Page 25 of She is the Darke

“Do you want me to go get food with you, Demi?” he asked, and now that smile was back in his voice.

When she looked over at him, the corner of his mouth was curved up in a crooked smile that made her heart stutter a little. “Doesn’t matter to me. Was just being nice.” Oh, she could hear the lie in her own tone, and hoped he didn’t really have that power like he’d said last night.

“Mmm,” he said. “I’ll go if you say you want me to go.”

Demi glared at him, and kind of wished he would go back to being serious-Tyler. She’d forgotten how effing annoying he was for a few hours.

“Boy, quit your games,” Rachel griped over her. “We’re going to Marty’s if you want food. Show up, or don’t. Foot on the gas, Demi. I’m starving.”

“Yes ma’am,” she told her friend. She did as she was told and put her foot on the gas, leaving Tyler in the street staring after them. She knew, because she checked the rearview mirror twice before they took a right to exit the neighborhood.

“You’re being so weird about him,” Rachel said as she hooked her phone up to the truck’s sound system.

“I am not.”

“Are so! He’s got you completely distracted. Do I need to remind you that you saw him go through his awkward teenage years? Remember those? Braces? No game with women? Remember when he bleached his hair platinum-blond and wore saggy pants for all of junior year?”

She giggled and nodded. “I do remember. I’m fine. We are just working together. No more, no less.”

She could feel Rachel’s gaze boring right through her.

“What?” Demi asked.

“Oh, nothing at all,” Rachel said, and turned up the volume on a song she’d chosen called “Liar, liar.”

Demi rolled her eyes and aimed her truck for Marty’s. She hadn’t been to the little bar in years, but she did remember they had the best toasted sandwiches, and they made their fries from scratch.

Tyler wouldn’t come. That wasn’t the game. He’d been trying to mess with her head and get her to say she wanted him there, but he didn’t really care about that. He cared about picking at her, and clearly, he was enjoying getting reactions out of her.

She was not a game, nor did she need some stupid game-playing man in her head.

She had shit to accomplish.

“Oh my gosh, look at all the spiderwebs!” Rachel said, pointing out her open window. The town had decorated the main street today, and there were big, fake, sparkling black-and-purple spiders and shimmering spiderwebs on every streetlight. Even the flowers in the flower baskets had all been replaced by mums in oranges and deep burgundy. A few of the buildings had giant, inflatable Halloween scenes strapped to the top of them.Fifteen-foot skeletons, ghosts, and vampires faced the street, and the buildings had sparkling orange lights on them.

“Oh my gosh, I love this!” Demi said. She pulled into the back parking lot of Marty’s, knowing she wouldn’t be able to find a parking spot on the street, not with the trailer hooked to her truck. She backed it into the spot by the dumpster, where they used to park all the time when they were younger and Marty’s was a normal part of their week.

“I can’t stay long,” Demi told her. “I have a bunch of invoices to process tonight.”

“Ew, party foul. You aren’t allowed to talk about work tonight.”

“Well, work is important to me,” she said, getting out of the truck.

“Yeah,” Rachel called over the bed of the truck as she made her way toward the back entrance of Marty’s. “And you’re forgetting all the cool parts of this season. You love Halloween, Demi Rhone Darke! You’re sucking all the fun out of it if you just work yourself to death!”

“I wouldn’t have to work so much if my business wasn’t being taken over by Danielle. I’m not usually a workaholic,” she said defensively.

“Danielle can suck a wiener,” Rachel popped off, opening the back entrance door for her. “A gross one. Good Lord!” she exclaimed as she saw the crowd inside. “This is the busiest I’ve ever seen it!”

Demi could see exactly why it was busy. This place was all done up for Halloween, and there was a live band, all dressed as vampires, setting up on the small stage in the corner. There was a table set up against a side wall, and a hostess ushered them toward it. “Registration is over there.”

“Registration for what?” Rachel asked. “We were just trying to grab some dinner.”

“Oh, you can do that too! Tonight is a themed night—it’s masquerade ball. If you didn’t bring a mask, it’s okay! They have some at the registration table.”

Demi looked around, and it hit her. Yeah, everyone was wearing masks over the top halves of their faces. Some were sparkly, and some had plumes of brightly-colored feathers. One guy was wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask.

“Oh heck yeah,” Rachel said through a huge grin. “This is awesome!” She dragged Demi by the hand to the registration table, and chatted up the attendant there while she sifted through the bin of free masks.

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