Darius:
She intrigues me.
She seemed shy at first but then as time went on, she became more relaxed. More open.
She still hadn't picked up on any of the suggestive tones I used. Or maybe she did and just ignored them.
Either way, I think that was probably the first time I've interacted with a girl without her falling over herself to talk to me or being suggestive herself.
She's a breath of fresh fucking air.
And my newest pastime is going to be to keep on breathing in her clean oxygen and seeing if I can get intoxicated off of it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not into her like that. I'm not trying to date her or get into a relationship - that's not really my thing -. But I do enjoy having fun. And that is exactly what I'm going to have with the little darling I'll be spending most of my evenings with for the next few months.
A knock sounds on my door, breaking off my thoughts.
"Come in."
"Hey, sweetheart." My mom's voice filters into my bedroom as she opens the door.
"Hi, mom."
"Are you still in bed?"
"I'll get up in a minute."
"Okay, well, I just wanted to ask if you had plans tonight."
"Not really, why?" I sit up and lean my back against the headboard.
She walks over to my bed and sits on the edge. "Your dad is coming home early."
"Seriously?" I smile and she nods, brushing away some of the strands of hair that have fallen onto my forehead.
"Mhm. He wants to do something with us. He said that you can choose. And that Oakley can come, too."
"I'll think about it and text him."
"Okay, Львенок." (Little lion)
She strokes my cheek with her thumb and smiles, though I sense a shine of worry in her eyes.
"What?"
"Is everything good with you, моя любовь?" (My love)
"Yeah, why?"
"Вы уверены?" (Are you sure?)
"I'm sure."
"You've just seemed a little tired lately."
"It's just boredom. Going back to school does that. But I'm fine. я обещаю." (I promise)
"Okay." She leans in and kisses me on the forehead. "I have to go and meet a client but both me and your dad will be here when you get back."
"Alright."
"I love you."
"Love you." I reply as she closes the door on her way out.
I scroll on my phone for about fifteen minutes longer before getting up and readying myself for school.
When I arrive, I park in my designated spot and am met with Oakley who is sat atop of his hood.
"You fucker."
"What?" I get out and go to sit next to him.
"You didn't text me back."
"When?" I scoff.
"Last night. Where were you?"
"I told you yesterday at lunch. I was with my project partner for Miss Delaney's class."
"Oh, right." He nods. "By the way, I was wondering about that. Who is that girl?"
"Her name is Donatella."
"Pretty name. Isn't it Italian? She didn't look Italian."
"She isn't." I remove my sunglasses from my eyes. "Remember Bridge Girl?"
"Yeah. Why- ... Oh, shit." He tilts his head, laughing. "Are you for real?"
"Mhm."
"Damn." He whistles. Then laughs again.
"Why are you fucking laughing?" I punch his arm.
"Because it's funny. The girl who turned you down is the same girl you have to spend three months with."
"She didn't turn me down, you idiot. She didn't even know I was asking." I run a hand through my hair. "Besides, I don't think she's the type to agree to that."
"The type?"
"Comfortable around people straight away. Definitely not enough to give her body up for a one nighter."
"So, she's an introverted innocent?"
"Something like that." I sigh.
"Your loss." He tuts. "That body..."
My eyes narrow and I turn to him with a glare.
"What?" He raises a brow. "Don't tell me you don't agree. Girl had a mad figure. Sports?"
I blink and face forward again. "Dancer. Ballet."
"Never been with a ballerina before." He muses.
"Don't fucking plan on getting this one." I rebuttal.
He lifts his hand in surrender and hops onto the ground. "Let's go."
I slide off of the hood and we walk side by side towards the school entrance.
I pull off my shirt in the locker room, getting changed for practice.
"Sup, Cap." Chris, our goalie, claps me on the shoulder as he walks past.
"Hey." I call, picking up my jersey.
"Yo." Jere walks up to me, leaning his back against the wall, fully dressed.
"Did you get here early?" I ask, pulling the jersey over my head and bringing it down.
"Yeah. Escaped the second half of chem."
"What for?"
He grins and I breathe out a laugh, picking up my stick and walking with him to the rink.
"Who?"
"Emily Rey."
"Oof." I shake my head.
"What?" He furrows his brows.
"Watch out. That girl gets attached." I warn him.
