A Hero's Secret

ten

"Good and thank you. It's my mother's recipe." He smiled, looking down at his plate.

Sensing the sincerity of the moment, Dray tried swallowing the pound of food in her mouth to say something, but only managed a chubby cheek closed mouth smile.

Wells responded with a grin.

She coughed once the food went down, slightly choking, and dropped her fork, letting it clatter against the plate and ruin the moment. She scrunched her nose. Had she always been this weird with men?

Probably.

"So, what is on the agenda for today?" she asked to open up the conversation she actually wanted to have. She wanted to start investigating, but eagerness didn't seem like the right attitude for this situation.

Wells placed down his fork to wipe his face with a napkin. "We could explore and find more places for you to take pictures or hang out downtown? Suppose to be really nice out today."

Her mouth drew into a straight line and she threw caution out the window. "Let's go investigate."

His smile curled up on one side of his mouth. "I figured." He took a sip of milk before digging back into his food. "We can go over to my cousin's place," he said after taking a small bite. "My aunt and uncle kept her condo to rent out, but haven't been able to empty it out yet."

Dray played with a piece of bacon before tearing it apart and placing a strip in her mouth. Her heart dropped a little. Despite her excitement, she kept reminding herself this was as much a murder case as it was a mystery.

She nodded in agreement, stuffing the last of the food in her mouth rather than letting more words come out. They finished breakfast in silence, but fortunately it graduated to a comfortable, normal kind of silence.

After Dray cleaned her plate and emptied her glass, she walked to sink and washed her dishes. "So, I should probably go home and get ready, then."

Wells reached around her to put his own plate under the running water. "Thanks," he whispered in her ear.

She scoffed at his sly move to get out of cleaning. She also avoided his gaze and concentrated on the soapy water, quickly scrubbing the dishes. She felt Wells back away and probably leave the kitchen. Flicking water off her hands, she dried the dishware in a towel before setting everything on the counter.

"Okay!" She yelled, rounding the counter and swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Be back soon!"

Wells sat on the couch with a relaxed grin.

Dray raced out the door with a red face. Slamming the door behind her, she realized it probably didn't block out her embarrassed whine she instantly let out on the steps.

She looked up to the sky on her walk back home. She couldn't believe she ran out of his house. Actually, she could, but she didn't want to. Dray honestly thought her game would have improved a little by now, but it had been awhile.

"Hey, stranger!"

Her head snapped back down to see a much more pleasant Middleton in her path. "Hey, Peter." Stopping in front of him on the sidewalk, she smiled. "How are you?"

His grin stretched ear to ear. "Great! I'm doing really well and I see you are, too," he mused, darting his eyes back and forth between Wells' house and Dray.

She sighed. "Wells is my friend. I think I'm allowed to visit," she said and crossed her arms tight over her chest.

"Hey, hey," Peter waved his hands, "I'm not my brother, okay? You do you and you do Wells, yeah?"

A little tension broke in Dray's stance and she threw her face into her palm. "Oh my gosh." She literally just got rid of the warm sensation in her face.

Peter laughed loudly and gently knocked her shoulder. "I like Wells. He's a cool guy."

She peeked through her fingers and upon seeing his causal smile, dropped her hand. "Thanks, Peter." Her thanks was less than enthusiastic, but she was grateful for his unbiased ways.

His smile softened. "I promise not everyone sees Wells as a bad guy. Gossip in a small town—powerful and Porter likes to amp it up. He's got nothing better do." His wide grin returned and he scrunched his nose. "He's not cool."

This time, Dray laughed. "I'm glad we're friends, Peter," she said, "and I'd love to chat more, but I've got to go home and get ready."

"Oh, date time!" Peter stepped back. "I get it. No worries."

"Wait, no," she started, but he had already shouted goodbye, practically running away and leaving a once again flustered Dray behind. The air left her chest through her nose and she continued on home, shaking her head.

She really did need to get ready.

After quick rinsing down in the shower and brushing her teeth, Dray put on some clean clothes. She had just laced up her sneakers when the rev of an engine erupted outside. Grabbing her essentials she had tossed on the floor by the front door, Dray left, locking her door on the way out.

"Oh, that's a motorcycle." She stopped short on the top step.

Wells parked in front on her house on the street. His helmet cradled in his lap and he stared at her with a smirk. "It is."

Dray nodded to herself the whole way down to him. "Oh my," she whispered, taking the extra helmet he held out for her. She slid it over her long hair. A mantra of just do, don't think repeated in her head as she climbed over the seat and locked her hands around his torso. Tight.

He tugged on his own helmet and revved the engine again. "You ready?"

"No," she said immediately and tightened her grip. She could feel Wells laugh, but the sound of the bike overpowered everything and before she could register what was happening, the wind tangled in her hair. She shoved her helmet clad face in his back and closed her eyes.

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]

Is that some trust I see forming over here? :)

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Also, how about a quick shout out to arc-eol? Thanks for making feel like my story is worthwhile! :)