Homecoming: A Secret Baby Romance (19 page)

“That thing? It's the size of a broom closet!” I protested. “Seriously, the pantry is bigger than that!”

Daniel shrugged it off. “I don't need it for much more than a mattress and to store a few clothes. We've got a shower over here, after all. Speaking of which, if you just happen to wander down here at six fifteen in the morning and hear the hot water running, feel free to join whoever is in there.”

“Yeah, right. Knowing my luck, it'd be the gardener. No thanks.”

Daniel laughed and turned to go, when I stopped him. “Dan?”

“Yeah, Ade?”

“Are you busy tonight? I'm going batshit crazy around here, there's far too many men in dark suits, and I need a break from all this heaviness.”

Daniel sighed and turned back. “We're here to protect you, Ade. He could never get in this place.”

“Still, I need to get out of here, even if it’s just for a few hours. Think of it as mental therapy,” I said. I went over to my next machine and adjusted the seat and pins, readying myself. “Come on, don't make me order you.”

Daniel chuckled. “I think you'd prefer me ordering
you
around. But I have to say no either way. Your mother wants me to do something. Also, I have some restitution to take care of. I don't like saying it, but I didn't exactly behave well the last time I stopped by the Starlight Club.”

I was surprised at the flare of anger and jealousy at the mention of the Starlight Club. I knew what sort of business that was, and I didn't like the idea of Daniel going there, regardless of whether it was his job. “You should frequent a better class of business, Daniel.”

“It's my job, Ade. In either case, I'm going to be leaving around six and won't be back until after midnight.”

“Fine. Then tomorrow night, you're protecting me while I go out to dinner and a movie. I need a few hours to feel like a normal girl, and not a fucking victim.” I sat down at the machine and started, pulling the handles this time instead of pushing them. “Got a problem with that?”

I think it was the first time I'd seen Daniel uncomfortable in a long time. Sure, he'd been hesitant in the graveyard, but not uncomfortable. He wanted to say no, but another part of him wanted to say yes. “Fine. What time?”

“I'll tell you tomorrow,” I said with a smile. “It'll be fun.”

I don't think he knew that I heard his next comment. He was trying to keep it under his breath, but it still made me smile, knowing I was affecting him the same way he was affecting me. “It'll be my fucking funeral, more like it.”

* * *

M
om and Uncle Carlo
weren't happy about it, but they understood after enough convincing on my part. So, at six thirty Saturday night, I was dressed in my best jeans and t-shirt, freshly scrubbed. I'd taken the time to make sure that I didn't have any paint on my clothes or in my hair, even though I'd spent four hours that afternoon painting in the library, letting my stress out through the use of oils. The painting was shit, dark and violent and not at all like what I preferred to do, but it helped. It let me pour out my emotions in a safe and familiar way. At least Vincent’s fuckery hadn't robbed me of one of my primary joys.

Daniel met me in the foyer, looking for all the world like some of the guys who'd come to pick me up for dates back in high school. Well, except for the small bulge on his left side where he had his pistol under his shirt. “You ready?”

“Of course,” I said, trying not to skip down the steps. Mom stood there watching, her eyes filled with concern. “I'll be back by eleven.”

She looked at me, then at Daniel, and gestured with her head. Daniel nodded silently and stepped outside, his keys in his hand. Mom used the opportunity to lean in close. “You behave yourself, young lady. Do you understand?”

“I'll be fine,” I said, giving her my best innocent smile. “It's not a date. I doubt you’d want me to go alone—not that I’d want to—but I need to get out.”

“It had better not be, for both of your sakes,” Mom whispered. “Be careful.”

I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a hug, patting her back. “I will. Thanks, Mom.”

Daniel was already outside, standing next to his car, holding the passenger door open for me. “Should I ask what she said?”

“You're smart enough to know,” I replied with a smile, sliding into the passenger seat. We drove, heading out of town. I'd chosen a mall outside of Seattle, purely for the fact that we'd never been there before.

As we drove, Daniel relaxed bit by bit as we put miles between us and the house. “Dan?”

“Yeah, Ade?” he asked. He reached out with a thumb, jabbing the power button on his car stereo, and I was surprised as relaxing, mellow instrumental music, not jazz but something else, filled the car. “Just downloaded it today. Thought you could use the relaxation.”

