“Because I felt sorry for—”
I sneezed, quite pleased with the timing of it. Darren was not pleased if the look he shot me was any indication. “Excuse me,” I said pleasantly. “I have loud sneezes. Like a man.”
“Bless you,” Sherry said.
“I said yes,” Darren bit out, “because I was just so overjoyed.”
“Much better, bae,” I said. “Doesn’t the truth feel good? I bet it feels good. Your truth telling.”
He muttered something under his breath that I was sure was essentially confessing his undying admiration for my wit and my body.
“I like you,” Sherry said, eyeing me up and down. “Even if you don’t have a bedazzled couch.”
That shouldn’t have made me feel as happy as it did. “I like you as well. I blame Darren for not introducing us sooner.”
Darren said, “I don’t think this was a good—”
“It’s like he was trying to keep us apart or something.” Sherry pulled out her phone and handed it to me. “Put your number in there so we can talk about Darren behind his back. Matty already gives me updates, but I think they’d be better if they came directly from you. Then I can send you embarrassing photos of when he was younger. Do you know he went through a phase where he liked New Kids on the Block? And when I say liked, I mean obsessed. He had NKOTB lunch boxes and pajamas and posters and underwear. Though, in hindsight, it makes so much more sense now. He was gay for NKOTB.”
“Mom!”
She ignored him, nodding at her phone.
“Sandy!”
“Hush, bae. I’m doing something.” Once the number was programmed, I found the camera app, snapped a selfie that caught the edge of Darren’s glower, and made it the contact photo under my phone number. I sent a text to myself from her phone. “There,” I said, handing it back to her. “Now I can tell you about everything Darren does. Step by step. Ooh baby.”
Darren looked very pale at that.
“Maybe not everything,” I amended.
He looked less pale.
“But most things.”
His level of paleness did not change that I could see. I felt better about that.
She excused herself, briefly, to the restroom, leaving Darren and I alone for the first time since we were in the Queen’s Lair.
And he wouldn’t even look at me, the coward. His neck was still red, and apparently, he’d found something interesting on the wall to stare at.
“So,” I said.
He sighed, as if resigned to his fate.
I decided to go easy on him, because honestly, I was reeling just as much as he was. I was sure he hadn’t wanted it known that he’d basically wanted all up in my junk for years. Granted, I was going to give him so much crap later on, but still. His wounds were still fresh. I didn’t need to rub salt on them. At least not until they’d healed more. “I wasn’t nervous,” I said instead.
He snorted but still didn’t look at me. “Whatever.”
“I wasn’t,” I said. “You can ask anyone. I was the epitome of calm.”
“I went into the wrong doorway,” Sherry called from down the hall. “Why does your bedroom look like a tornado hit it? Did you literally try on everything you owned before we got here? And I can see where all the bedazzling went. It’s like walking inside a disco ball. I feel better about this now.”
Now Darren looked at me, a bit of the cockiness returning. I refused to be intimidated by it. “Really,” he said. “You tried on everything you owned.”
“Of course not,” I said. “That would just be ridiculous. I didn’t wear anything of Helena’s.”
That smirk he wore so well softened slightly. He let his gaze crawl up and down, and I struggled to not let my breath hitch in my chest. “You chose good,” he said finally, eyes meeting mine again.