Page 16 of Steps

His intense blues stir an odd feeling in mystomach.

Shit.Why is my heart racing likethis again?

“Nice guys,” I sputter.

Varen clenches his jaw. “Nice guys can be bad too,princess.”

That word irks me. “Don’t call me that.”

Pete comes over and nudges his arm. When Varen turns,the chocolate hottie covertly hands him a small plastic bag. More drugs.

I touch Varen’s shoulder after Pete walks away andtell him sincerely, “Please don’t take those.”

He scowls at me, annoyed. “Thought I told you tomind your business.”

I snatch the bag from his hand before he gets thechance to stick it in his pocket.

His eyes widen. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Saving your life!” I hurry off, tearing throughthe cluster to head to the back of the house.

“Toya, stop!” Varen yells after me.

I hasten outside to deck and throw the bag intothe dark water without another thought.

Varen runs up to the railing. “What the fuck!” Heswivels to me, anger consuming his features. “Do you know how expensive thosewere?”

“I’ll pay you back when you no longer need them.”

Clenching his jaw, he storms up to me and grabs myarms. My breathing increases, along with my heart rate.

Oh shit. Is he going to punch me?

“Fuck!” Varen hisses, releases me, and combs overhis tousled hair aggressively. “Let’s go!” he barks.

I release the breath I’ve been holding and followhim back through the crowd. He continues outside the house and slams his fiston the steering wheel after I get in the car. I almost expect steam to come outof his eyes, ears, and nose when he turns and glares at me.

“What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed tocope? You have no fucking idea how much those pills help.”

“What do you need help coping with?” I ask,keeping my tone calm.

Varen shakes his head in wonder. “Fuckingunbelievable. What, are you a shrink now? Think you can make me better? Thinkyou can help me get over the fact that my mother’s dead and I’m fucking screwedup?”

“But… it’s been five years,” I murmur.

“Aw, how nice,” he mocks. “You sound just like mydad. Going to tell me to stop making it hard for everyone and move on?”

It hit me then, just how miserable Varen Kirby isinside. Strangely, something compels me to reach over and touch his face. Evenmore strange, Varen allows my hand to stay there. He relaxes his heavybreathing. The anger in his eyes turns to desire as he glances at my mouth.

“Are you going to replace the pills and be my newescape?” he utters in a flirty tone.

“What?” Snapping to my senses, I move my hand andresettle in the seat, dropping my eyes to my lap.

Varen heaves a deep sigh then starts the car. Westay quiet for the entire drive home.

4

A rough hand nudges me awake. I blink the sleepfrom my eyes as I moan and lift my head. Varen’s handsome existence comes intoview, wearing a plain white t-shirt and sweatpants.

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