Page 13 of Thaw My Heart
Cody smiles a sweet, handsome, evil smile. It makes me grin a bit, too.
This guy is starting to actually amuse me. Huh, mutual enemies really do bring about the most unlikely alliances.
“You’re right. I can’t,” Cody says. “But Icantell Louis what to do. Right, Louis?”
Louis squares up to him. “I’m not afraid of you, Cody. What are you gonna do?”
Cody takes a step closer. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s actually going to beat Louis up, massages be damned. Luckily, Maya steps between them right in the nick of time. She pushes them both back and glowers at Cody.
“Back off, Cody. I’m twenty-three. You can’t scare off every guy I kiss anymore. Just…” She sighs and looks at me. “Darcy, can you and Cody please go get dinner? I’ll meet up with you for drinks later. Louis needs to uh…monitor my condition.” She looks to Louis for help and he nods.
I almost laugh at the thought. Me and Cody, alone for dinner? “You really think that’s a good idea, Maya? There’s probably a better chance of Cody and I beating each other up than Cody and Louis beating each other up.”
Maya gives me The Look. She doesn’t use it often, but when she does, it means business. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.Please, go.”
“Okay, okay, we’ll go.” I take Cody’s arm and attempt to pull him away, but he won’t budge. He’s like a guard dog on alert. Maya leans in close to him and whispers something that only he can hear. It seems to calm him down. He nods at her and allows me to drag him away.
“Hey! No more back massages half price, Cody!” Louis shouts after us.
“Arghh! Fuck my life,” he grumbles, then glares at me, “Youegged me on, and now I’m going to develop knots in my shoulders.”
I roll my eyes.
“I’m sure you’re going to be fine princess.”
As we walk toward the bar, I try to ease his worries. “He’s probably not as bad as you think.”
“I know,” Cody glumly says.
“And Maya isn’t dumb. She won’t let him trick her into anything she doesn’t want to do.”
“I know,” he repeats.
“So, what are you so worried about?” I ask curiously. “This isn’t the first time you’ve seen her kiss a guy.”
Cody is quiet for a moment. “She just got here and she’s already gotten hurt. I don’t want it to happen again. Itcan’thappen again. I just want to protect her. That’s all. I know it’s not my place, but?—”
“But it’s Maya,” I finish because I understand perfectly. I feel the very same way. “I know. She’s the sweetest person I know—too sweet, I think sometimes. She will get hurt again and again and never hold a grudge. One day, though…”
“One day, someone will go too far and completely break her heart.”
Cody’s eyes meet mine and we share a moment of understanding. There may not be a lot we agree on—practically nothing—but we agree about Maya, that she’s the best thing to happen to either of us. That we want to protect her.
Cody and I have managed to find common ground.
How strange.
“It’s not your fault, you know,” I tell him. “The accident, I mean. Or at least, it’s notallyour fault. I was picking a fight.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t have to fight back. Maya asked me to be nice to you, and I just… I saw you, and it was like being sixteen again. All I cared about was having the last word.”
I get it more than I would like to. Seeing Cody brought up old childhood feelings that I never had the chance to resolve. Feelings of being unwanted, of being rejected. I didn’t like it, so I rebelled.
And look where that got us. I remember the last time we fought and it wasn’t pretty. Both of us young and with sharp tongues.
The annual school talent show was my chance to shine. I'd spent weeks perfecting my song, practicing until my fingers bled and my voice was hoarse. This was going to be my moment.
As I peeked out from behind the curtain, my heart sank. The auditorium was half-empty. Where was everyone?
