A HERO.
That was what this was—that was why she’d looked at him with such desire. Looked at him exactly the way all those girls had looked at him in high school. No. Not at him. At some imagined hero who’d stepped up to the plate and rescued Cameron Franklin.
What a joke.
And now the woman he’d actually wanted all those years ago had finally caught up to the punchline. But he didn’t want her like that. Didn’t want to be the embodiment of some childhood hero-worship fantasy.
Maybe it wasn’t fair to blame backing away on Cam, but what else could he say? He didn’t want her? That was a lie. He wanted her desperately. So desperately, in fact, that it was taking all of his will not to tell her he’d made a mistake and pull her into his arms again.
Dammit.
He hailed the taxi they’d tried to get earlier, and they rode in silence to Bella’s apartment, Darcy shooting him the occasional confused glance. She had a crease between her brows, which appeared when she frowned.
It was there now, and he wanted to kiss it. Wanted to kiss her. Wanted to touch her and forget about Cam and play the goddammned hero if that was what she needed.
Except that he’d hated being that person in school. Hated the guilt that had filled him whenever he’d looked in those girls’ eyes. Hated the fact that they were infatuated with a man who didn’t really exist.
The buzz of his thoughts filled his head for the short cab ride, and he dutifully followed Darcy up the stairs to Bella’s apartment.
After the rattle of locks and chains, the door opened and Bella stood there, wrapped in a fuzzy robe that matched the color of her red nose. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, her hair bedraggled, and her hands and pockets stuffed full of tissue.
“Don’t come in,” she said, her voice as thick as cotton. “I have the plague.”
“Bella!” Darcy took a step forward, only to find her way blocked by the door that her friend half-closed in her face.
“Seriously, I think I’m contagious.” She managed a wavering smile. “It’s your stupid curse—me getting sick when you’re coming into town.”
“It’s not my curse,” Darcy said stiffly. “And if it were, I’d be the one who’s sick.” She started to reach for Bella’s hand, then pulled away, knowing she’d get slapped down. “Can I get you anything? A doctor? Mass quantities of drugs?”
“We could run down to the deli,” Evan added. “Chicken soup?”
“Thanks,” Bella said as she turned to him. She looked like she was going to say more, but she stopped, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open, just a little. “Aren’t you—?”
“We need to get going,” Darcy said.
“No, wait,” Bella said, then sneezed loudly into a tissue.
“Aren’t I who?”
“The guy. Evan. From that newspaper photo you have framed. The one with you and Cam after that river accident you told me about.”
Darcy kept her face stoically forward, wondering if she could kill her best friend and blame it on the flu. The picture Bella referred to was from the newspaper article telling about Evan’s rescue of Cam from the river. Evan been at the house, being doted on by her mother, and the local news photographer had come by. He’d snapped a shot of Darcy putting an afghan around Evan’s chilled shoulders. It was the only photo of the two of them together, and since Cam was in the picture, too, she’d never felt strange about having it framed.
She’d told Bella the truth about it, though. A fact that she was now regretting.
Evan, she realized, hadn’t said another word. He was looking at her with an odd expression. Like sadness. Or resignation.
“It is him,” Bella pressed. “Isn’t it?”
Darcy ignored Bella, opening her mouth instead to ask Evan if he was okay.
He got the words out before her, though. “Yes,” he said to Bella. “That’s me in the picture.”
“Well, color my world,” Bella said, laughing. She turned from him to Darcy. “So much for that curse, huh? You’re just oozing with good luck.”
Darcy bit the inside of her cheek and forced herself not to look at Evan.
“Although, maybe not so lucky after all,” Bella added.
“What?” Darcy asked, alarm bells ringing. “What do you mean?”
“The tickets,” Bella said. “For the show. For tonight.” She licked her lips and took a step backward, as if she was preparing to slam the door against the threat of an onslaught. “I know how much we spent and how much you wanted to go, but Darcy, I can’t find them anywhere.”