Page 18 of Chasing Danger

A cool breeze from Ashes’ air conditioning drifted over my skin.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. But, seriously, you shouldn’t worry so much. I doubt this guy cares about the age gap. You look your age, so I’m sure he already realizes that you’re younger. And something about you must interest him, or else he wouldn’t have asked you out.”

“Yeah,” I said, though I still wasn’t reassured. Ashes seemed to sense that I had more to say and waited for me to continue. “There was one more thing.”

“There always is. What is it?”

“Well…” I tipped my head back and forth, wondering how to explain what I’d seen. “There was this woman who he talked to at the coffee shop.”

Ashes scowled, and for a moment the scary Satanist that they were so often accused of being almost seemed plausible. “You mean he was chatting someone else up right after asking you out?”

“Not like that.” I thought back to the woman who’d stormed into the shop and just sat at D’Angelo’s table without so much as a hello. “It wasn’t a... how do I put this... afriendlyconversation. They obviously knew each other, but the tension between them wasn’t the good kind. I don’t know. Something about it just rubbed me the wrong way.”

I tried to explain the interaction I’d witnessed with as much detail as possible, but since I hadn’t heard what they were talking about, there wasn’t much I could say with certainty.

Ashes thought about it for a moment. “Maybe he’s married. I’d be pissed, too, if I found my husband running around picking up younger men.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned and hung my head in my hands. “Don’t put that possibility in my mind. There are enough obstacles between D’Angelo and I already.”

While Ashes’ suggestion was possible, I doubted it was true. D’Angelo and the woman weren’t strangers, but they weren’t particularly familiar, either.

No, it must be something else, but I had no idea what.

An alarm on my phone beeped. I needed to leave soon so I could take over Rowan’s care from the nurse. My shift at the coffeeshop had ended early enough that I could spend a few hours hanging out with my friend. There was no telling when I’d be able to spend time with Ashes again, and now I’d wasted all our time together rambling.

I opened my mouth, ready to apologize for wasting Ashes time, but they predicted what I was about to do and cut me off.

“Don’t. I won’t accept an apology. Not for this. Talking about problems is exactly what friends are for. Now, you want my advice? Go on the date. See what this guy is about. If he turns out to be a scumbag, then we’ll binge on ice cream and bitch about him afterward. But, who knows. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Eyes hidden behind pink colored contacts regarded me up and down for a moment.

“Honestly, getting dicked down would probably do you some good.”

Ashes cackled as I slapped their shoulder several times.

“You are horrible. I don’t know why I’m friends with you.”

Despite my words, we both knew I didn’t mean it. There was no better friend I could possibly have, and I was grateful everyday. If my date with D’Angelo didn’t work out, I wouldn’t be alone.

But, Ashes was right. Maybe it would work out. I wouldn’t know until I tried.

What was the worst that could happen?

CHAPTER 9

Oliver

The dayof our date came sooner than expected. Before I knew it, I was stepping off the bus near Baltimore’s inner harbor.

“Are you sure I was invited, too?” Rowan asked after we’d maneuvered his wheelchair off the bus. There was a wheelchair lift, but it rattled so badly I was just waiting for the day it finally broke down. Luckily, today was not that day, and we managed to get him on and off the bus without too many problems.

Other than the stares and side-eyes we received whenever we went out together, but those were expected at this point. Two brothers, one scarred and one handicapped, always drew attention when we were seen together.

“Yeah, bud,” I said, while looking at the directions on my phone. “You were definitely invited. We specifically discussed it.”

Figuring out which way we needed to go to meet with D’Angelo, I started walking down the sidewalk, but Rowan didn’t follow me. His chair stayed rooted in place, directly under the bus stop sign.

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