27. Georgia
Apple.
Apple.
Apple.
Motherfucking Apple.
Derek’s eyes are stuck on her as she moves with the grace of a prima ballerina, landing in the seat between Delilah and Mrs. Perez. His hands that were once on me are clenched into fists as he watches Sienna’s dance partner cozy up next to his mom.
Personally, I have a bone to pick with this chick.
She’s the reason one of my best friends ended up on her deathbed back in December.
This girl gave Sienna a strawberry-infused electrolyte drink, her one and only allergy, and left her for dead in a dance studio.
Now, she’s prancing her ass off in front of my husband like she owns the place and he’s… He’s stuck on her, like she owns him.
I gulp, my eyes moving from the red-haired woman to Delilah before landing on Derek, and then it clicks.
“You’re her—Rosemary, right?”
The girl's smirk falls from her porcelain face, cracking the beauty that was once there, revealing her true nature. She gives me a glare that could kill, but it's a good thing I’ve never been too afraid of dolls.
“It’s Daisy. Who are you?” She tuts, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk as if the name held weight to me.
Newsflash, everyone, it doesn’t.
“I’m his wife.” I shrug, planting a smile equal to hers on my face as Derek finally snaps out of it.
“Why are you here, Rosemary? Haven’t you done enough? We’re good without you,” he says, taking his rightful seat next to me, grabbing hold of my hand under the table.
Rosemary is a pretty girl. She’s fair-skinned with auburn hair that has flecks of golden-blonde streaks in it. She’s tall and willowy like a fairy with large green eyes and freckles dusting across her nose and cheeks, just like Delilah.
But she also looks like one of the twins from The Shining, sooooooooooooo…
She’s pretty, but there’s something off in that head of hers, and that’s being proven when she speaks up again, her eyes trained on Derek.
“I’m here for you, silly… For us. We can be a family—”
Derek is not here for whatever games she’s playing because he turns to me. “Take Delilah and both of you get in the car.”
I tilt my head at him, my eyes trailing from him to his mother, before landing on the evil bitch intruding on our already uncomfortable dinner.
“She will do no such thing with my granddaughter. Delilah stays. Her mother—”
“Is dead. Georgia, take Delilah now… I’ll be out in a second.”
Without hesitation, I get Delilah and take her to the car. She’s quiet the entire time I buckle her into her seat and only speaks up when she knows that I’ve gotten myself settled into the car.
“Mamá, who was that?” Deli asks, and a piece of my heart breaks as I put on a smile as fragile as glass, twisting in my seat to face her.
“I have no idea, baby girl. Maybe your papá will explain who she is when we get home…” I say, patting her knee before twisting back in my seat as Derek climbs into the car.
He doesn’t say anything as he puts the car in drive. Instead, he turns the volume up on Delilah’s princess soundtrack and places a hand on my thigh.
The two of us ride in silence, the weight of what happened looming over our shoulders as he pulls up to an all too familiar building just fifteen minutes from our place—my old apartment.
He’s quiet as he gets Deli out of the car and holds the door open for the two of us. The air is thick around us in the elevator as we ride up to the floor where my old place is. I want to reach out, give him a lifeline, but I don’t know how.
What if my touch was the straw that breaks that camel's back?
Cleo opens the door to the apartment, and Derek immediately walks in, taking Delilah to Sienna’s room. My best friend gives me a confused look, sliding a fresh glass of water to me.
“Do I want to know what happened? Why did Derek look scary… He never has that look.”
My eyes trail from Cleo to the empty hall where he disappeared. “I—”
Derek comes back down the hall, his brown eyes searching for me, and when they land, I’m pulled to him like a moth to a flame.
He lets out a shaky breath, eyes darting from my head to my toes as if checking to see if I’m still here and okay.
He needs me. I know he does.
I walk him to the balcony, sure to close it fully behind us as he takes a step outside.
His eyes are hollow and lifeless as they peer down at me, drained from the day.
Without thinking, I pull him into me. I need him to use me, to take everything he needs to feel better.
I want him to be the Derek that I know, instead of this shell.
I don’t know what happened when I walked out, but I know that it fucked him up.
“You’re okay, Dere… I’m here. It’s okay to feel,” I say as he crumbles in my arms, pulling me deeper into a hug and into his world.
His shaky breath breaks something in me as he squeezes himself around me tighter. “I won’t leave you, okay? We’re in this together.”
He sighs, taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs, allowing me to step in between his legs as he hugs my waist.
“I don’t miss her... You have to know that I don’t miss her, but…”
“Seeing her hurts.”
