips away, dabbing her eyes on the cuffs of my jacket. She winces when she remembers the jacket is mine and tries to take it off again, but I stop her. She smiles at me, hugging the jacket a little closer. “I should go.”
“I should, too,” I whisper, not meaning it. I don’t want to let her go. “If you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning?” She starts backing away slowly. “I uhm… I’d like to do that someday, the going out somewhere thing. I think that would be great.”
“Yeah?”
She bites her bottom lip and nods. She’s beautiful.
“Ah ha! Found you!” Dani screams as she runs over and looks between us, trying to figure out what’s going on. “Oh shit, am I interrupting?”
“No,” Lexi smiles back at me as they walk away. “I’m hungry. Let’s go home and order a pizza.”
They’re about halfway across the parking lot when I yell out, “Hey, Angel?” She turns around hesitantly, “What do you take in your coffee?”
“Silky and sweet, just like her!” Dani yells back.
“Extra Cream and sugar,” Lexi clarifies. She flashes a bashful smile before turning around and hugging Dani, glancing back one more time before they disappear around the corner.
* * *
It’s around one in the morning when I sober up enough to head home. I trudge up the stairs and sit on the floor outside my dad’s room, leaning against the door. The aroma of incense, art supplies, and old lumber fills my lungs, replacing the cherry blossoms and strawberries. Closing my eyes, I rock my head back. The dull sensation of a bruise forming on the back of my head makes me laugh at the memory of how it got there.
“Dad, I um…” Stuttering and unable to find the words. “Shit, I guess it’s been a while since I did this. I met someone today. She’s smart, funny, and a damn knockout, too. You’d like her right off the bat because she’s got pink hair. Like really pink, right out of a pack of bubble gum. I know it sounds dumb, but I think I’m falling for her. Hard.”
I miss talking to my dad, and he was always on my ass about putting myself out into the world and letting people get to know me. I always fought him on it, saying it was better for everyone if I didn’t. I understand now that he only wanted me to be happy again. Chase Cooper is my best friend, but my dad was something more. I’m still mad he’s gone. I bet if I told a therapist I talk to him like this, they’d say I’m an idiot. It’s probably why I left my last therapist.
“She makes me feel, Dad. I almost went out into the studio tonight instead of coming up here, and I haven’t been in there since—” I stop myself and sit in silence as the pain passes. “She just might be my muse, Dad. I miss being around her already.
“Remember that last girl I brought home? It was right after the divorce, and you managed to trick me into going out to the studio to get you something before I took her up to my room.” I run my fingers over the scuffed-up wood floors as my mind wanders. “I came back in, and she was long gone. You never told me what you said to her, but I don’t think I ever thanked you enough for that. You knew I wasn’t ready, and she wasn’t right. I don’t think you’d chase this one out. I would run after her and bring her back if you did.”
I tell him about the coffee shop, job, dinner, and dancing. I tell him how alive she makes me feel and how I’m going to dig out my old sketchpad and bring it with me tomorrow. At some point, I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to my back hurting like a motherfucker and my phone alarm going off.
I look around, trying to remember why I’m on the floor, and then it hits me. I grab the phone and realize I slept through twenty minutes of alarm noise.
“Shit!” I jump up, shower, and change; no time to shave. I’m out the door in fifteen minutes, headed to Lexi’s with the biggest smile I’ve had on my face in years.
CHAPTER12
INTO YOU
ARIANA GRANDE
I checkthe mirror one last time, questioning myself and the makeup. I don’t normally wear makeup beyond a little base powder or something with SPF and my standard black eyeliner. This morning, though, I woke up and pulled out my bag of random cosmetics, and went to town. Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but it’s more makeup than I wore yesterday. Most of it hides the bags under my eyes from this fucking hangover.