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah. We hooked up at a party a few months ago and she kept calling and texting me after. For a month. Every day."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He groans.
"You didn't know that?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't have fucking done it, smartass. Too much fucking hassle."
I shrug. "It's not her fault. Probably some childhood trauma she's yet to unpack. She's a nice girl, though. Just make it clear with her."
"Is that what you did?"
"After the month, yeah. She seemed upset for a minute but she was surprisingly understanding."
He nods with raised brows and then twirls his stick in his hands.
After putting on our skates, we stand and coach appears.
"Afternoon, boys. Let's get on the ice."
We all enter the rink and begin to warm up.
"Alright!" Coach Michaels blows his whistle. "We're working on offensive plays. Show me what you've got. Mason, let's clean up those assists."
"Yes, Coach." Oscar lifts his stick.
We finish practice over an hour later and once I've showered and gotten changed, I say goodbye to my friends and head home.
Just as mom said, both her and my dad's cars are parked outside in front of the fountain.
When I open the door, I head straight for dad's home office and knock on the door.
"Why are you knocking? Get your ass in here." I hear his slightly muffled voice.
Swinging it open, I'm met with the sight of him sitting at his desk, papers splayed out in front of him and a wide smile on his face.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"I could fucking hear you coming, giant."
He rises from the chair and comes over to me, wrapping me in a hug.
"There's my son. You good?"
"I'm fine."
"How was practice?"
"Good. We'll definitely beat them on Friday."
"Of course you will." He rolls his eyes. "With Darius fucking Ford on the team." His answer may be dripping with sarcasm but the pride in his eyes cannot be mistaken.
I mimic his actions and look around.
"Where's mom?"
"Bedroom. I came in a few hours ago and wanted to get this work done as soon as possible so I'd have the rest of the weekend completely free. I'll only need about twenty more minutes."
"Okay."
"Don't eat anything too heavy. We're going out to dinner, remember?"
"Alright."
I leave the office and grab a bottle of water from the kitchen on my way back to my room.
"Sweetheart." My mom smiles when we cross paths at the top of the stairs.
"Hey, mom."
"Did you see your dad?"
"Yeah. He said we're going to dinner."
"Oh, yes. About that, you need to decide what we're going to eat because neither of us can."
"You never can." I shake my head.
"Not true."
"Sure, mom. Sure."
She laughs and kisses my cheek. "Whatever. I'll come and get you when we're leaving. Make sure you're ready."
"Mhm."
A few hours later, we're seated, tucked back in a VIP corner at a luxurious restaurant. My parents on one side and me and Oak on the other.
We picked him up on the way.
Oakley is a little different than the rest of us.
When he was younger, his parents thought that their own lives were more fucking important than his. They were young and decided that they couldn't care for their son. After keeping him for three years, it appeared that he just got in the way of all of the things that they wanted to do.
So, they gave him to his father's sister.l. Handed him off like a fucking regift.
His aunt and uncle are great people, thankfully. Took him in and gave him a loving home.
They work for my dad and are both on good salaries, allowing them to give him anything he wants.
We were in the same kindergarten and when we became friends, my parents took a fond liking to him. Treating him like a son more than their own son's friend.
I always wanted a brother so it was a win-win situation. And then the other boys and us became inseparable.
We may live further to each other than we'd like right now but there's not a month that goes by when we don't all see each other at least once.
"So, boys." My dad says. "How's school going?"
"Fine." We both reply.
"And hockey?"
"Fine." We respond.
"Do you know any other words apart from fine?"
"Nope."
My mother laughs and dad turns to her with a raised brow. "Really?"
"They're funny." She shrugs and takes a sip of her wine.
"That's funny to you, Mol?"
"Of course. They're my babies, Miles. Everything they do is funny and adorable."
"Thank you, Molly." Oak shoots her a charming smile.
"Whatever." Dad sighs. "Anything new or exciting happen recently, at least?"
"Dare has a super cute project partner." Shovelling food into his mouth.
Mom gasps and puts down her glass immediately. "What? And you didn't tell me? Since when? What-?"
"I'm just going to take this away." Dad leans over her a moment and removes the steak knife from her plate.
"Darius Alexei Ford." Mama scolds me. "I'm supposed to know these things."
