The Rising (Darkness Rising 3)

Corey turned. "Rafe should not have told you that. He had no right. What the hell was he thinking?"

"So it's true? What you said?"

His face went still for a moment, then he looked down at me. "Do you need to ask that? Really, Maya?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but it felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I gasped for air. Corey swore, grabbed my arm, and steered me to a chair. Then he pushed me down into it and crouched, face lowering to mine.

"Breathe, Maya," he said. "Just breathe."

I scowled as I found my voice. "I'm not--"

"Oh, yes you are. You look ready to pass out. Apparently it is a surprise." He swore some more, then shook his head. "What a mess. Of all the crappy timing . . . I'm going to kill him."

"He didn't mean it. He's just stressed and anxious and he wasn't thinking." Was I defending Rafe? I took a deep breath, then looked at Corey. "You shouldn't have said anything to him."

"Why?"

I met his gaze. "Why? You have to ask?"

He pulled over a chair and sat down. "Yeah, I do. Daniel's my friend, Maya. I've watched him go through hell over this for two years now. Liking you but dating Serena, which was a stupid idea, which I told him many times. Then him finally realizing it was a stupid idea, and torturing himself about dumping her. Which was nothing compared to the torture of having her die, then being trapped between grieving for her and wanting to be with you and knowing there was no way in hell that was happening anytime soon. A year goes by, and I'm pushing him to make his move and I finally convince him to give you a hint, and in strolls Rafael Martinez. Daniel's this close to actually doing something and you decide you're going to date a town boy? After all these years? There was no way in hell I wasn't going to tell Rafe to back off."

When he finished, he glanced at me and swore under his breath, reaching over to grasp my shoulder.

"Breathe, Maya."

I shook off his hand. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You look like someone hit you in the gut with a sandbag." He sighed. "I kept telling myself you knew. You had to know."

I looked at him. "And what? I was just being a heartless bitch, ignoring it?"

"'Course not. I just figured you weren't ready. After Serena and everything. You were playing it cool until you got enough distance. . . ." He trailed off. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have found out like this. Not now. Not from Rafe. Not from me. I blame Rafe and I kinda blame Daniel. You know how he is. So damned worried about doing the right thing. But it's out now and you know, so I sure as hell hope you're going to do something about it."

I looked up at him.

"Don't look at me like you don't know what I mean. Maybe you aren't as obvious about it as Daniel is, but you can't tell me you don't--"

The kitchen door opened.

Daniel walked in, saw us, and stopped. "You guys having a party and forgot to invite me?" He went to the counter where the pizza box sat. "You better have left some."

Corey's gaze swung from me to Daniel. Then he stood. "Maya and I were just talking. There's something--"

I grabbed the back of his shirt and wrenched hard enough for him to stumble. Daniel looked over and frowned.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We were talking about Hayley," I said. "Something she said to me in confidence. Can I have a minute with Corey?"

"Sure. Holler when you're done."

Daniel left. Still holding Corey's shirt, I stood and moved closer to him.

"You are not going to tell him," I whispered.

He twisted to look at me. "Why not? I'm sick of this. It's like being twelve again, dealing with all that damned drama. I like her. Does she like me? What if she doesn't like me?"

"Except when we were twelve, it was us dealing with your drama." I moved closer and lowered my voice even more. "Don't do this, Corey."