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I took a deep breath. I wasn’t having the Dylan conversation again. I left the wordboyfriendslide this time. After all I had more important things to worry about. Like the offer my mentor Duncan Walsh made me the other day.
“It’s a museum, not a zoo,” I started digging in the fridge. I wasn’t hungry, but I needed to do something, so I didn’t have to look at him. “You should visit one someday. Just to have an idea what it’s all about. You could actually learn something other than knocking people off on the football field.”
“Thank you,” he smirked. “The correct term is tackle, by the way. And sometimes I too getknocked off. I’m not the Greek god you might think I am. I know I have the looks, so I get your confusion.”
I cocked my head. “A Greek god? Seriously? Try Narcissus. I’ve never met another person so self-absorbed and in love with himself. You know what happened to him, right? In fact, it was the goddessNemesiswho punished him for his vanity. Isn’t it funny that you call me exactly that?”
“So I’m not a god, but you’re a goddess, and not just any goddess, but the one of revenge and retribution?” I was surprised he knew who Nemesis was, and he got that from my expression. “Yeah, Clem, I play football, but I can also read, you know.” He wasn’t offended. He looked amused by our conversation, pleased he managed to astonish me.
Comparing him to Narcissus reminded me of the reason I was there in the first place. What Elizabeth hoped for.
“You can mock me all you want, Lucas, but you can’t deny the similarities. Narcissus was beautiful,” I pointed at him. “Many fell in love with him, but he treated them with nothing but disdain. Ring a bell?”
I tried to sound casual when I called him beautiful, but Lucas being Lucas couldn’t let it go without a comment.
“Ouch. Poor Williams. Calling another man beautiful after your first date? Harsh, Clem. Was he that bad?”
“You’re…,” I started, irritated.
“Unbelievable?” he interrupted me and took the jar of pickles. “You keep saying that a lot.” He opened it and passed it to me with a charming smile. “You’re welcome.”
“Deluded also fits.”
This back and forth between us has become natural to the point I couldn’t even remember the feeling of anxiety I used to have about passing him by in the school’s hallway.
He watched me silently while I ate the sandwich. I was impressed with myself for not trembling under his scrutinizing look. I used to feel unease around him, but not anymore. I had the feeling he was noticing the change too.
“You’re not saying anything about the girls,” I paused and waited for him to answer. He didn’t, so I pressed. “You hate them.”
“I don’t hate girls. I love them,” he flashed me a suggestive smile. Jealousy crawled into my stomach. What was I supposed to say to that? “Why do you want to talk about the girls?” he looked intrigued.
“I don’t.”
“Liar,” he leaned forward and looked straight into my eyes, like he could see the answer to all his questions there. “What are you hiding, Nemesis, goddess of revenge and retribution?”
“You’re changing the subject,” I shook my head. “You’re the one that’s hiding something.”
“I’m not. You know everything. You just don’t want to think about it, because you’ll have to deal with it.” He took a lock of my hair and played with it. “And you prefer to cover your problems and mistakes with piles of lies and secrets.”
His voice was soft and alluring, not at all judgmental. I licked my lips and my eyes drifted to his mouth. All I could think about was our kiss on my birthday. I thought about it a lot. I didn’t mean to, but my mind just kept going back to that moment. He read my mind and chuckled, releasing my hair from his hand.
“You’ll have to dump your boyfriend if you want me to kiss you again, nemesis,” his tone changed. He was teasing me again.
The rest of the Cole family entered the kitchen with a loud laughter. Lucas immediately leaned back. I saw his father giving him a warning look. Great. Garret suspected there was something between us.
“Clem, how was the date?” Elizabeth asked enthusiastically. “Was it fun?”
“Yeah. It was… different.”
“It’s stupid,” Troy added, and we all looked at him. He looked smug just like Lucas did so often. “I googled it. He should have taken you to the Railroad Museum. That’s awesome!”
“That’s in Sacramento, sweetie. It’s too far away,” Elizabeth ran her fingers through Troy’s hair.
I glanced at Lucas. He was enjoying every second of this. Even his ten-year-old brother thought my date was boring.
“They had great banana desserts there,” I started. “You’ll love it. The ice cream was amazing.”
“You can eat bananas here too. And you don’t even like ice cream. You eat chocolate,” I knew Troy had a little crush on me, but I wasn’t aware he would be mad I went out on a date. It made me smile.