"It happened like yesterday, mom."
"So it's already been a day?"
"Yep." Oak grins.
"Well, what's her name? What does she look like? Will she come over to work on the project?"
"She's called-"
I elbow him in the ribs and face my mother. "She's a school partner, mama. Not my girlfriend. There's no need for the excitement."
"Of course there is." She scoffs. "I'm well aware of what you get up to, young man. So if Oakley mentioned this girl in particular, I'm going to guess that I very much should be excited."
"Oakley is an idiot." I tell her.
I glare at my best friend.
"Look what you've done."
"I feel no remorse." He says.
"You know." Dad starts. "I told my parents that your mom was no one at first-"
"You did what?" Mama swivels her head in his direction.
"Terrible joke." He holds up his hands. "My bad."
"Hm." She turns back to me. "Well, I think that you should give it a try. No judgement, honey but...you're a little bit of a whore."
Oakley slaps his hand over his mouth and my dad chokes on his drink, throwing him into a coughing fit.
"What the hell, Ma?"
"I said no judgment." She takes me hand in both of hers. "I just think it's time that you get a real girlfriend. And I'm also getting one too many maids leaving out of trauma of whitnessibg your... your-"
"Whorish behaviour?" Oak offers.
Mom clears her throat and nods.
"I cannot believe you." I turn to everyone at the table. "All of you."
"Hey, I didn't even do anything." Dad defends himself.
"Exactly." I snap.
"I was just being helpful." Oakley lifts his glass to his lips.
"You were the complete opposite of helpful, you asshole."
"Language." He chastises.
Then I whirl back on my mother. "And you. What kind of mother calls her son a whore." I snatch my hand back.
"I didn't say you were one. I said that you were a little bit of one."
I tilt my head.
"Okay, fine. I'm sorry."
I roll my eyes and stand up.
"No, baby. Where are you going?"
"Home." I down the last of my drink and slam it onto the table.
"How will you get there?" Dad asks.
"I'll fucking walk."
"Come back, sweetheart." Mom tries.
"Sorry. I don't think it's appropriate to have a whore at the table." I say, sarcastically. "But hey, perhaps I'll find a brothel on my way and they'll take me in."
"This dinner is simply delightful." I hear Oakley remark around a mouthful.
My dad speaks just a after another laugh. "I forgot how family dinners go."
"Seriously, Miles? He's a baby. Laughing is just cruel."
"Oh, as opposed to the person who called their baby a whore?"
Their voices fade away as I make my way through the restaurant and out the front doors.
The air is crisp and fresh as it hits my face, instantly cooling me off.
I don't need a serious girlfriend.
I don't want a serious girlfriend.
All that's on my agenda is continuing to be a kickass hockey player and enjoy my life.
I've just fine with how things are.
And even I did want to have a serious relationship, which I don't, it wouldn't be with her.
I barely know her.
Didn't even know she existed until a few days ago.
And-
Movement in my peripheral causes my attention to shift across the street.
The same car I saw picking her up yesterday pulls onto the curb and not too long after, there she is. Dressed in a soft-looking white coat with black trim and gold buttons, which are all fastened. A black skirt, black tights and white heeled shoes. Her hair is straight and as she descends the stairs that lead to the ground, she smiles.
It's a different smile that I didn't see yesterday.
It's more relaxed. More genuine.
She turns back a little and extends her hand. A woman, who I assume is her mother, takes it and returns a warm look to her.
They reach the bottom and I can only just make out the top of their heads from here since the car is now blocking them.
A man hurries out of the driver's seat and rushes to open their door, emerging again a moment later.
From the dim light inside, I see their figures but it looks like her mom got in first.
The car engine comes alive and just when I think it's going to head straight and drive by, it instead seems to reverse.
The car turns around and now that it's facing opposite to its prior position, I see her.
She's talking and laughs at something, then shakes her head and looks out of the window.
Her eyes land on me and instantly widen.
Only a few more seconds go by before the lights inside of the car dim and are instead replaced by blue LEDs.
Now coated in a flood of cobalt, I find it harder to make out her features.
She doesn't sever her gaze from mine, though. It stays on me, even as she starts to disappear from view.
I meant what I said before.
I don't want a serious girlfriend.
But maybe i do need a serious fuck.