Page 35 of Keep Me Still
“Thanks, Aunt Kate. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Lay. Miss you.”
Her faith in me is enough to help me put on the strapless black dress Corin persuaded me to buy at a trendy boutique downtown. I slip on the heels I wore to Homecoming, and memories threaten to suffocate me. The girl Landen turned down to go with me to the dance had a brother—a big one who wasn’t too happy that his little sister got her feelings hurt. He argued with Landen at the dance then punched the metal doors open to leave the gym. Down I went like the London Bridge.
The feel of Landen holding me in his arms, keeping me still when no one else could, starts to drag me back into that black hole of hopelessness. Corin pours me a shot of something that smells like melted caramel just in time.
“He’s in love with you,” she says from behind me and I almost jab my eye out with the mascara brush. “You know that, right?”
I turn to her as a huff of disagreement leaves my throat. “No, he’s not.”
“He almost broke that guy’s neck fortalkingto you, Layla. Maybe it wasn’t the healthiest display of affection, but there was an awful lot of pent-up emotion in that boy.”
I shake my head. “Can we just not talk about him tonight?” For the sake of my already fragile mental well-being. “I need a break.”
“Sure, no talking about him. Promise.” But she doesn’t look at me as she says it.
Wego downstairs and take a cab to some club called Shortie’s because neither of us wants to walk a million miles and risk breaking an ankle. Plus we may slightly resemble hookers in our club clothes. A remix of Titanium is throbbing and pulsing through the club as Corin drags me onto the dance floor.
I’ve never danced like this in public, but her energy is contagious, and I’m shaking everything I have for all I’m worth while we scream the lyrics at each other. One day I’ll tell her what this song means to me, what I survived. But for now I’m focusing on letting loose and having a good time. My parents would want that for me. Though they might not have been be too excited about the underage drinking.
“I owe you,” I shout over the music. A demon of vengeance sent me Landen O’Brien, but an angel of mercy sent me Corin.
“Hold that thought,” she shouts back.
“What?”
“Please don’t hate me.” She bites her lip and I’m completely confused.
“What?”
Corin grabs my shoulders and spins me around. And either it’s the mother of all coincidences or my roommate is a traitor. Because Landen is sitting at a table on the edge of the dance floor with another guy. And they’re watching us. Closely.
“What the hell, Cor—”
“Layla, chill a sec. Just list—”
But my eyes are stinging and I’m plowing through bodies to get as far away from all of them as possible. Is it too much to ask for me just to be happy? But my heart’s an even bigger traitor than my roommate.You want him here. You’re glad he’s here.
When I come out on the other side of the dance floor, I’m at the bar so I give it a try.
“Can I get a shot of tequila please?” I’m still buzzed from the shots Corin and I downed in our room, but the Landen O’Brien surprise attack special kind of killed my warm, fuzzy tingles. And I want them back, dang it.
The guy doesn’t even ask for ID or check to see if I have an under twenty-one hand stamp. And I do. But the shot appears and I’m going for it.
“I’ll have what she’s having. Make it a double,” a deep voice that still sends spasms of pleasure and panic surging through me says from behind me. “I always wanted to say that.Make it a double,” he murmurs in my ear and my knees threaten to give. He places a gentle hand on my lower back.
“Well now you have,” I snap. Somehow the hurt, loss, and feelings of utter frustration I’ve come to associate with him add up to my being royally pissed off. I’ve got all this nervous energy and no place to put it.
“Wanna do a body shot?” he asks, and I turn to see if he’s completely lost his mind.
“With you?”
“Hell yeah with me. Why, you interested in a replay of last night? Want to see me lose my shit again?”
I blink at him. “Not particularly.”
He leans in closer, his breath fanning my face and drawing my attention to his mouth. “So what are you interested in, Layla Flaherty? Because I’m lost trying to figure you out.”
