Page 13 of The Daredevil

R:How about next Saturday?

M:Okay.

R:Pick you up at 7.

M:(smile emoji)

R: (smile emoji)

I smiled, then tossed the phone on the couch cushion like it was something from another world. What did I just do? How did that happen? I was here for work, not for a relationship. Or did he just want to take me out to dinner as friends?

My stomach twisted uncomfortably. Did he flirt with his female friends? Because what I’d just experienced was aflirtatiousconversation.

Reaching for my phone, I sent a message to my SSG 003 girls.

CHAPTERSIX

ROYCE

Why wasI staring at Michelle’s response like some high school kid who had just scored his first date? I was a grown thirty-one-year-old man, yet I couldn’t help the goofy smile on my face as I entered my apartment.

Something stung my fingers, and I glanced down at the scratch and redness on my knuckles. I didn’t remember getting the scratch, but fury had blinded me then.

That fucking thief.He didn’t look like a homeless man or in need of money. What would have happened if I hadn’t been driving home and saw her rushing after him? She ran pretty fast in her boots, but if she had caught up with him, she would’ve gotten hurt. Actually, she did. Her palms were scratched up. I hated those marks on her hands. Did they sting like mine? I should have asked her about that instead of dinner.

This sudden need to protect her surprised me. Where did it come from?

Had I done the right thing by asking her to dinner? Maybe she thought it was a simple meal between friends. We’d had “dinner” as a group at Remi’s or Grayson’s, but never just the two of us.

Did I want it to be a simple meal?

What the fuck was I doing? Besides her beautiful face, there was something about her that tugged at me. I couldn’t explain it. A part of me sought to understand this mystery—to understand her.

I compared the curiosity to my volcanic research for the private team I freelanced for. How many types of lava were there? How could lava be used to serve the natural world? Could part of the volcano be sustainable? I loved finding answers that weren’t obvious, and being a volcanologist satisfied that curiosity. Research paid little and mainly relied on grants and donations, but the work was important.

I had plenty of money from my excursion business, so I had time to dedicate to volcanic research, which I incorporated into my Level Two in WaterFyre Rising.

Thinking back to my teen years, I was grateful to have connected with Remi, Grayson, Forrest, and Arrow. Remi started the video game idea as an escape from his home life. He’d invited all of us to join him, knowing that each of us had something to contribute. Little did I know that the video game would save my life too.

Sitting in my office chair, I swiveled back and forth, mimicking the thoughts flowing in and out of my mind. What people said about a person’s teen years was true—if I had hung out with a different crowd, my life could have easily gone the other way. My boys gave me a safe haven to explore my dreams, and Aunt Klara offered me a loving home to live in. Even so, I felt an emptiness inside me.

Could a child ever get over his father abandoning him and his mom and leaving them to fend for themselves? I couldn’t remember his face. He left us when I was five years old, and in doing so, I’d pushed him out of my mind too. He wasn’t important anymore.

Though my mom had a good reason for sending me off to Aunt Klara, that sense of abandonment stirred in me like simmering lava. Every time I thought about my life, my blood heated with resentment toward God or whoever was up there. If God were real, he wouldn’t have taken my mom away. The disappointment forced me to pack all my Thor comic books into a box. I couldn’t look at him or any other superhero the same way after Mom died.

I always questioned if I was good enough. I knew it wasn’t healthy, but that thought was there. Only when I worked on my video game, where I could create my world—construct my own rules—did my mentality change. Like my friends, I wanted to change my present environment. I wanted to become something worthy—to prove I didn’t need another’s approval to feel complete.

Now I ran a touring empire scattered around the globe. Though success sat beside me, something else was missing. Would it always feel like this? Achieving a goal and still searching for the next thrill?

Probably.Which was why I enjoyed going on new adventures.

Was Michelle my new adventure? She’d probably stab me with her knife if I told her that over dinner.

I had plenty of work to complete before next week’s banquet and dinner with Michelle, which was what I looked forward to the most. With friendships at stake, I’d consider it a simple dinner between friends to see where things went. The last thing I wanted was to ruin our friendship and make it awkward between us and all of our friends. I’d let her lead the way.

Shoving all my distractions aside, I checked my email for updates on the Land Rover that had died the day Oskar picked up Michelle.

According to the mechanic, someone had tampered with the electrical wire in the engine. Who? Why? When? I needed those answers.

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