Nocte (The Nocte Trilogy #1)(42)
Author: Courtney Cole

My brother.

I glance toward the woodshed and I’m surprised to find him gone.  I scan the trail and the beach, and I don’t see him there, either.  Maybe he went to shower.

I look at Dare.  “What about you?  Have you had any serious girlfriends?”

Surely so.

He shrugs, downplaying any role they might’ve played in his life.  “Oh, there have been girls,” he concedes.

I raise an eyebrow.  “So you’re a player?”

He laughs.  “I plead the fifth.”

I gaze at him. “You’re not American. I’m not sure our constitution applies to you.”

He laughs again.

“What’s your favorite color?” he asks, instead of answering.

“Viridem,” I answer immediately.  “Green.  It means life.  I like that.”

Dare nods.  “I like that too. And I like that you know Latin.”

I smile because of our thrust and parry game.  “Finn knows Latin,” I correct him.  “I’ve just picked a few things up from him.”

“Why does he love Latin so much?”

I shake my head, checking the trail for Finn again, but he’s not there.

“He wants to be a doctor. A Psychologist, really.  Latin is the base for medical terminology, so I guess he figures he’ll get a jump start.”

“Smart,” Dare nods.

I have to agree.  “Finn is brilliant,” I tell him.  “Truly.”

“You’re not just saying that because you’re twins?” Dare teases.  I shake my head.

“Nah.  He’s way smarter than me.”

“I doubt that,” Dare parries. “You seem rather brilliant yourself.”

“Not smart enough to stay away from you,” I answer without thinking about it.  Dare almost rears his head back.

“Where did that come from?” he stares at me, his eyes wide.

I honestly don’t know.

“I guess I’m just frustrated with your ‘wait and see’ mentality,” I mumble.  Dare cocks his head.

“Patience isn’t a virtue of yours?”

I shake my head. “Unfortunately, no.”

“But good things come to those who wait,” Dare points out.

“I’m not ketchup,” I thrust back.  He looks at me in confusion.

“That was an old ketchup slogan a few years ago.”

He shakes his head. “Americans. You do love your condiments.”

I hear a car crunching in the gravel of the drive, and I glance around Dare to see my father pulling the hearse around.

“Ugh.  There’s a funeral today.  You might want to vacate the place, if you don’t want to be surrounded by tears.”

Dare looks unconcerned as he takes a slug of coffee.

“Want to give me a tour of Astoria?” he asks casually, standing up and stretching.  I’m distracted once again by the flat ribbon of his abdomen that shows as his shirt lifts up.  He catches me looking and grins.  “My abs will be coming too,” he adds arrogantly.

I roll my eyes.

“Are you trying to bribe me?”

His dark eyes meet mine.  “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll go shirtless if you want.”

My heart couldn’t take that.

It’s suddenly hard to swallow and I need a distraction. And I need to get away from the impending funeral.

“Okay,” I agree.  “Let’s go. But only if you drive. With a shirt on.”

“Done,” he says triumphantly.

Only I’m the triumphant one a few minutes later as I wrap my arms around his waist and we glide down the mountain.  The front of my body is pressed to his back, and we fit like perfectly placed puzzle pieces.

I take him to my favorite coffee shop first, where we sit outside and sip at espresso for a bit.  We’re sitting in the shade and the morning breeze is actually chilly, so when Dare notices my shiver, he lays his arm around the back of my chair and I snuggle into his arm.

I want to stay like this for the rest of the day, or perhaps even forever, but within twenty minutes, Dare stares down at me.

“What next, tour guide?”

I sigh.

“You’re a punishing task-master.”

But with my arms wrapped around him again on the back of his bike, I can hardly call it punishment.

“I want to see where you went to school,” he calls back to me over the wind.  So I direct him to Astoria High.  He pulls up in front, and I only wish that my old classmates were here to witness Calla Price riding on the back of Dare DuBray’s motorcycle. Victory would be mine, because he’s leaps and bounds sexier than any of them could ever dream of being.

But it’s summer, so no one is here to see.  

Dare steps away from the bike and pulls his helmet off, the breeze ruffling his dark hair. He’s absurdly handsome as he appraises the school, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun.

“So this is the fabled place of torment?”

I nod.  “Unfortunately.”

Dare glances at me.  “It’s just a building, Calla.  It can’t hurt you.”

“The people inside can,” I point out, the scars of their words imprinted in my memory.  “Words can harm people every bit as much as a weapon.”

He nods.  “I know.  But what happens as you get older, is that you realize that the people in high school were never very important to you in the first place.  They’re just stupid kids who don’t know anything.  You’ll go on and do great things, and they’ll stay here in this little town and do nothing. You’ll win.”

I stare at him.  “And how exactly do you know that?”

He shrugs.  “It’s just math.  I read a study once that said over half of the population will never move more than twenty miles from their hometown.  There’s not a lot of brilliant opportunity here, I’m guessing.  So your classmates who stay will never save the world or anything.”

“And I will?” my voice is sharp.

Dare doesn’t flinch.  “You’ll change someone’s world.  I am positive of that.”

My nether regions flood with warmth because I think he means himself.  But then my blood turns ice cold with a realization.  If I change anyone’s world, it will be Finn’s, so I doubt I’ll have time to change Dare’s too.  I’m not talented enough to do both.