Page 70 of When Darkness Calls

Waking up Christmas morning to open my presents with Casey and hurrying to get dressed so I could go to Cade’s for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and glasses of milk sitting in the living room to watch as many holiday movies as we could.

These next couple of months hold both the best and the worst of my memories in the most bittersweet way. As I watch Dani now, I wonder if she often feels the same. If the love she holds for this time of year also holds an air of heartache and fear, and how she must feel with such tumultuous memories.

Her hand is tucked under her chin as she reads the textbook spread out on the table in front of her. The wind is still gripping the loose strands of her hair in a chaotic dance around her face.

God, she’s stunning.

Objectively, I’ve always known she was a beautiful person. It’s hard to ignore that. Anyone can clearly see that, but I hadn’t truly noticed just how breathtaking she is.

The sunlight filtering through her dark hair glows like a red halo. Outside in the light like this, her eyes gleam in a mosaic of honey and sage, the usually deeper tones begin to resemble sea glass. She didn’t wear her usual makeup today. There’s no dark shadow lining her eyes or deep color painting her pouty lips. Instead, her lashes appear longer, thicker, making her eyes seem larger and there’s a soft shine on her lower lip. The plump flesh makes my mouth water.

It’s a lip gloss or a chapstick or something. Is it flavored? What does it taste like mixed with the taste of her on my tongue?

Fuck. Stop, Grayson, focus. Focus.

I do try to. My eyes scan the campus every few minutes, but they’re quickly drawn back to her.

My job is almost done for the day, and I want nothing more than a few more hours where I can watch her like this. The large clock above the administration building says I have only ten or fifteen minutes left before Liz will get out of her last class and the two of them will head off to do whatever they have planned for the night. Either Dani will be dropped off at home, or she’ll go to the diner while Liz works for a couple hours before Cade will pick her up and take her home.

I wish I could hang out with them tonight, but no. Alex will be dragging my ass to the gym to prepare for the fight Saturday. I never miss a fight night unless I have a job to do, or I’m half dead in my bed with the flu, but right now…

Right now, I’m wondering if it would really be so horrible to suffer Alex’s rampage if I tell him to fuck off even if all I get to do is sit at the kitchen table and say hi to Dani as she treks upstairs to her room.

Would his wrath really be that bad?

“Can I help you with anything?” Someone calls from to my right in the parking lot. My head snaps in their direction. A guy is standing there, a deep set to his brows, light brown hair blowing with the wind. He’s shorter than me, wearing a blue button-up over a white T-shirt and light jeans. He’s just…very average? Nothing really stands out as familiar or recognizable.

“I’m sorry?”

“Are you lost? You’ve been standing over here for a while, and honestly dude, it’s a little weird.” His words come off as normal, and he has a point, but there’s an edge to his tone that feels weird, wrong.

“Oh, no, no. I’m waiting for someone.” I shrug with a closed lip smile. “Just waiting for them to get out of class. I got here early in case class was canceled or something.”

“Righttt…” he replies, head inclined.

“Yeah,” I mutter, staring off, searching for Dani in the corner of my eye. She’s still sitting by the fountain, but all her stuff has been packed up and she’s scrolling on her phone.

“Cool, cool. Uh, sorry. I’m Ethan, by the way. Ethan Cochrane.” He holds out his hand, staring at me blankly. His dark eyes bore into me, his expression emotionless. This is…really weird.

“Nice to meet you.” When my hand touches his, a chill races through my fingertips and up my arm. My stomach hollows.

“I’ll leave you to it then. If you’re ever here and you see me and need anything, just give a yell.” He steps back, plastering a wide grin on his face. It looks unnatural, forced, placating. Like a mask.

“Thank you? I’m sure I’ll be alright though.” Apprehension coats my tongue.

“I mean it though. Anything you need, anything at all, I’m your guy.” His smile turns conspiratorial, and he gives me a wink.

I just nod as he turns toward the plaza and stalks away.

I—…

What the hell was that?

Either he was hitting on me—which okay, cool, thank you, I appreciate that but sorry, I have my eyes on someone else—or that was a super weird and very vague way to say he was a dealer…?

Right? That’s what that was?

What else could it have been about? I don’t think that was just a typical offer of helping me around campus if I was lost.