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There are not many things that can make me eat desert. Normally the sight of it and all of its calories causes me to flinch. But I know that if I back out now, I’ll never hear the end of it. I can see Adrian’s cocky half smile in my mind when he finds out I couldn’t go through with the bet. Why I even agreed to such a silly thing is still a mystery, but Adrian’s face lit up when I said yes, so that made it worth it.
In compensation, Adrian had allowed me to drive the Ivashkovnator to Pies and Stuff. For one, this car was the stuff of my dreams, besides Adrian obviously. And two, because Adrian was doing an art thing, he couldn’t come, but the car was a small consolation.
When I pull into the parking lot, I see a slouching silhouette standing by the door. As I carefully maneuver the car into the parking spot, my suspicions are confirmed, when the figure pushes off the building, with a single glance towards the sun, making its last stand as it began to slowly set.
“Adrian, what are you doing here? Please don’t tell me you ditched the class” I try to keep my voice terse, even though my stomach is suddenly filled with fluttering butterfly wings.
“Didn’t you see my text messages?” I hadn’t actually, so preoccupied with Ivashkovnator thoughts, Adrian and the car. Whipping out my phone and making a large display of checking the messages to appease Adrian only makes him chuckle.
‘Class is mysteriously cancelled.’
‘Should I come along to make sure the Ivashkovnator does not come into harms way?’
‘I will take your silence as a yes’
‘Do you think you could wear a dress?’
“Did you really ask me that?” I manage to sputter out, as we both direct our eyes to my attire. I wanted to dress up my outfit a little bit in honor of what I was doing. I had thought feeling attractive would give me a bit of confidence. But to think of it, the only reason I started liking dresses was because of Adrian. I flush as his eyes travel up my body, resting at the hem, which was short by my standards, before meeting my eyes. I self-consciously pull the dress down a little, until I realize that only exposes the top half of me, much to Adrian’s enjoyment. Flustered, I look back into Adrian’s dark eyes.
“You know you love it Sage. And if it makes you feel better, you look absolutely stunning. Blue is a riveting color on you, and the fact that it is almost exactly the same shade as the bra you were wearing the other day, is helping your cause immensely.”
I shoot him a withering glare, but is does nothing to vanquish the smirk on his face. He knows he has me hooked. Just thinking about our encounters, sends heat racing through my core. Instinctively I lean closer to him.
He raises an eyebrow, “But honestly Sage, you look beautiful.” There is something about his voice that makes me look him straight in the eye. Adrian clears his throat and looks away from my body.
“Well, you clean up nicely, for an evil creature of the night.”
Adrian laughs “True, but you Sage will be the belle of the ball.”
“At the diner that serves a collection of three things, I would be quite a catch.”
“Looking for a boyfriend?”
“This is the place to search, but no,” I sigh dramatically, “I believe I already have one.”
He gives a smile. “The most attractive Moroi in Palm Springs. Yours truly. And you seem to just be delaying the inevitable. Eat the pie or face ongoing sexual jokes in the presence of all except your little sister, who is far too innocent for this kind of talk. You on the other hand are ‘a quick study’.”
I poke him in the ribs at his comment. His look of mock hurt makes me laugh. “And she’d get suspicious.” I add, my mind switching gears.
As if he can sense this, Adrian assuages my fears. “Neil is with her. He’s got her attacking him under the pretense that it will help her to know how to hurt Moroi and Dhampir as an Alchemist.”
“Ah. And where exactly are the others?”
“Probably speculating whether we are on a date or not. Which we are, by the way.”
“Glad we clarified that.”
“Well, Sage, I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“Oh, I see. Me, an innocent maiden, on a date with an older, devastatingly attractive Moroi. How scandalous. Will my virtue be safe?”
Adrian laughs, “I don’t know, Sage. We Moroi cannot be held responsible for our actions when faced brilliant, blonde former Alchemists.”
“But really, Adrian, do you think they know about us. I mean I don’t mind about Jill, she sees enough already, but we can’t risk this.”
“They’ll keep quiet, and all they have are suspicions. We haven’t exactly been discreet though, Sage. We’ve been practically jumping each other whenever we are in the same room.”
I blush as I recall the last time I saw him which began with us making out in Clarence’s back room, and ended with our clothes scattered about the floor and me using some of my more unconventional skills gathered from a variety of books not on the Amberwood Prep required reading list. He puts his arms around me shoulders, snapping me out of the reverie as he leads me to the hostess stand. “Two please.”
“Name? The wait should be about five minutes.” The blonde with nearly nonexistent shorts asks. I look around. The restaurant is half empty.
“Ivashkov.”
I realize what is going on after the hostess asks Adrian how to spell his name. And then out of sheer curiosity and nothing that has to do with the fact that Adrian is drop dead gorgeous, the origins of his name. I feel like I am going to be sick. Even though Adrian still has a steady hand on my back and does not appear to be flirting back, (I am not exactly a prime flirting analyzer) I still feel a twinge of jealousy. Am I becoming one of those vapid, jealous girls that are the dominant species in Palm Springs? Not that I don’t have the right to, I quickly assure myself. After all Adrian and I are in a whole different league. Near death experiences do tend to do that to a relationship.
