Page 10 of Defender
“They’re sending me home. Renegade.” She emphasized the city with a big eye roll.
“Where’s that?”
“Exactly my point. It’s in Colorado, but no one even knows where it is.”
Felicity leaned against the headboard. “Why are they sending you there, then?”
“Some cosmic joke? To serve time? To test my loyalty?” Dani grabbed a handful of hangers and walked them over to the bed. “Who knows?”
Okay, so she knew. Because no matter how hard she tried, she was a walking disaster waiting to happen. Her mother always said God didn’t make mistakes, but Dani wasn’t so sure.
Felicity waited.
Dani released a huff. “This is what I get for messing up today. My first sting, my first chance to prove myself, and I choked.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Worse.” She yanked the funky orange sweater from the hanger and threw it in the pile. “You know that scene at the end of Avengers: Endgame, when Tony Stark dies? The whole universe is this huge mess and all hope is lost? It’s like that.”
Felicity laughed. “Okay, so what’s so bad about your hometown? This sounds like more than a lack of good sushi joints.”
“There’s a lot of reasons I left Renegade, and my visits back there have been short and sweet. Every time I go back it’s like I revert to that awkward teenager again.”
“You, awkward? You’re like the epitome of cool, Dani. You’re a federal agent!”
“Try telling that to everyone in my hometown. There, I’m notorious for creating catastrophes. How am I supposed to make a difference when everyone there is only going to remember me as the girl who flooded the high school auditorium and caused a stampede?”
“You’re exaggerating, right?”
“Nope. My class’s graduation was the last one they held in that auditorium. Because of me. And to top it all off, the man I thought I’d marry had a front row seat.”
“Okay, this I have to hear. It sounds like a teenage rom-com.”
“There’s romance all right. I had this humongous crush on my friend Maria’s big brother. But this is more the making of a romantic disaster movie.”
“Oooh. A new genre. Do tell.”
Dani tried to play it cool, even though every time she thought of it, shame and embarrassment rose from the depths. It took everything she had to shove it down again and play it off like no big deal. But she was good at that. Lots of practice.
“Well, Michael also happens to be my brother’s best friend, which means he saw me as nothing but a little sister too. He was in med school out in Minnesota at the time, but he came back to South Eagle High School since it was Maria’s graduation too. I was desperate to impress him, show him I wasn’t a little girl anymore.”
“Of course. And what was your master plan?”
“I was chosen to do one of the speeches, so I wanted to make an epic statement.”
“Yeah, because you’re subtle and demure.”
“Shut up.” Dani stuck out her tongue.
“And mature. So mature.” Felicity’s giggle was infectious.
And it was exactly what Dani had hoped would happen. So much better than stewing in humiliation.
“So…what happened during your speech?”
“I was wearing super high heels?—”
“Right, because you’re trying to impress the hot college boy.”