“Thanks,” I said, leaning back into the leather seats. “I just wanted to let you know, this dinner is for you too. I know you've been doing your best, and you've been showing a few signs of stress too. Also, I shouldn’t have snapped at you about the Starlight Club. I know it’s part of your job.”

“Thanks, but you didn't need to,” Daniel replied. “Last night was purely business. I met my private eye there. He's helping me with tracking down Drake.”

“No more on Vincent tonight, please? For the next four and a half hours, I don't want to hear or even think about that man.”

“Deal,” Daniel said. “Just dinner and a movie for a stressed out girl. Too much cobalt blue and titanium white or something.”

I laughed. “Something like that. Although after today's painting, I think I need a few more tubes of black and gray.”

I was surprised when he nodded. “I saw. I liked it.”

“Really? I thought it was terrible,” I said. “Not realistic at all—too dark, just . . . not me.”

“Maybe not, but it's got a lot of intensity. You really poured a lot of yourself into it, and I guess it speaks to me that way.”

“Then it's yours,” I said immediately. “The best way to get through to an artist is to say you like their work, even if the she hates it herself.”

The restaurant lived up to the reviews, with some of the best burgers I'd had in a long time. Daniel enjoyed as well, and ended up licking the barbecue sauce from his bacon barbecue burger off his fingertips, something I'd never seen him do before. At home, he'd always been the epitome of decorum, wiping his hands and mouth with his napkin even if everyone else was nearly under the table drunk. “Worth the thirty-minute drive, that's for sure,” he said. “What did you think?”

“Great. You know the only downer in this?”

“What's that?”

I took a sip of my soda and set my glass down. “You and I were good friends for about five years there, after I came to Uncle Carlo's house. But then we were kept apart.”

“For good reason, Ade. I haven't been the type of man who’s supposed to be friends with a classy girl like you.”

“I think I'm old enough now to pick who my friends are and who I want to spend time with,” I said simply, but I was touched by his compliment. “I guess what I'm saying is, when this is finished, I don't want you to drift away again. I know Uncle Carlo doesn't like it, but I want to talk to him about it later.”

“You can talk all you want, but he’s not going to listen. I'm not worthy of you in his eyes.” Daniel lowered his eyes to the table, and I could tell he wished it weren’t the case.

“And what do you think?” I asked, then shook my head. “Nevermind. That's an unfair question. Come on, let's see the movie. After all the terror of the past week, I need some fictional scares to put all of it in perspective.”

The movie was a remake of a Japanese horror flick,
The Ring vs. The Grudge
, and had plenty of creepy atmosphere. Sure, it was an amalgamation of two pretty worn out movies, but it was still fun. As the tension built, I pulled my legs up underneath me, my eyes wide and staring at the screen. The first time the ghost popped out to scare the first victim to death, I'll admit I jumped, a little bit of popcorn bouncing out of my tub to rain down on my lap, some of it falling onto Daniel's lap as well. “Thanks,” he said blithely, picking up a kernel and tossing it into his mouth. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I whispered back. “It's why we came anyway. It's therapeutic.”

When the next scare happened, I shrieked loud enough for those around me to jump too. Daniel put his arm around my shoulder, not saying a word.

I fidgeted some, the hard plastic of the arm rest in my ribs preventing me from getting comfortable before I realized that the arm rest lifted. Scooting to the side, I pulled it up and out of the way, snuggling back in closer to Daniel, who rested his arm on my shoulder for the rest of the movie. With his strong arm holding me lightly, I didn't have to jump for the rest of the movie, but I certainly enjoyed some of the scares that were left, and by the end, I was laughing at some of the cheesiness of the two ghostly characters and the idiotic people caught between them.

As the credits rolled and the lights rose, I reached up and gave Daniel's hand a squeeze. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“No problem,” he said, removing his arm, “but I think you and I need to set some ground rules. For our safety, especially mine.”

I nodded, reality poking its ugly head in, and sighed. “I guess so, but can we at least save it until we get to the car?”

Daniel looked like he was about to protest, then just nodded. He reached over and took my hand, entwining our fingers. “Let's go.”

The three hundred and twenty-three steps from the theater to Daniel's car were the best part of the evening, as for the first time in nearly a year, I felt totally like a normal girl, free from all the stress and worry of what I'd been through. I imagined that it was like what girls who weren't Mafia princesses felt like most Saturday nights when they were out with a cute guy.

