The Gathering Dark (15 page)

“Walker? Are you coming?” she asked.

He closed his eyes for a split second. Then he opened his fists, loosening his grip on the tickets.

When he looked at her again, the pain had disappeared from his eyes. There was nothing left in his expression but wanting and determination. Lots and lots of determination. The combination sent a shiver through Keira’s middle.

“Yes. Absolutely.” He held out the crumpled tickets to her.

Vaguely dazed from the remnants of her headache and the strange scene in the lobby, Keira turned to face the meager crowd that trickled out of the prior showing.

A group of people from school walked out of the theater. Tommy and Jeremy were with them. The two of them froze. Tommy’s mouth was actually hanging open. One of the girls whipped her cell phone out of her purse, fingers flying as she started texting furiously.

“Hey, guys,” Keira said. She tried to keep the smirk out of her voice. She almost succeeded. Susan’s wish had come true.

Jeremy took a step toward them. “You going to introduce us to your friends?”

Smith crossed his arms. “No.”

Walker snickered at Smith. “Oh, come on.” He looked at the two guys. “Don’t mind my cousin. He’s a little testy.”

Susan slid her hand into the crook of Smith’s elbow. “Too bad we don’t have time to chat, but I never miss the previews.” She strode into the theater, half dragging Smith along with her.

They slid into a row of seats, and Keira ended up between Walker and Smith. The two cousins glanced at each other over her head, both of them wound tight with warning.

Penned in, Keira glanced at the screen, where the previews had, in fact, started.

Smith glanced down at her. “So, how long have you been seeing Walker?”

On Smith’s other side, Susan laughed. “In Keira-time? Forever. In reality? What? A week? Two weeks?”

Smith looked back at Walker, as if for confirmation. “Really? That long? I’d have thought you’d’ve mentioned it, then.”

Walker shot Smith a granite stare. “Some things are too good to talk about right away.”

Smith looked over at Susan. “He’s always trying to hide all the fun he has. He’s scared my mom will be pissed at him.” Smith leaned closer to Susan. “She’s kind of high-strung, but it’s not that hard to get around her rules.”

Susan’s eyes sparkled wickedly. “Sounds like my parents.”

“Aunt Holly’s only trying to keep you out of trouble,” Walker growled. “And fun isn’t always free. Especially if you’re
sneaking around.
”

Smith huffed dismissively. “You just worry about your own cookie jar.”

Walker huffed back at him, but then his voice and gaze softened. He looked down at Keira. “Speaking of sweets, are you going to open those Twizzlers, or just cuddle them?”

“Smart-ass,” she answered. But she tugged open the plastic and offered him the candy.

The movie started with a bang. Literally. A house exploded when the aliens landed on it. Keira sighed and looked over at Walker. He rolled his eyes.

Susan, on the other hand, was practically bouncing in her seat.

“That was amazing!” She looked over at Smith. “Can you believe the effects? Oh, my God!”

“I know,” he agreed. “But look at the gun he’s carrying. No way would it work if it were built like that.” He leaned close
to Susan, his finger tracing the weapon on the screen as he explained why.

The next ninety minutes were painful. The movie was terrible, but Smith and Susan seemed to be having a ball, judging from the number of times they bent their heads together to talk. Of course, there was no telling if it was the movie they were enjoying or . . . something else.

When the credits finally rolled, Smith practically leapt out of his seat. “It’s too early to go home. Susan and I are going to get coffee. Do you guys want to tag along?”

Susan stared hard at Keira. Even in the half-light of the theater, Keira could see the tiny twitch of Susan’s eyebrows as she silently begged Keira to say no.

Walker was grumpy about Smith intruding on their date, but now Susan was clearly telling them that they were in the way of her own evening plans.

“It’s getting late and I really need to practice,” Keira blurted out. “Why don’t you guys go?” She looked over at Walker, realizing that it sounded like she was ditching him, too.

He gave her a tiny, I-get-it shake of his head. “I have to work early anyway,” Walker said.

“Too bad,” Smith said to Keira. “If you matter so much to Walker, it seems like his family should get to know you.” There was an edge to his voice.

