How to Stay Afloat

~20: Where She's Not His 'Friend'~

And then it suddenly hit me.

My eyes widened in realization.

The couple in the picture were Colton's parents.

But they were clearly Caucasian

Whereas Colton was African-American.

Which meant-

"What are you doing here by yourself freckles?" Colton's voice had me gasping in surprise.

I clutched at my chest, my heart still beating wildly. "Colton! You scared me half to death!"

He raised an eyebrow at me warily.

My eyes trailed back to the family portrait.

I swallowed, "I didn't know that-"

"I was adopted." He finished my sentence and even though his words seemed nonchalant I didn't miss how his eyes flashed with emotion for a fleeting second. He shrugged "I'm one of the rare lucky orphans I guess."

I swallowed. "No orphan is lucky," I said quietly.

He gave me a smirk, "Bruce Wayne was."

I shook my head, "No way, poor kid saw his parents get murdered in front of him. No amount of money can make up for that kind of trauma."

"He did end up becoming Batman because of it," Colton argued.

"But at the end of the day, he wasn't really happy about it, was he?" I countered back.

Colton's lips suddenly drew into a smirk, "Are we seriously arguing over the life of a fictional comic book character?"

I laughed, "I guess we are. And just so you know I was totally winning that argument."

Colton shook his head, clearly amused. "Come on." He said after a beat, "Let's dance."

I froze. I was a little taken aback by his offer. I raised my hands in mock surrender.

"No, thank you. I'm an awful dancer. Your feet will end up bleeding from how much I step on them." I cringed.

"I'm wearing combat boots." He smirked, "You're not going deny the birthday boy his birthday wish, are you?"

I inhaled sharply.

"It's your birthday?" I asked, surprised. "Happy Birthday." I smiled, "I'm sorry, if I knew I would have gotten you something."

"You can dance with me to make up for it." He gave me a wink before taking my hand and tugging me towards the dance floor.

He placed one of his hands on my waist and the other one on my upper back. We awkwardly started swaying to the music.

For a while, we just danced without saying anything.

I finally decided to break the silence. "So, I'm curious about something."

"What?" He asked, his hand flexed against my back.

"Why did you bid on me at the auction?" My eyes met his grey ones.

He just gave me an annoyed look.

I smiled. "It was because you didn't want me to be embarrassed right? Because you thought no one else was going to spend money to go on a date with me. Thanks for that." I nudged him with my elbow. "You're a big softie on the inside, aren't you Colton Miller?"

He scoffed.

His jaw clenched, "You don't remember who I am. Do you?"

I gave him a confused look.