Page 15 of Houston, We Have a Problem
“You know, break a mirror, walk under a ladder, open an umbrella inside kind of unlucky. If anyone is going to get stung by a scorpion, it’s going to be me because I have all the bad luck in the world.”
That gets a little laugh out of him, which I feel deep inside me because I’m still hanging out in his arms. I’m not mad about it. “I’m pretty sure supersti—”
“When I was in the eighth grade, I spilled the salt at breakfast,” I tell him, trying to sound as dramatic as possible. This is a true story, but I want to hear him laugh again. I never get to hear athletes laugh when I’m doing interviews because they’re always so afraid of saying the wrong thing. “I didn’t throw any over my shoulder,” I continue, “and later that day, I ripped my pants completely down the seam. I had to wear a pair of sweatpants from the Lost and Found that smelled like old gym socks.”
Houston purses his lips. “That’s just one—”
I interrupt him. “When I turned twenty-one, my friends took me out for drinks, and a black cat crossed my path on the way into the bar. And you know what happened?”
He thinks for a moment. “You broke a heel?”
“Ha! Like I ever wear heels.” I stumble over those words a bit, even if they’re sort of true. Tamlin wears heels, not Darcy. But Darcy is Tamlin, and Tamlin is Darcy, andwowI need to stop thinking about myself in the third person. I also really need to sleep, but I’m not inclined to move from my current spot. “No,” I say, “I ended up puking my guts out most of the night.”
Rolling his eyes, Houston is ready with his argument for that one. “I’m pretty sure every twenty-one-year-old does that on their first night out.”
“Ah, but I only had water that night because I knew the guys would definitely be getting drunk, and someone needed to be the responsible one.”
That gets his attention, pulling his eyebrows low as he holds me a little closer to his chest. How in the world is he still holding me? He’s not even breaking a sweat! “The guys?” heasks, and I know he’s not jealous but itfeelslike he’s jealous. His heart is pounding against me.
I shrug. “All of my friends in college were guys. I relate to them more than I do other girls.” And this is usually the part where guys lose romantic interest and turn me into their best bud. Not that I think Houston has any romantic interest, but I may have just ruined that avenue for myself. He does seem pretty close with Jordan, so maybe playing the friend card might get him to open up to me and tell me things he wouldn’t tell a girlfriend.
Okay, hold up. At no point did I ever think Houston and I would be an item, even when I was thinking about going the flirting route. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to flirt with him even if I tried, so there’s no need to panic just yet.
Houston is quiet for a long time as he studies me again, and I try not to move in case that spooks him. I have to be as open as I can be with him, or he’s never going to tell me anything and all of this will have been a waste. I can’t imagine Connor loving the idea of me coming back to Missouri with my tail between my legs and no story. I don’t think he would fire me, but I’d probably be stuck as demon-spawn Tamlin for the rest of my sad little career.
Yeah, I said it. Tamlin is kind of the worst sometimes.
“You never really said why you came to Sun City,” he says eventually, his eyebrows pulling low again. “Or why you picked this house. There’s cheaper rent closer to downtown.”
I wish I had an answer for him that wasn’tI’m here to try to ruin your career and maybe your life. “The stars,” I say, and we both look up. Sun City is small enough, and we’re far enough on the outskirts, that we can see the Milky Way here in the backyard. “I’ve never seen the Milky Way. It’s kind of amazing, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.”
“Yeah,” he says, and though I keep my eyes on the sky above us, I can feel his gaze turn back to me. What doesthatmean? It feels like his bright blue eyes are staring right into my soul and searching for the answers to the universe. “I should probably put you down,” he says after a minute, but it still takes him several seconds to put me on my feet, which he does so gently that it tugs at something in my chest.
“Sorry for jumping on you. And thanks for keeping me safe from the scorpions,” I say, a little breathless.
“The nonexistent scorpions,” he replies.
“Like I was saying, if there’s going to be a death by scorpions in Sun City, it’s going to be me. It’s my curse.”
He bends to pick up his phone—he must have dropped it when he caught me—and I get a good view of his smile. Hot diggity dog, the man has dimples. How did I not know he has dimples? To my dismay, he taps the flashlight off and plunges us back into darkness.
“Guess I’ll have to be around to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he says, his voice low and rough, and then he disappears into his half of the house without another word.
I, on the other hand, let out a string of words that Ineversay because what in the Sam Hill was that?
Chapter Eight
Houston
October 21
Note to self: it’s abad idea to have middle-of-the-night conversations with the woman renting your house. Things tend to get…muddy.
I nearly had a heart attack when I stepped out onto the patio and got showered with cold rice along with an ear-splitting scream. I expected Jesse to come running like the guard dog I suspect he is, but Darcy and I remained alone. I’m immensely glad I managed to catch her—the first time—in case she stumbled back into the pool that I haven’t had a chance to clean yet. The lights are out, so she probably doesn’t know it’s there. And I was also glad to catch her the second time, when she jumped into my arms. Both times resulted in a lot of physical contact that made me more than a little confused.
I have dated so many women that that first touch has lost the spark of newness that I always liked about a relationship. The anticipation. Bonnie, my last girlfriend, pretty much jumped me within five minutes of meeting me, so we skipped all the hesitation and awkwardness. It was nice in its own way, knowing exactly where we stood, but our relationship barely lasted two months before we were bored. It didn’t matter that she had just starred alongside a slew of A-list actors in her last movie and I pitched a near-perfect game over the summer; our careers did nothing for our relationship.
There was no excitement of a chase. No sense of fulfillment. Even Bonnie thought things were too easy, and we kept the relationship going only long enough for her movie premiere before we called it quits. No one wants to be in a relationship that has no life to it.
