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Or because the last time he carried you like that, you nearly broke and asked him to carry you up to his bedroom, an intrusive voice whispers.
The intrusive voice is rude, and I tell it to shut the hell up.
“Okay,” he says, his strong arm encircling my back.
He doesn’t tell me I’m an idiot, possibly because we both know I’m an idiot.
“Don’t you need to wear your headphones for concentration?” I ask as we slowly make our way down, Danny’s strong grip making me feel secure.
“They help, but no I don’t. Anyway, maybe I care less about fucking up. I’m hoping to quit soon.”
“Because of the game?” I ask, curious. I’m more familiar with the game now, because I’ve spent hours of my free time playing it on my laptop over the last week. At first I didn’t get the appeal…why spend time pretending to do chores while ignoring the chores I could be doing in my real life?
But then I got addicted. Mostly because a little fantasy creature that looks like a rainbow-colored puffball started following me around, and I got off on having a fantasy creature sidekick.
That, and Danny and his buddy Drew started playing it with me. It’s not available to the public yet, but they play it all the time to search for bugs, and Danny assured me I was fulfilling a very essential role by helping them too.
“Yeah,” Danny says, easing me down a step. “We’ll see. I’m hoping to get a decent offer.”
I give him a sidelong look. “So your makeover is important on multiple levels.”
He smiles unintentionally—I can tell because of the small crease in his forehead, as if he’s unclear on why he’s smiling. We take another step down. “You really think they’re going to give me a better deal if Daphne thinks I look like Patrick Dozey?”
“Dempsey,” I correct. “And no, you don’t look like him in a literal sense. But youcanget a glow up like he did.”
“I don’t know whether to be insulted.”
I lean into him a little. Maybe I should cool it on the makeover stuff, but wearing clothes that suit me always gives me a confidence boost, so I figured the same would be true for him. It’s also become something of a running joke between us. “Choose not to be. It’ll go easier on both of us that way. Your new glasses are going to arrive later today.”
“Oh good, I’ll be able to see again.”
I think he’s joking. I’m mostly sure of it. He’s already told me he’s far-sighted, and they help him on the computer. He has a pair of reading glasses from the supermarket that make him look like someone’s grandfather, though, so he hasn’t been that hard-up.
“Don’t you want to know what they look like?” I ask.
I feel him watching me as we descend another step. “So long as they’re not bright pink, I think we’ll be fine. Where are you going, anyway?”
I puff out air. “Byron told me that he put a hex on me, so Shauna suggested we pay a visit to her psychic friend and find out. I don’t really believe in any of that shit, but you never know.”
His arm stiffens around me. “He did what?” he says in a rough voice.
“Oh, it’s fine.” I give him a sidelong glance and find his gaze pinned on me. He looks…pissed. Maybe even dangerous, although not to me.
“It’snotfine. And you’re going to go seeJosie?”
“You know this person?” I ask, caught off guard.
“Yeah,” he says distantly. “I met her on one pretty memorable occasion.”
“That’s all you’re going to say about it? We need to work on your gossip skills.”
“No thanks.”
We take another couple of steps, and then he pulls me back suddenly, his hand encircling my hip. A jolt of appreciation shoots through me before I realize why he did it. It’s not because he’s suddenly decided we should get busy in the stairwell. That damn hamster is sitting on the trim at the side of the stairs, staring up at us through beady black eyes.
ChapterTen
Mira