Walker stepped in closer behind her. “Keira wouldn’t be Keira if she didn’t want to run back to her piano. That’s the
great thing about her. Well, one of the great things. There are a lot of them.”

Smith’s smile fell a bit, then spread wolfishly. “I guess I’ll have to spend all my time on Susan, then. I’m not the least bit sorry about that.”

Behind him, Susan’s eyes glittered. “I’ve got more dish on Keira than you’ll get out of her, anyway,” she teased.

“Best of both worlds, then.” Smith looked at Walker when he answered, which made the hair on Keira’s neck stand up in an unexpected warning. “You kids get home safe.”

“We will. I always do.” Walker stepped out into the main aisle. “See you two later.”

He and Keira picked their way out of the dim theater, avoiding abandoned soda cups and errant popcorn. They’d barely made it into the glare of the lobby before Walker blew out a long breath.

“Sorry. My cousin’s an ass sometimes.” He shook his head. “He seems way more interested in what’s going on between you and me than he does in Susan. I hate to say it, but I don’t think he’s going to be all that good for her.”

Keira laughed. Walker looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Not if she does him wrong first,” she chortled.

“What do you mean?”

“When we were in the bathroom, she admitted that she’s mostly interested in what he can do to erase the social damage
of being dumped by Tommy. And since we ran into them, I’d say she’s well on her way to accomplishing that mission.”

Walker looked startled. “
She’s
 . . . using
him
? Ha!”

“That’s about the size of it. I’d bet you she’ll take him to the coffee shop where everybody hangs out, just to get the maximum number of people gossiping about it.”

The smirk that spread across Walker’s face wasn’t entirely pleasant. “That would serve him right,” he said.

Keira pushed open the door and the cool freshness of the night air spilled over her.

“Come on,” Walker said. “Let’s get you out of here. Do you really have to go home or were you just giving Susan space? We could get something to eat, or go for a drive. Whatever you want.”

Keira sighed. She needed to practice. She hadn’t spent enough time at her piano lately. But she didn’t want the evening to end, either. The glow of the parking lot lights blotted out the stars and she looked up at the pure, dark sky. She had to curl her hands into fists before she could make herself say no.

“I really do need to practice. I’m sorry—I know that’s lame.”

Walker pulled his car keys out of his pocket and held out his hand. Keira slid her cold fingers into his warm ones. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he said. “I know that no matter what happens between us, I’ll never be your first love. I’d never be your only love, either.”

The word—
that
word—sent an anxious thrill straight down through Keira’s middle. He tugged on her hand, pulling
her to a stop. “Your music comes first,” he said. “It
should
come first. I’d be thrilled to be a close second.”

Walker wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. The parking lot seemed to swirl away, leaving only the two of them. Keira’s eyelids drifted closed. The smell of him surrounded her. He brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth and Keira drew in an aching breath. Her lips parted as an enormous gust of wind came out of the dark, cloudless sky. It whipped through her hair and tugged at their coats. Instead of kissing her in earnest, Walker leapt away from her, his eyes raking the rows of parked cars that surrounded them.

His agitation was contagious. “What?!”

He shook his head. “That wind—your hair . . . ” He touched his face, then looked at the confusion on hers. He let out a shaky laugh. “It startled me.”

Keira crossed her arms in front of her. “Uh-huh. The unflappable Walker Andover got startled by a breeze?”

Walker stepped back over to her. “I was pretty distracted. I’ll make it up to you. Besides . . . ” He glanced over at the sidewalk beneath the marquee. “I don’t want to kiss you with an audience.”

Sure enough, a couple of guys were standing in the cold, staring straight at the two of them.

Ew.

“Come on,” Walker said. “Let’s get you home.”

Chapter Twenty

T
HE PING OF AN
incoming text woke Keira the next morning. She rolled over and dragged her phone off the bedside table. Her mouth was cottony and her eyelids felt swollen from the lack of sleep. She’d spent hours at the piano after she got home from the theater, but her fingers hadn’t wanted to cooperate. She’d fumbled easy chords and misfingered arpeggios she’d had down cold. Finally, her dad had shuffled into the living room and looked pointedly at the couch, saying he needed to get some sleep. Keira couldn’t say no, so she stumbled into bed. Which had only been—she cracked open one eye—three hours and five text messages ago.

