Page 25 of Yearning Difficulties

Only this time, someone else’s hand reached out and closed over Dave’s wrist before his fingers could even brush my skin.

Nine

It All Goes In

Today’s Track: ‘When I Was Born’ by Peter Dinklage

‘We’re not going to do that to her, Dave.’

I blinked, my whole body frozen. Killian didn’t even sound angry. There was no bluster in his voice. He was completely matter-of-fact.

He kept a tight grip on my ex-boyfriend’s arm and when Dave tried to break free, he found that he couldn’t.

‘This isn’t your business,’ Dave finally hissed.

‘It is,’ Killian said, in the same easy-going tone. ‘When you look like you’re about to put your hands on my girlfriend, it’s my business.’

I almost laughed at the horror on Dave’s face. ‘Girlfriend? Since when?’ His eyes landed on mine. ‘We had an agreement!’

‘Dave,’ I said sternly, as if I were speaking to a naughty child. ‘You’ve boasted and bragged about your summer romances. You said you got to move on first. You did. Many times, according to you. It’s fine for me to move on, too.’

Especially when this relationship isn’t actually real.

‘Dave.’

Logan Minola stood a few feet away from us, his arms crossed. I didn’t know much about him. He was a little intimidating, and protective of his younger sister, but other than that, he’d always seemed pretty emotionless to me. He was giving the back of Dave’s head a hard stare.

‘Dave, walk away,’ Logan said, almost sounding bored. ‘You’re embarrassing yourself.’

Killian released Dave’s wrist, freeing and dismissing him in one gesture. I exhaled and held up a hand. ‘We don’t have anything to say to each other any more, Dave.’

‘Why do you always have to talk so fucking weird?’ Dave suddenly exploded. ‘So fucking formal. Like you’re a lawyer or something. You’re so fucking weird.’

I felt bile start to rise in my throat. ‘Be careful, Dave.’

‘It actually makes a whole heap of sense, seeing you two together,’ Dave went on. ‘But Bergery, I’ll let you know straight off the bat, she’s fucking odd. Don’t take her to a restaurant with a complicated menu and bright lights because she’s a freaking toddler, picky eater and all. If a balloon pops, she acts like a startled greyhound. She’s super fucking sensitive to smells, so make sure you brush your teeth before spending any time with her. She can’t, like, process anything in real time. She’s either ahead or behind. And she only has one friend and that friend is just as weird as she is.’

‘Shut up!’ I snarled. I had no idea Dave had noticed those things about me. I thought I’d hidden those pieces of my soul better.

And he wasn’t allowed to talk about Max.

‘Stop.’

Killian considered Dave’s rant and then spoke in a disbelieving tone. ‘You don’t brush your teeth, David?’

I felt a laugh bubble up inside me. Anderson started to guffaw and Dave’s expression went from smug to mortified. Even Logan was fighting a smirk.

Without another word, Dave turned and stormed out of the arcade, his friends following in his wake. Priya gave me one more tiny remorseful wave as she went and I saw Logan split from the clique as soon as they were outside. I watched as Sterling seemed torn between following him and staying with the group.

‘Probably a good time to say,’ Killian said, ‘that some people don’t always brush their teeth for mental health reasons and I appreciate—’

‘That’s not him, though,’ I said, choking on a laugh, and inadvertently catching the eye of Anderson, who was still finding it all very amusing. ‘It’s okay, Killian. You don’t need the disclaimer. It was funny.’

Despite the moment of levity, the outing to the arcade had definitely been soured by Dave’s outburst. As if reading my mind, Killian nudged me.

‘Come on,’ he said briskly. ‘Let’s get to the faire, your highness.’

We froze, eyeing the mass of people waiting for tickets. Jugglers and jesters were already welcoming the enthusiastic crowd with theatrical levels of warmth. The sky had darkened, promising that the stars would soon be joining the audience to watch the first joust of the tournament.