Dark Child (Wild Men 5)

What is he doing to me?

His hand is big, I think randomly as he drags me into the diner, my steps uncertain, like my mind. So big it engulfs mine, and I like that. His fingers are long, like an artist’s, his knuckles slightly blackened, as if with charcoal. One of his nails is broken.

We sit, and he lowers our still entwined hands on top of the table, between us.

Why is he still holding my hand?

Not that I’m complaining. I can feel the heat of his skin, the strength in his grip all the way to the pit of my stomach and the marrow of my bones.

“Whatcha listening to?” I nod at the heavy-duty headphones hanging around his neck. “Anything good?”

“Oh yeah, it’s awesome. Wanna hear?” Again that blinding smile that makes my knees go weak. At my slight nod, he lifts the headphones off and places them on my head. “There.”

“What…?” I frown as the unknown melody pours into my ears. “Who’s that?”

“This is ‘Leave it all up to me’ by Screaming Females.”

He says it seriously, and I barely hear him over the music, watching his lips move. If I leaned forward a few inches, I could press my mouth to his and finally solve the mystery of the taste of his lips. Feel the scrape of that golden scruff. Take in the scent of his skin.

The waitress comes to take our order, and I quickly lift off the headphones. “Coffee and pancakes with chocolate syrup and cream, please.”

“Just coffee,” he says, and accepts his headphones back. “So? What did you think?”

“I like it,” I say truthfully. “I’d never heard of them before.”

His eyes sparkle. “I’ll teach you all about it, if you like.”

Joy comes off him in waves, and I lean in, transfixed. “About music?”

“Indie rock, indie pop... But also other things.” He winks.

He’s like the sun, sending off light and heat. I understand the girls flocking to him. He’s not just handsome, he’s somehow… bright and... Wait a minute. Did he just wink at me, or did I imagine it? And did he just offer to teach me… other things?

He’s just joking around, I decide when he pulls his hand away. “What other things?”

“Calculus.” He sounds like he’s teasing me.

“Calculus sounds… awesome. We could study together.”

“If you want.”

Oh, I want. I want a lot of things, but before I open my mouth and say anything stupid, the waitress appears again, placing our order on the table and sashaying away. He hasn’t shown a single indication that he’s interested in me before today.

Maybe Lin’s Boy Laws are wrong.

And I mean, if this boy

doesn’t already have a girlfriend, the whole universe is wrong. A guy like him can’t be single and looking for company. A black hole would be forming right here, right now, about to suck us all out into outer space.

I dig into my pancake to force my mind off his possible girlfriend. A cheerleader, probably, with long blond hair and huge tits.

Ugh, stop.

“You like pancakes,” he observes.

The boy’s astute, too. Give him a prize.

“What gave me away?” I ask, then wipe my mouth quickly on my paper napkin, my stomach so full I’ll probably need to pop the top button of my pants open.