Page 40 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

CHAPTER 15

Romeo

PRESENT

So that’s what this was all about. I unknowingly embarrassed the poor girl when she was younger. It made sense—you always seemed to remember all the worst and most embarrassing moments of your life, no matter how long it had been.

“This whole time you’ve been mad at me over that? How did I not realize it?” I said, sitting beside Ivy Jade. She looked up at me with big expressive eyes. They looked even bigger in the dark bar, like little black marbles. “I was never trying to embarrass you.”

“But you did. And I know it sounds juvenile to hold onto a grudge for this long, but… I don’t know. I looked at you differently back then. You were older. Cooler. Your opinion… it mattered differently to me,” she said, fixated on her hands, twisting a ring on her pinky. I’d never seen Ivy Jade look so self-conscious. I had only ever seen her either angry or confident, though both sometimes occurred concurrently. “I’m starting to realize that I always had an older person in my life telling me what to do—telling me what’s best. I may have been a child at the time, but I didn’t want to feel like one. Not with you. And when you scolded me like that, I think it hit me harder than I expected. Another authority figure, making my decisions for me.”

I remembered that night well. She thought I was just giving her shit this whole time, but it genuinely worried me, and no one else seemed to be looking out for her. Seeing a young teen like her drinking raised all the alarm bells in my head.

“My sister started drinking at that age,” I said, a little surprised by the croak in my voice. I didn’t expect the heat of emotion to hit me like this.

“Your sister?” she asked.

“Rachel. She’s my twin, but I still see her as my younger sister…” I said, mindlessly picking up my beer, taking a sip. It was warm and stale. I didn’t want it anymore. “We kind of had a rough upbringing. Family issues. Things like that. My dad was an alcoholic, and Rachel started drinking, too. It was easy to brush it off at first, but it just sorta caught up with her… so much changed rapidly, and it scared the hell out of me. It’s hard to describe what it’s like, watching someone you love lose control of themselves. I’m sorry I put that on you. It may not have been right to scold you like that, but a part of me always felt protective of you…”

Ivy Jade shrank into her shoulders. She looked so small. “You were protecting me?”

“Still am…” I shrugged, not able to look into her eyes for some reason. Screw the warm beer—I pulled it back for a much-needed sip. My nerves were on fire.

“I’m sorry about Rachel,” she said, tilting her head. She looked embarrassed, but shit, I was the one feeling embarrassed. Maybe because we were just airing out all our drama, but I had gotten so used to our teasing that feeling vulnerable was still something new for us. “And I’m sorry I was being a brat and holding onto a grudge for so long.”

“You? Sorry for being a brat?” I acted shocked, bumping into her. “Do I need to check your temperature? Are you running a fever?”

“No, dork. I don’t have a fever…” She smiled sheepishly, trying not to laugh. “I just feel stupid for even making this a big deal. I wish I’d said something to you sooner.”

“At least you did now.” I rolled my eyes, acting exhausted. “And all it took was you waving an ax in my face to get us here.”

“Oh, relax. I wasn’t actually going to hit you with it. Your blood would’ve totally ruined my makeup,” she jabbed, making me laugh.

“I could imagine the headline: Talented, handsome man, accidentally axed in the face by beautiful Latina whose family paid her way out of prison time for murder,” I mocked.

“Beautiful?” she asked, acting like she wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“Am I wrong, brat?” I answered, staring down at her, watching the glee grow in her eyes.

She sighed, tossing her long brown locks over her shoulder. I couldn’t help but let my eyes travel from her shoulder to her leg, which was crossed and pointed towards mine. She wore fucking heels to throw axes, but somehow that didn’t surprise me, and she looked so good I could hardly stand it.

My eyes flicked back up to hers. It was dimly lit where we sat, off to the corner away from everyone else, but I swore her cheeks reddened slightly. It was then that my heart dropped a little, and those feelings from last night kept crawling their way into my chest.

She glanced down at her hands, and her voice lowered. “You know,” she began, and a smile curled up her lips. “I used to have a crush on you back then. I think that’s another reason why it upset me so much.”

Her soft eyes hesitantly glanced back up to meet mine, and my jaw lowered a little. She didn’t need to admit that, but she did.

“Really?” I was trying to remain cool, like it had no effect on me whatsoever, even though I wanted to smile from ear to ear.

She nodded, biting her bottom lip a little bit. “Yeah. Kind of silly, right?”

I looked back over at the group as cheers erupted, and where Gustav was ax-throwing next to Tallulah. They both had their throws hit right down the middle.

“It was a long time ago,” I said with a casual shrug, but I leaned back onto the couch, wanting to get comfortable and talk with her more.

We’d spent so much time bickering over the last couple of days that it was nice to finally have a normal conversation with her.

She let out a soft sigh, leaning back, mirroring me. Was she feigning casualness as well? “Yeah, a really long time ago.”