Page 95 of Sparktopia
I nod. Then point at him. “We look like we’re partners. Except I’m light and you’re dark.”
He stares at me for a moment, then shrugs. “I’ve been called worse.” Then he holds up a piece of paper. “You’ve been released. I’ve already talked to the doctor. There’s nothing wrong with your brain. He told me to take you home, make you rest, and come back next week if it hasn’t?—”
“I’m not coming back. I’m never?—”
Tyse puts up a hand, interrupting me. “You don’t have to.” Then he sighs. “You were right. And I believe you.”
It should feel good, this victory. I should feel a little smug, maybe. But I don’t. “Just… get me the fuck out of this place.”
He smiles, offering me his arm. Which feels familiar, but awkward. Literally hundreds of men have offered me their arm over the course of my Maiden duties. It’s a normal thing where I come from. It’s just… not something a man like Tyse should instinctively do.
And yet he does.
But maybe I’m reading that wrong. At any rate, I hook my arm into his and let him lead me back outside.
It’s dark now and everything I thought I knew about this city is suddenly wrong. It’s loud, and there are bright, colorful signs on all the buildings, and it’s raining. Which makes the roads slick and dark and splashes of water fly up at us from the machines that transport people around.
I want to ask a million questions about all of it, but I don’t really know where to start because nothing about this place is familiar. I want Tyse to explain everything, but I feel like this isn’t the time. He’s spent the whole day with me and while he wasn’t exactly pleasant this morning, he really has been patient. I don’t want to push him over the edge and make him regrethis promise to help me because there’s nothing tying us together now. I’m perfectly fine and we’re strangers. A rational person would be looking for a way to cut their losses right about now.
I would, if I were him. So I hold all my questions in.
Then he’s pointing at a door and directing me in that direction. “Let’s get some food.”
I like this idea, if only because a restaurant is something I understand, plus I’m starving. But also, I need to get away from all the stimulation outside. Stopping for food is the quickest way to do that.
When we go inside it’s warm and not crowded, so immediately I let out a breath and some of the anxiety I was feeling begins to fade. We are directed to a booth and we sit across from each other. His legs stretch out, bumping into mine, but he pulls them back with a sigh.
I study his face for a moment while a waitress puts menus in front of us. When she’s gone, I look down and say, “You’re tired of me, aren’t you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because I would be tired of me, if I were you.” I fidget with a napkin, unable to look him in the eyes.
“Why are you so nervous?”
“Why?” This word comes out on a sigh. “Because I’m a stranger here.”
“OK.”
“And… you’re the only person I know.”
“Right.”
“And you don’t have any more responsibilities to me. Not really.”
“I did make a deal with you, though.” He leans back in the booth and crosses his arms. This time when his legs bump into mine, he doesn’t pull them back. Just claims my space.
I don’t move my legs either. I look up and force myself to stare into his eyes. It’s weird for a moment. They are very blue, but not the unnatural blue they were this morning. “It wasn’t a deal. You said you were curious. Which isn’t any kind of promise at all.”
He stares at me for a moment. Then a small smile creeps up his face. “You like me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“You think I’m nice.”
I think I blush, because my face goes hot.
“Not only that, you need me. More than I need you.” His eyes squint a little here. “Which is making you nervous.”
