Page 10 of Let the Light Shine Through

“You know I took Mandarin for foreign language.”

“Flower shop. To the flower shop.”

“I thought you liked the guy that owns that place,” he says slowly.

“I do. I just think someone else might like him, too.”

Instead of raising his key to the ignition, Rowdy lifts his eyes to the roof.

“Come on, Rowdy.” I open his console, finding my bracelets right where I left them. “Let’s go spread some amore.”

“Now that’s Italian.” He laughs as he starts the F-150.

“Love doesn’t have a language.”

“Okay, Cupid.”

“But if it did…” I can’t keep the smile off my face.

He pulls away from the house, groaning, “Don’t say it.”

“U and I would be next to each other in the alphabet,” I say, poking the dimple in his right cheek.

Rowdy tries to shake my hand off, but I catch him smiling.

Roz

“So, now you’re back here? For good? Hard.”

I stare blankly at the guy, T.J., for what feels like the twentieth time in the last hour. It’s been one hour too long in his presence, but he’s the only person that doesn’t seem to mind carrying an entire conversation practically by himself. So far I’ve gotten by with only a couple obligatory nods or headshakes, but I’m starting to regret even those. He’s just so fucking annoying. He sprinkles the word “hard” over pretty much everything throughout his less-than-interesting commentary.

“Your birthday’s coming up? That’s hard. You won’t celebrate it this year? Hard. You should come to my birthday. It’s gonna be harddd.”

People that do that kind of thing either don’t know what else to say or they like the sound of their own voice. T.J.’s gotta be both.

And I’m not going to his birthday party. What are we? Six?

“Bruh, if I was traveling all over the world to exotic locations,” I think the word he’s going for here is remote, “I’d never come back to this place.”

I didn’t tell him I used to snowboard professionally. I know I didn’t because I haven’t said a single word to him since he approached me, which tells me he did some kind of homework on me, and for the first time all night, I actually want to open my mouth to say something, anything. I just need to get the fuck away from T.J. already.

Before I can though, he says, “Aw shit, she came through after all. Party’s over boys, hide yo’ girls. Gia’s here to snatch ’em up for herself.”

The mention of Gia has my neck damn near snapping to catch sight of her as she slowly strolls through the yard with a joint perched between her half-parted lips and a stream of smoke lazily curling upward. On both sides of her are rows of people, mostly dudes, and with another masculine outfit on, Gia blends in, almost like she’s one of them. Almost.

“Gia’s, uh.” I cough, expecting cobwebs to come up. “What do you mean Gia’s here to take the girls?”

“Fucking look at her.” T.J. snorts while I try not to do the same. Look at her? I can’t fucking stop looking at Gia. “She’s on a pussy-only diet.” He slaps my chest and the sting on my skin speaks of the extra force he put into it as he says, “Trust me, bruh, bitch ain’t worth the trouble.”

So her appearance symbolizes her sexual orientation? That’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard of. A person’s style, a person’s personality, is not a person’s sexual preference.

And, apparently, she’s a bitch, too?

Regretting ever letting T.J. talk to me, I put some distance between us so no one can mistake me for one of his friends. I try not to associate with dumbfucks if I can help it. Their stupidity is like noxious gas, just one small whiff of it can cost you brain cells.

One of the guys Gia arrived with leans down near her ear, whispering something. She takes the joint from her parted mouth, passing it to some other chump beside her, then together, the two of them beeline toward a group of girls. Gia’s friend waits a few feet away while she starts talking up the girl with neon-green hair and a one-piece lodged up her ass. Seriously, that can’t be healthy.

Did I misread everything? Not that there was a lot to go off of. Gia dresses in a masculine way, yeah, but in a way that’s still feminine somehow. I can see that tonight with her wide-open shirt and sports bra showing a soft tummy with a hint of toned abs. Never mind the leggings that mold to her like a second skin. The girl she’s talking to with the swimsuit showcasing two flawless globes for ass cheeks holds less appeal than Gia does even being the most overdressed person here.