Five texts. She should have checked her phone before she collapsed.

Keira sat up, blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and scrolled through them.

Susan, texting to say she’d seen six people from school at the coffee shop.

Susan, texting to say that Smith had kissed her.

Susan, texting to say she hoped Keira remembered that as far as Mrs. Kim was concerned, the two of them had been together ALL EVENING.

And, just now, Susan.

Texting to say that she wasn’t going to school—with a little winky face—and asking Keira to bring home her assignments.

Keira sighed and texted back.

Of course she’d bring the assignments. But why wasn’t Susan going to school?

As if she didn’t know the answer. As if it didn’t have anything to do with Smith.

•  •  •

Keira staggered through school, one class droning into the next. She almost forgot to check in with Susan’s calculus teacher.

Right before lunch, she saw Jeremy at his locker, joking around with Tommy and Chip Maxwell.

Jeremy looked up and saw her. Instead of looking guilty for his snarky behavior at the theater last night, hope flared in his eyes. He tugged at the hem of his shirt and ducked under Tommy’s hand.

“Hey, Keira,” Jeremy called. “How’s it going?”

She swallowed the fanged words that filled her mouth. “I can’t talk. I have to go get Susan’s homework.”

Jeremy’s face fell.

“Oh. Right. Listen, I thought you should know that Brian and Chip saw you and your boyfriend in the parking lot last night. And if that had been me?
I
would have given you an
actual
kiss.” He slung his backpack onto his shoulder.

Keira was too stunned to answer.

Jeremy seemed satisfied. He gave her a small smile, spun on his heel, and sauntered off down the hall.

She shook herself. Kissing Jeremy Reynolds. Ew. She was going to have to put a fast stop to whatever was going on with him.

A really, really fast stop.

•  •  •

When the bus dropped her off at home, Keira had her phone in her hand, ready to call Susan and tell her to drive over and get her homework. Before she could dial, though, a jolt ran through her.

Her dad’s car was in the driveway.

At three thirty in the afternoon.

On a work day.

What the hell?

Keira hurried the rest of the way up the walk, fumbling automatically for her house keys. The knob turned beneath her
hand as she tried to slide the blade of the key into the lock. Of course—her dad would have left it unlocked.

Shoving her keys back into her backpack, Keira pushed her way into the house.

“Dad?” she called, dropping her things in the front hall.

Her dad leapt off the couch so fast that she took a step back.

“Hi, honey.” His eyes darted between her bag lying on the floor, her half-removed coat, and her raised eyebrows.

“Uh, hi. You’re home early,” she said, wondering what was going on. If this was some sort of daddy-daughter bonding time the therapist had cooked up with her father, Keira was going to be really irritated.

“Yeah. I had some . . . things to sort out and—” He paused, running a hand through his thinning hair. “And it seemed silly to go back to the office
now
and besides,” he offered, “you’ve been cooped up without a car for days. I thought you might have something you wanted to do. Somewhere you needed to go?”

Is he trying to get
rid
of me?

The thought was too slimy to touch. Her dad had always been thoughtful—nice. Just because her parents were fighting didn’t mean she should be so suspicious. Keira shook herself. He was offering her the
car
.

“That’s great, Dad,” she said, sliding her arm back into her dangling coat. She could at least save Susan the trip over. And
then maybe on her way home, she could stop at Take Note.

The thought made her mouth water. She could spend the rest of the afternoon looking at music, searching for something new that would end her streak of bad playing. And she could see Walker.

She wanted to pretend that it was only the thought of new music that cranked up her heartbeat, but it wasn’t. She wanted to see him, too.

As long as she wouldn’t look desperate. She wasn’t one of those girls who couldn’t leave a guy alone when he was at work. His job just happened to be at her second-most favorite place on earth, after her piano. That was different.

But it didn’t seem like it should be quite so hard to convince herself how different it was. Still. Susan and music
and
Walker was more temptation than she was up to resisting right then.