Daniel held my door open and got in afterward, sticking his key in the ignition. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I did,” I said with a smile. “You know, Daniel, when you want to be, you're a pretty decent guy.”

“Don't let the secret out,” he said with a chuckle. “But Ade, we're pushing a very dangerous line, one that I don’t think we should cross.”

“I know,” I said, sighing and looking out the windshield. “The problem is, I like spending time with you. Beyond what that could mean, I'm just saying that going out with you is a lot of fun. Even when we've been bumming around campus, just you taking me to classes and stuff, I've enjoyed myself. I keep wishing you were an actual student.”

Daniel's short laugh and nod told me both that he agreed but also felt it was impossible. “Ade, I don't even know my real last name. The Social Security number I used to get my concealed carry permit is invalid, connected to a man who died a decade ago overseas in Zimbabwe and therefore cannot for certain be declared dead. Besides, while I learn what your uncle asks me to, I’m more of a hands-on type of man. But yes, I've enjoyed my duty for the past two weeks.”

“Has it been just duty?” I asked quietly, stopping him. Daniel stared at me, his mouth working silently for a moment, and I could see the answer in his eyes. “That's what I thought. Your duty and honor is stopping you . . . stopping us.”

“It is what it is. We can enjoy this time, the times when we can be friends . . . but nothing more,” Daniel said, the last words said between tightly-clenched teeth. He started his car and put it in reverse. “If it means anything, I wish things were different.”

“Yeah . . .” I replied, looking out the passenger window so he couldn't see me cry. “Me too.”

Blitzed: A Secret Baby Sports Romance. Blitzed will be a full-length novel with an HEA and no cheating!

T
hank God
the bad part of summer is over,
I think to myself, adjusting my newly bought burgundy skirt around my hips as I step out of my 2005 Honda Civic — which had long ago worn out its welcome along with its air conditioner. It gets me around town though, so that works.
The heat was so unbearable.

The summer had been blistering, the hottest on record, with days that reached temperatures of 105 degrees, and I spent most of the summer merely fighting to stay cool. Now I’m happy to finally get some relief as summer lets go of its stranglehold on the Pacific Northwest a little. Right now, it’s seventy degrees and the cooler air feels great on my skin.

My limbs tremble slightly while I stand in front of my car door and my heart starts to race. It's my first day back at school so I'm more than a little anxious, though I'm not sure why since I've done this enough by now.

Get it together, girl,
I tell myself.
This is your last year here. You won't have to see most of these people ever again after you graduate. And the one or two you want to see, you’ll stay in touch with, you know that.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I check my appearance in the sideview mirror before moving on. My hair and makeup looks alright, light foundation, blush and a hint of eye shadow and my locks long and wavy, the way that I think it looks best. When I'm satisfied, I gather my books, shut the door of my Honda, lock it, and then make my way through the parking lot and onto the Silver Lake High campus.

A feeling of nostalgia rolls through me as I set foot on the grounds and I’m greeted by the familiar layout. It looks just like I remember, beautiful paved walkways, meticulously groomed lawns, and exquisitely built structures. Deep red brick and glass lend a weight to the buildings, while the high-reaching steel and glass make it not too stuffy.

It's probably one of the best maintained High Schools in the state,
I think,
but too bad it's filled with a bunch of douches.

Despite my fondness of my high school, I’m glad it’s my last year. My four years of tenure has been filled with nothing but drama and hopefully I'll be moving on to bigger and better things once I sail off to college.

I would miss Silver Lake Falls, though.
Silver Lake was a small, bustling town in the northwestern part of the country that has a booming economy, mainly due to the abundance of growth in its IT sector. Once a rich bedroom community, it was now becoming a place of economic power. In less than three years the town's population had grown from ten-thousand to well over twenty-thousand before stabilizing and slowing down before growth exploded too much to take away the small town charm.

It’s an amazing town.

I like to think that after I graduate with a good degree, I'll come back home to Silver Lake Falls and live out my life here well into old age. After all, I love it here. Nothing can beat a small town community where every one knows each other and every one comes together, even if there is the small town gossip and pettiness to deal with. But I won't settle down until I see what the world has to offer. I’ve never been anywhere else and I at least need a taste of the real world before deciding what I want.

