Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Nine

The only way to get Suzie to shut up was to say yes, and I waited for our Friday night double-date like a prisoner awaiting execution. Only with everyone watching, it was like I was acting a part in a horrible made-for-TV film. My stomach wouldn't untie, and my words were far from kind. I jumped at every unforeseen sound. Brenan was cute and smart and funny, and all the girls were vying for his attention now that he was single.

So why couldn't I just go with it? See if he was as great as everyone else thought?

The problem was that to me, he was just okay. Was it fair to either of us if I allowed myself to settle for okay?

Maybe Suzie was right, and if I gave it a chance—as in not compare Brenan to David—I might like him more than just okay. Brenan could grow on me. Maybe. But I doubted it. At least it gave me an excuse to hit Suzie and Deryk all week, keeping my jab in perfect condition for whenever I was lucky enough to train again.

Working my four-hour shift at Tucker's on Wednesday night was the only break in the drone of the week. It was the one place where nobody looked at me with curiosity and expectations like a clown about to complete their next trick. Gabe was back to being civil, Mike acted like I hadn't been a bitch on her rag, and Raffy... Well, he was Raffy. They'd all heard about my double-date thanks to Suzie's big mouth, like she was trying to tell everyone so that I couldn't flake out. Raffy wasn't willing to barter into giving me my shift back so I would have a reason to ditch, even when I offered to clock in the hours so that he would be paid.

My boys my ass. If Suzie had been right about that, they would help me get out of something I didn't want to do. But no, they weren't my boys at all.

When Friday arrived, Suzie tried dressing me, but I wasn't that agreeable to the charade. The last thing I needed was Brenan thinking I wanted to impress him. Or—gasp—that I was easy. So, just to make my point clear, I didn't change out of the clothes I'd worn to school: faded jeans slightly frayed at the hem, a black, loose-fitting hoody—the kind without a zipper so he wouldn't expect it to come off—and white sneakers.

Suzie was appalled when she saw me, and I secretly hoped it would be enough to cancel, but that was too optimistic. Still, it was her fault for making me do this—her and Deryk. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here, and I never would have felt obligated. As much as I hoped to make myself feel something for Brenan, it just wasn't there.

But for one night, I would pretend, and tomorrow I could go back to being closed off.

We drove around the block two times before finding somewhere to park near the theatre. So long as I wasn't in store for some sappy romance, I was fine with the movie part—seriously not annoyed at all. It wasn't like a darkened theatre was anything like a restaurant or whatever other choices could have been made to force me to engage in stiff, undesired conversation. Watching a movie? Not bad.

We walked around to the front of the theatre from the parking lot in the back of the building and spotted Deryk and Brenan right away. They were both leaning against the framed 'Coming Soon' posters. Deryk was in a hoody and jeans, his dark brown hair cut in a shag Suzie gushed was perfect for her fingers to play with—he must have it cut like that as it never seemed to grow or get shorter.

Brenan had changed since school. Okay, so I had looked earlier just so I'd know, and maybe felt a twinge of guilt for not putting in the effort. But it wasn't enough to have changed. He'd switched his black hoody for a white one and jeans for a beige pair of khakis. He stood nearly as tall to meet Deryk at six-two, and with a chiselled jaw, baby blues, and sandy blonde hair, he could have easily passed as a young Paul Walker. His smile helped—a lot.