Page 573 of Rage

“Alice, why are you monopolizing Declan’s conversation?” my father said.

I turned away with my cup covering my face to hide the sneer I made. “Sorry. I don’t think he wants to talk about weddings and gowns,” I replied. “I was giving him better conversation.”

Declan winked. “Yes. Absolutely. I was telling her how much I missed her over the last few years and I was curious about how we all grew apart.”

“That’s the sad thing about growing up. We all grow apart.”

“Our lives diverted. It’s what always happens,” I mumbled.

His hand lifted and ghosted my hair like he was touching me. I waited for his touch, but he never touched me. “How poetic.”

The server walked back to our table and asked about the checks. Declan cleared his throat and offered to pay for everyone’s meals. As soon as he passed the card to the server, I said bye to my family and stood up. Storming to my car, I enjoyed the chilly breeze hit my face, a hand gripped my shoulder, and I turned around. Of course, it was Declan.

“What are you doing?”

He glared. “You didn’t say bye to me.”

“Of course not.”

Declan frowned. “Remember what I said,” he said as he stepped back.

“More like a threat,” I hissed. “I know what you do. And I want nothing to do with it.”

He shrugged. “Well, I want you to remember that you always have a friend in me.”

“You’ve said it. It’s kinda creepy now.”

He smirked, his eyes glittering with mirth. “Good luck on your date tomorrow. I feel like with some jerks around here, you’ll need it.”

“I’m a big girl, I can handle myself,” I snapped as I opened my car door and flipped him off as I shoved my keys into the ignition.

Chapter Two

Alice

Itapped my foot as I waited for my date to arrive. My phone dinged, and I looked at it. Kevin’s name appeared on the screen and I walked out of my apartment door. A tall man that matched his profile picture stood beside a black jeep. He stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Hey, I’m Kevin. Nice to meet you finally,” he said. His eyes looked down my body and a shiver of unease slid through my spine. I brushed it off and grabbed his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

I brushed my brown hair out of my face and nodded. “Yeah, nice to meet you after all these weeks.” He turned and opened the car door. I sat in the seat and he walked around to the driver’s side of the car.

He drove to the movie theater and parked. Before I could open the door, he opened the door for me. “Ah, you’re a gentleman,” I muttered.

“Of course.”

He wrapped his arm inside mine and led me to the ticket booth. He quickly paid for our tickets and we went to our theater. While we waited for the movie to start, he leaned in closer to me.

“You’re really pretty,” he said.

I fiddled with the edge of my skirt. “Thanks.” I tucked my hair behind my ear as I dipped my head lower. Saved by the dimming of the lights. I hated first dates and nothing felt natural yet. Hopefully, after the movie it would. Through the movie, his fingers would skirt on my thighs and hands. My heart fluttered as he would touch me, but it wasn’t like a connection sort of flutter. Instead of paying attention to the movie, my mind drifted back to Declan. Those were different flutters. I wished these were those types of flutters, but they weren’t.

Once the movie was over, he grabbed my hand and led me out of the dark theater. “Do you want to go back to my house? We can grab pizza on our way?” I asked. Maybe I needed more time with him. Love at first sight doesn’t happen.

“Sounds great,” he replied. “Order it and I’ll pick it up.”

Within a few minutes, the pizza was ordered, and he drove towards the pizza place. Parking at the side of the curb, he jumped out and grabbed a pizza. While he was gone, I texted my best friend to tell her what I was planning to do.

Shauna

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