I'm a bit early as usual and I see the other early birds milling about, some gathered around their favorite hangout spots, talking and goofing around. I see mostly familiar faces and a few new ones, but I'm surprised to see how much people are staring at me. Mainly guys. Hot guys. The type of guys that would never look at me twice.

Is there something wrong with my outfit?
I wonder, pausing to look down at my skirt. I'd chosen the outfit before I left home because, one, it was new, and two, I thought I looked good in it. Not too slutty, but not too chaste. It makes my legs look long by riding the line on SLHS's dress code on skirt length, and the flare makes my waist look smaller than it is. I also have on a white blouse with a few pearl highlights, but it's nothing to get excited about.

After a moment, I continue on. I can't find anything wrong with my outfit, and I have no idea why I’m all of a sudden getting so much heat, but I swear one guy's head almost turns like the exorcist to keep his eyes on me as I walk by. If he'd snapped around any harder I think he would have broken his neck. Actually, I remember him, and I think the world might be a better place if he does break his neck.

I ignore him and continue on my way through campus. I've almost made it to the building that contains my locker when I cross by The Fountain, a beautiful construction made of marble with an exquisitely crafted owl at the top that is surrounded by two of the main academic buildings and the cafeteria, completing a quad. The Fountain is Silver Lake High's most popular hangout spot and a place I often like to avoid because of the annoyance factor. I don't know why I'd walked right into it, but I suppose I hadn't been looking.

Not surprisingly, a group of jocks are crowded around The Fountain, laughing and telling stupid jokes. They're like a pack of wolves practically, and more than once I've compared them to what Mr. Cashion showed us in tenth grade science when he'd pull out National Geographic videos. I try to sneak past them with my head down, hoping no one will notice me. Fat chance. All they have the mental capacity to do is crack jokes and notice people.

“God damn Whitney!” A popular athlete named Cory Dunham exclaims as I walk by. Cory is one of the more competent ballers on the school's football team and is also one of the biggest man whores on the planet. If you have a pulse and a vagina, he would come sniffing around at some point, I'm sure. “What have you been eating? You got thick as hell!”

“Fuck yeah,” says Gabe Hackman, another douche jock that was just as much of a man whore, biting his lip as if he's looking at a quarter pounder with cheese. “She's got an ass fatter than Kim Kardashian now. The good type, too.”

I blush furiously, not sure how to respond. In a way I feel insulted to be compared to a Kardashian, and in another I’m flattered. But I can't figure out the sudden interest in me. None of these guys ever noticed me before, outside of insulting my appearance, and now they were practically drooling over me? Something must be in the air.

Instead of engaging them, I continue on, ignoring their catcalls.

“Hey!” Cory yells, waving with his arms. “Get your sexy ass back here!”

Sexy ass? What is that guy smoking? I've never been accused of being sexy in my life. I'm the girl who disappears, remember guys?

I make it inside the school building and find my way to the locker hallways when what they were saying about me registers, and realization washes over me in a wave of awesomeness.
It's the weight.
I'd often been told by guys and girls alike that I was too skinny, so over the summer I'd been a little more liberal when it came to eating. It's not like I went all out, but I also let go of my stupid fear of anything with carbs in it. I think my absolute favorite discovery, though, was pasta. Mom could make some mean spaghetti, especially when she paired it with a tomato and Italian sausage sauce.

Who knew that stuffing my face with food would have resulted in me becoming more desirable?

Walking through the hallways, I receive more stares and guys ogling me, but I ignore them and make it to my locker. It's new and a bit unsettling to get this much attention, and I'm not sure if this is all just some sort of fluke.

I’m fumbling with my locker combination when I hear the sound of footsteps to my right, but I put my head down, hoping they'll not make another wisecrack. I've hit my limit this morning.

“Hey Chica,” a familiar, cheery voice chirps instead, and my mood lifts immediately. “Long time no see.”

I look up into the smiling face of my childhood best friend, Danielle Vaughn and crack a huge grin. She looks cute today with her two blond side pony tails and red skirt topped by a white blouse. Her legs are long and sexy, and the red heels she’s wearing only further accent them. I’m happy to see her since I haven't seen her all summer due to her family vacation.

