Page 26 of Digit's Deflection
The moment is so deeply surreal, I struggle to wrap my head around it if I examine it too hard. Instead, I shift a little so I can see Liora’s precious face.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, better than I thought I would be.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I run the tip of my finger down her cheek. “How about something to drink?”
“Yes, please. That would be great, but I need to use the bathroom first.”
Pointing her in the right direction, I go to the kitchen to grab a couple of sodas from the refrigerator. I’m about to plop my ass on the sofa when Liora comes into the room and there’s a bang on my front door.
“What the …” I head over to the door to find Scooter and Gator standing outside my apartment.
“Were you expecting someone?” Liora asks.
“Nope. I had plans with you for this afternoon. Why would I have plans with someone else?”
She shrugs. “Maybe I should go. I can call for a ride.”
There’s more banging on my door, followed by, “Open up, dude. We know you’re home.”
“Yeah, I may be home, but you can hang on a minute,” I yell back. Turning my attention back to Liora. “I don’t want you to go, Li. Just let me get rid of these two clowns. Please? I’d far rather spend the time with you than them right now.” She looks at me but doesn’t say a word. “Please?” I repeat.
“You sure?” she asks, looking unsure herself.
“One hundred and ten percent.” Her tiny half smile hits me right in the chest.
“Okay, then.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“For fuck’s sake, Digit. Open the damn door. Or I’m going to knock on your neighbor’s door and tell him you have a crush on him,” Gator shouts through the wooden panel.
“Fuck you, asshat,” I shout back before opening the door.
“About damn tim—” Scooter’s words die as he gets an eyeful of Liora. He stops dead just inside the door, and Gator runs into his back.
“What the hell, man? Why’d you stop – oh,” Gator says.
I crack up. I can’t help it. The look on their faces is identical. The look of shock and confusion is too funny. They both turn to me as if they were one body.
“Dude.” Gator looks back at Liora. Then back to me. “Dude.”
“Yeah, I was last time I looked,” I reply, deciding to not make it easy on them. That’s what you get for showing up unannounced.
“Shit, sorry, man. Didn’t realize you had company tonight. We should probably go,” Scooter says, turns to do just that, and bumps into Gator, who hasn’t moved a muscle. “Move your ass, Gator.”
“Yeah. Yeah. We should probably do that,” he says, still not moving a muscle. His gaze is well and truly stuck to Liora.
“Yeah, you probably should,” I echo their words.
“Treven, really. I should get going, and you and your friends can visit. I’ve taken enough of your time today.” Liora’s words are like a hot poker to the gut.
But before I can voice my objection, Scooter speaks up. “No, ma’am. We should be the ones to leave. We were the ones who showed up without calling first.”
This time Scooter punches Gator in the shoulder. “Let’s rock, dude.”
