Page 17 of Drawn Together

“I like to drive in silence, Marfil,” he said calmly, making an impeccable right turn.

“Silence means there’s nothing to say.”

“Exactly,” he said, satisfied.

“And I always have something to say,” I said at practically the same time.

“Sometimes you can say more with silence than a conversation that goes on for hours.”

“Oh yeah? Then what are you saying, since you’re always so quiet?” I asked, enjoying the excuse to turn and admire the profile of his straight nose and his square jaw… I could’ve spent hours looking at him.

“You don’t want to know.”

“But I do.”

He stopped at a red light and graced me with a cold sweep of his brown eyes. “You don’t need to get to know me, Marfil. I’m not here to be your friend.”

I actually wanted something much more than friendship and much more pleasurable from him.

“Do you like my dress?” I asked, ignoring his last comment.

Sebastian cursed between his teeth and looked back at the road.

I smiled, amused by his reaction. I was driving him crazy, and I loved it.

Liam was waiting for us outside the AMC Theatre on 19th and Broadway. We both loved movies so much that we paid for a monthly subscription that allowed us to watch up to four movies a week for only thirty dollars a month. I was a movie fanatic. I would even go by myself, I didn’t care.

Sebastian and I had stopped to pick Tami up from campus, and the poor thing almost had a heart attack when she saw him, but I explained the situation on the way to the movie theater.

We got out of the car, and I linked arms with my friend. Liam’s eyes narrowed in annoyance as we approached, and Tami’s steps slowed as she spotted him.

“You didn’t tell me he was going to be here,” she complained quietly. My friend was not often combative, which was why I’d been so surprised by her fight with Liam; I had never seen her so mad. I couldn’t even remember what he’d said to her, just that he had been messing around.

Liam, on the other hand, thought that shy, quiet girls like Tami were boring. That’s why he and I got along so well. It occurred to me that Sebastian would be thrilled to guard someone like Tami instead of me, and I couldn’t help but turn to look at him. He walked several steps behind us, glancing around as if daring the universe to lay a hand on me. Deep down, it was a great feeling to know I was being protected.

When we reached Liam, I let go of my friend and gave him a big hug. He picked me up off the ground, as he always did,and whispered very quietly in my ear, “You’re going to pay for this, babe.”

I laughed and turned to my two friends. “A truce, just for tonight. If you promise to behave, I’ll let you pick the movie.”

Liam sighed and Tami remained silent. I suppose the fact that I’d been kidnapped made them more willing to give in to me. I noticed that Liam was eyeing Sebastian, and I tugged on his arm so that he would focus on what was important.

“Are you seriously going to make me watch a movie about a man who turns into an ant?” I complained a few minutes later.

“Don’t try to sabotage it. It’s throwback night—when will we be able to watchAnt-Manin a theater again? Besides, we get to choose the movie,” said Liam, who, to my surprise, was being fairly cordial to Tami.

She, on the other hand, had hardly said a word. I watched her as she walked away to buy popcorn. Her golden-blond hair, almost white, brushed her waist with every step she took. She was beautiful, adorable; I didn’t understand why she had decided to stay single. I’d had to convince her not to become a nun, almost beating her over the head with a lamp to make her see reason when she’d shared the thought with me at boarding school. In the end she decided on her own that it wasn’t the right path for her, but I spent several months worried.

“Your friend is strange.”

I elbowed him in the side. “That ‘strange’ girl is the only true friend I had until you came to darken my doorway.”

“It’s thanks to me that you’re not like her. You should be more grateful.”

He was right about that. Even though I’d always been fairly rebellious, moving to the Big Apple after spending practically my entire life as a recluse hadn’t been easy.

“Maybe you could teach her a thing or two,” I said, smiling.

Liam turned his back to my friend and looked at me,amused. “Helping you become the heartbreaker you are now is my greatest achievement, don’t expect me to do the same with just anyone.”