Before I can respond, her eyes widens, her mouth dropping open in surprised admiration. “Good God, did you inflate those things or something?” she demands, staring at my chest. “Stuffed your bra with golf balls?”

I glance down at my breasts and then let out a laugh. “No,” I say. "Besides, golf balls? I'd hoped for at least oranges."

“Then what the hell happened to you?”

“I don't know. I just filled out a bit I guess. That and I ate what I wanted for once.”

Danielle bites her lower lip, looking my body up and down. “Well, shit girl, put me on that diet then. You're smokin'!”

I giggle again at Dani's exaggeration. The girl can always crack me up.

“And I'll take that ripe ass while your at it,” she adds, smacking me on the butt. “Damn, it even wiggles now.”

I laugh harder and smooth out my skirt where Dani has rumpled it. “Girl, please.”

“Seriously. You've gotten so curvy, you could give Kate Upton a run for her money.”

“Okay, now you need to stop.”

Dani whips her tails, and I swear if the idiots in Hollywood ever want to make a young Harley Quinn movie, I know exactly who they should cast. Dani even knows who that character is, she introduced her to me. “I’m not lying to you.”

I stop fiddling with my locker and glance around. I see several guys looking our way, one of them even grins at me. “Well, you know what? Ever since I walked on campus I've received non-stop stares from all the guys,” I tell her. “Isn't that just weird? I couldn't get one to look at me ever, then I go away from the summer, and now the whole athletic department wants me? I walked by the Fountain coming in, and I thought I was going to start a riot.”

Dani shakes her head again. “Girl, I'm telling you, you were a stick figure when I last saw you, now you actually have some curves. And they're in all the right places.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I think.”

Dani grins at me. “Trust me, this year . . . you'll get laid, that's for sure.”

“So how was your trip to Italy?” I say, quick to change the subject. The last thing I want to think about is having pre-marital sex. Mom is overly religious and that's one of the things she never shuts the hell up about. When my boobs started to get bigger, she even made a comment that she could 'see my dirty pillows,' before half smiling at the joke. I hadn't laughed.

Dani's grin twists into a sour expression. “It was alright . . . I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess? You've been wanting to go to Italy since like our sweet sixteen birthday parties. You talked so much about Michelangelo's David last year I thought you were gonna hump the thing when you finally saw it in person.”

“Well I had fun and all, but our parents made me room with Joseph.”

Joseph is Dani's brother and is actually pretty cute and sweet. He's a sophomore this year, and is probably hanging out in the quad with his buddies. Like I say, he's nice, he just isn't my type.

“So what was so bad about that?” I ask. “I thought you loved your brother.”

“I do! But I don't love his farts.”

“Dani!” I protest, trying not to laugh too hard.

Dani scowls, her mouth drawing down into a little point. “Sorry. I can't help it. He was cutting those stinky things like he was slicing Swiss cheese. Or maybe aged Parmesan, considering where we were.”

I gag, I can't help it. “Okay. Stop. Now.”

Dani lets out a laugh. “It's so fricken’ easy to gross you out.”

“Which is why you should show some restraint and not do it.”

Dani grins. “Never.” She starts to finger her blond locks then stops. “So I've been thinking, Whit.”

Oh boy.
It was never good when Dani thought about anything. Did I mention she'd make a good young Harley Quinn? Brilliant and crazy, that's Dani Vaughn.

“About?” I ask wearily.

“I got an idea while I was in Italy.”

Even worse.

“Huh?”

“You know how you made that offhand comment about wanting to join the cheerleading squad last semester.”

“Uh . . . yeah?” I remember. I said it mainly because I'd been so hard up for a date that I'd been desperate to try anything, including flipping around in a short skirt in order to catch some attention from the type of guys I like. I can't help it, while their attitudes and behavior is disgusting, the image of a strong jock in my mind sends tingles through my skin.

“And have you been practicing the moves I showed you, like your promised?”

I nod. I don't say it, but I suspect that all those tumbling moves had been part of the reason my new weight has gone on in a good way and not a bad one. “I didn't have much else to do besides eat and look up the colleges I want to apply to.”

Dani looks pleased and says, “Well, I wanted to officially invite you to try out.”

I drop my jaw. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, why not? You're my best friend and this is our last school year together. Why not experience something you haven't done before and make the most of it?”