Page 80 of Forget Me Not

“Nope. Just to my room.” I go to step around him, but he sidesteps in my way.

“Are you sure about that?”

My head tilts slightly to the left. “Seriously, Alaric?”

“Yes, seriously. You’re lying to me. I just heard you hollering to Gladys that you were heading out again. Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” He tightens his grip on my hip and I grit my teeth.

“No, I don't think you’re stupid.” Giving up, I just tell him the truth. “Look. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d do this.” I look at his hand that's gripping my side. “It’s just a party.”

His eyes perk up. “Justa party?”

“Yes, just a party. It’s no big deal. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“And who’s going to be at thisparty?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know,Dad. Probably people my age, and…”

“And Tyler?”

I roll my eyes and cross my arms. “Plus Heather.”

“Heather from two rooms down, Heather?”

“Yes,” I stammer. “That one. Now, will you please not make a big deal out of this? They’re waiting for me next door and I have to go.”

“I’m not making a big deal out of anything. It sounds like a good time. You should definitely go.” He releases me immediately and a strange sort of cold creeps over the place his hand just was. As if I want him to put it back.

“Really?”

I’m speechless. I can’t believe it was this easy. I thought for sure I’d stand here all night defending my right to go.

He grazes my cheek with the backs of his fingers, warmth radiating from his touch. “Of course, baby. You want friends and you want to live your life. Go live it.”

I find myself leaning into his touch. “Thank you.” I lift a smile, placing my hand over his on my cheek. For once in this messed-up thing that’s going on between us, I feel like he actually heard me. Not just heard me, but listened and took it to heart.

“You don’t need to thank me. I want you to have fun. You’ve missed out on so much and you deserve to live a normal life.”

I give a subtle nod and our eyes meet. Time seems to pause and for a moment, I forget that I'm even in a hurry to leave. Lately, Alaric's presence has a way of drowning out the rest of the world, until it's just the two of us, with nowhere else to be.

Only, there is somewhere I need to be. "I should go," I tell him regretfully.

“I agree," he says, his hand slowly dropping. I step around him, clutching my apron and the money inside. “It’s going to be a cold night,” he muses. “Why don’t you go grab your coat and we can leave?”

I stop walking and spin around, my eyebrows practically hitting my forehead. “We?”

“Well, yeah,” he says confidently. “I’m going with you.”

I narrow my eyes and tilt my head. “What?” When he stands there with a stone-faced expression, I snort with laughter. “Oh, you’re kidding?”

Behind his blue eyes is no trace of humor.

Of course. I should have fucking known! Just when I thought he heard me, that maybe he would let me have a say and maybe something between us could work, the band snaps, hitting me in the face.Point for Alaric.

The sound of the front door opening, followed by chatter, has my eyes shooting wide. “That’s probably them,” I tell him, my voice strained because I’m not ready to explain Alaric’s behavior to Tyler and Heather. Hell, I can’t even explain him to myself.

Heather and Tyler come walking down the hall and I step around Alaric, who spins to face the same direction as me with a smile on his face. “Good to see you again, Heather,” he says before I can even get any words out tomyfriends for the night. “And Tyler, it’s always a pleasure.”

“Mmmhmm,” Tyler grumbles as he looks at me quizzically.

---