The girl finally looks at me and then turns her attention back to Adrian. “Your girlfriend?” she asks like he could do so much better. Her breasts practically spill out of her shirt and I can tell that even Adrian is having a hard time ignoring them. I look away and for the first time I actually feel self-conscious about my modest attire.
Especially when Adrian leans forward, licking his lips slightly, a crooked grin plastered to his face. “This girl is not my girlfriend.” My heart drops and I actually almost turn to Adrian in surprise, but he is moving his hand down my back and under my shirt. I almost smack it away, but his hand is tracing spirals and hearts on my bare skin. His light touch sends delicious shivers down my spine. It is all I can do to stop from collapsing against him, especially when he fingers my bra. These warm hands are setting a trail of blazing fire down my back, tingling and lingering. I lean into him and almost miss what he says next, to the hostess whose smug expression has only grown. If only she knew what Adrian was doing to me, and I bite back a retort because Adrian is talking. “This girl is not my girlfriend.” He repeats. “This girl is my flame in the dark. She believed in me, when I was at my darkest. She is gorgeous and brilliant and I get drunk off her aura. This girl is the love of my life.” Adrian is looking at me, his eyes are wells of deep green. “And we are leaving.”
Adrian takes my hand, and in true Ivashkov form, he drops a dollar in the tip jar, spins on his heel, and closes the restaurant door with a bang. I follow, my head is spinning. ‘Love of his life’? My heart threatens to burst out of chest and I allow Adrian to guide me to the passenger seat of the Ivashkovnator. In a daze I buckle my seat belt as Adrian tears out of the parking lot. I finally find my voice after an immeasurable silence in which we roll down the open road. My hand finds his and I smile “Drunk off my aura, huh?”
Adrian presses his fist to his throat, coughs and turns to me. “She was a bitch. Sydney, you need to realize that I wake up each morning wondering how I was so lucky to be with you.”
“But that girl, she isn’t the only one who looks at you like that. I’ve seen them stare at you. And you used to stare back. And there is so much more to you than just how you look. Adrian, you have to understand that I see so much more.”
“Sage, I’ve only ever been in love twice. You and Rose are the only ones I’ve ever wanted to change for, to become more for. I see my dreams in a hazy world right before I fall asleep. And now, the only person I ever see is you.”
The sun’s faint glow is stretching its lazy fingers onto the leather seats, and the twilight haze barely allows me to see Adrian’s silhouette. He loves so wholly, he dreams in such vivid color, and I have just fallen in love with him all over again. In this inky silence I raise myself so my lips are hovering right next to his cheek. I am breathing in his warmth, his presence. “I love you so much.” I murmur into his skin. “But I was unaware that I was the love of your life.”
“God, Sage. For someone so smart, how did you not pick up on that?”
I am so overcome with Adrian. He is everywhere, his scent fills the car, his body is pressed up against mine and his words have left gentle footsteps all over my heart. “What does my aura look like, Adrian?”
“It’s hard to describe, but it's intense. These vibrant yellows and deep royal purples.” His voice is glassy in the darkness.
“That sounds…”
“Incredible? But it is more, so much more. Everything you do is a work of art breathed to life. And Sage, I want to show you the world and all it has to offer. Because there is so much to live. To do. To dream. And I dream of waking up next to the sound of your heart.”
His voice is the only sound I hear, as we roll down the highway. There are flurries of trees and endless yellow lines paving our way. I would recognize the throes of spirit anywhere, but tonight, perhaps I too, have a high in my blood. “Adrian?”
“Yeah?”
“There is this glow of the headlights against the darkness and it is making me feel alive. I can trace the outline of the stars with my fingertips.”
“That is the feeling that accompanies dating me.”
I shake my head as a yawn escapes me, probably due to coffee deprivation, and I lean my head on Adrian shoulder, steadily breathing him in. Above me clouds swirl in the ink spot stained sky, and below me a beautiful car carries the boy I love more than anything in the world. My eyelids start to close. I make his Adrian’s words “I love you, Sydney. It makes me so happy to say that.”
I am struggling in my sleep ridden brain to find the words to explain to him that I love him too. “A maze, Adrian. I was lost in a tall hedge maze. And then… And then,” My words are beginning to slur, “You appeared and we made our way out of the maze together.”
Adrian’s hand is tangled in my hair, “The PG version of this story would include us living happily ever after.”
At his words, a sudden though occurs to me, and I sit up, shaking off the tendrils of sleep. “What about our bet? Do the sexual implications stop? At least in front of the others?”
“You can count on the fact that it that the jokes will stop only in front of the others.”
“But Adrian, we never really through with the bet, nor did I consume any pie. Not that I’m complaining.” Our flirtatious banter has me wide awake.
Well I’m sure you can make it up to me.” A devious smile spreads across his face. “Sex would definitely compensate for the lack of pie.” His hand is now slowly inching its way under my dress and up my thigh.
I shoot Adrian a look. “Both hands on the steering wheel, I will make you pay if something happens to this car.”
“I don’t think I’d mind that too much” Adrian says but nonetheless he keeps his eyes focused on the road and his hands to himself. With the absence of his arm on mine, I feel cold.
As if he can sense this, Adrian turns to me with a crooked grin. “Okay, I am instating new conditions to the bet for you to win, we have to do something, together, in my bedroom, until both of us...”
I cut off with a glare and then I give him an innocent smile. “Oh, that sounds much more fun the eating pie.”