He chuckles depreciatively into my stomach, shaking his head. “Why would my mom do that to us?”
There it is.
The type of hurt that he feels was doubled tonight. A ghost from his past returned, and the one who brought him into this world deceived him. He’s not only dealing with the feelings of a hurt father, but also a wounded son.
“If you want to end this, I understand… You shouldn’t have had to witness that today or been anywhere near my ex,” he says into my stomach, muffling his words, but I hear every single one.
Chuckling, I pull away a bit, holding his head in my palms, staring into his beautiful brown eyes.
“You think one fucked-up dinner will send me running away? Have you met me, Mr. Perez? I’m not going anywhere, so don't give up on us either. It's us against everything else, but never each other—got it?”
His breathing is shaky as he looks up at me with sorrow. “I got it,” he whispers.
Pressing a soft kiss to his lips, I smile. “Good…”
I lead him back into the apartment a while later. Cleo, Sienna, Blake, Jace, and Delilah lie around watching cartoons as we reenter. The group laughs as some jokes land, and others go over their heads.
“Are you two off? We’ve got Deli tonight,” Sienna speaks up, turning her body on the couch as I nod, grabbing the keys to Derek’s truck.
“Take good care of our girl, okay?” I say to my friends as I grab hold of the stunned man's hand.
They each acknowledge the order as I turn to Delilah. “Dels, you’re in charge.”
She giggles, blowing me a kiss, which I reciprocate.
Our trek to the car is silent as I lead Derek to the passenger side of the car, standing there expectantly as he quirks a brow at me before getting in.
It was easier than I thought to get him to ride as a passenger in his baby. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I grin as I take in the powerful truck, putting it in gear as he speaks up.
“What are you doing, Georgia?”
“Taking you somewhere to relax.”
Derek doesn’t actually know the definition of relaxation. As soon as we enter the simulation for our laser tag mission, the man becomes the most competitive, non-relaxed human in the history of planet Earth.
He barks commands like he’s on the ice, shields, and pulls me in every which way. It’d be hot if I weren’t actively trying to get his stress hormones down from earlier tonight.
Instead, he seems to have other plans as he calls our laser tag team for some “much-needed” recon—or whatever that means.
Our team consists of two eleven-year-olds, an elderly married couple, and a pair of parents whose children are on the opposing team.
So far, we’re down by five points, but Derek has the highest individual score on our team, which led to him being appointed team captain.
He’s lighter in our fourth round of the game, allowing himself to be free as he runs around, tagging the opposite team with a smile on his face–only this time, I’m on it as well.
I watch from behind one of the many pillars in the glow-in-the-dark room, waiting for him to cut around the corner closest to me so I can finally strike him.
We’ve been playing laser tag for a good hour, and the both of us have been working together until this point.
My body stiffens as the sound of feet hitting the wood near me echoes in the arena. I freeze, ducking close to the wall as the red light of his vest zooms past. I hold up my blue laser gun, ready with my finger on the trigger, just as a familiar chuckle catches my attention.
Only, he isn’t in front of me like I’d originally thought. He’s behind me.
Standing still, I hold my finger on the trigger, allowing him to circle me. Derek’s eyes are playful as he approaches, lifting a weight from my chest. If he’s playful right now, then that means the dinner from hell is far from his mind.
“Any last words?” he teases, pointing the gun at my chest with a small smile.
Throwing on my fakest pout, I send it his way, but it does zilch in my attempt to stay alive in the game. I take a step forward, allowing myself to crowd his space as he takes a step backwards.
“Wha–what are you doing?”
Lifting on my tiptoes, I get as close to his face as I can, “We haven’t kissed today—if you’re going to get me out of the game, the least you could do is kiss me first.”
He squints at me, unsure of what tactic I’m trying to play here, but concedes, and as our lips lock, our eyes close, and the sound of one of the vests beeping alerts us of the other's betrayal.
Derek's grin drops as we part, and the lights on his vest flash white.
“I win.” I chuckle, kissing him softly one last time as he groans.
We finish two more rounds of laser tag before deciding to call it a night, heading to The Sweet Tooth for an order of cupcakes and grabbing a pizza on the way in.
Derek seems to be lighter than before as he drives us back home, a hand on my thigh as he laughs under his breath.
“What?” I muse, grabbing a cupcake from the box as he turns into our neighborhood.
“Thank you… for everything, Georgia.”
I don’t let him see the blush that creeps up my neck or allow him to know the impact his words have on me. Instead, I turn to look out the car's window and grin.
“Don’t mention it, Dere.”