“I didn’t know about Katie, but I wondered if she would find an ability,” Mickey said. “Since the SLU told us they had a Pop-Up, I’ve been trying to find out who it might be. And with Tori showing up at every crime scene recently…” He shrugged. “I wondered. So why didn’t you bring her with you tonight?”
Bull frowned at him. “We agreed no one can come down here except – oohhh.” He looked at Hayley. “Is that what you’ve been trying to make me guess for the last few weeks? Tori’s a superhero?” He laughed his surprise as he looked at Joe. “Dude, that rocks! Doing it with a superhero is–”
“Bull!” Hayley slapped his shoulder.
Joe clamped his mouth shut. He wouldn’t know. The last time he and Tori did the wild thing was before her big revelation.
“If we’re going to help her clear her name,” Mickey continued with his earlier thought, “she needs to be here so we can figure out what happened.”
“She knows about X, right?” asked Hayley. “You finally told her?”
Joe stared down at his flexing hands. “Uh, yeah, she’s talked to X a few times. In fact, she’s waiting for him to call her tonight.”
Mickey slapped his hands together. “Excellent!”
“Thank you, God,” Bull said to the ceiling. “Now I don’t have to worry about what to say around her.” He sighed in exaggerated relief. “You know how hard it would be to keep a secret from someone for years?”
All three of them looked at Bull with varying degrees of you’ve got to be kidding. Keeping their identity secret from most people was part of their everyday life.
“Oh, right,” Bull said. He grinned and picked up a 25-pound free-weight, tossing it easily from one hand to the other. “Well, I think Joe's trying to impress someone. She likes you in your suit, huh? I wear mine to–”
“Bull!” Hayley slapped him again. “So if you told her,” she said, “if you both know each other’s secrets, why isn’t she here?”
Joe looked at each of them while he chewed his right thumbnail. “We’re not exactly talking right now. So,” he paused, wondering if his great plan would work. “I thought maybe X and the gang could tell her. I could call her and have her come down–”
A chorus of disbelief and outright refusal went up.
“So you haven’t told her? Geez, Joe, if you’re so scared, send her an email. Send her a voice mail.” Mickey scowled at him. “What can you possibly gain from the secrecy?”
Bull snickered loudly.
Mickey looked at him, then rolled his eyes at Joe. “You must be joking,” he said, shaking his head. “Like you don’t get it enough at home, you’re doing it in alleys? Rooftops?”
“I am not doing it in alleys.” But he would’ve enjoyed doing it on that rooftop. Or in the park in the moonlight. Snow or no snow, it would’ve been hot.
“But,” Hayley’s face twisted in total confusion. “If she doesn’t know Superhero X is you…”
Bull howled with laughter. “Your wife’s having an affair with your alter ego!” he roared. “Oh, that’s priceless!”
Even Mickey chuckled. “Tori is seeing X and not speaking to you?”
Hayley tried to hide her laughter behind her hand.
“Stop laughing, Bull,” Joe growled. “Tori is not having an affair. She even made me, er, X promise not to kiss her.”
Mickey and Bull laughed harder.
“Whatever.” Joe ran his hands through his hair. “The point is, I have a plan.”
“Do tell,” said Mickey.
Joe took a deep breath. “We’ll all put on our suits and call her down here and explain together. That way everything will be cleared up at once.” It really was a good plan. No more secrets, just like his friends had wanted for weeks. He nodded in encouragement to Hayley. She’d been bugging him longer than anyone.
“No way.”
“No.”
“Huh-uh.”
Joe sighed and leaned his head back, eyes closed. “Come on, guys. Help me out.” Good thing he liked this couch so much. He might be spending a lot more time here.
“I’ll help you out,” Mickey said.
Joe met his gaze warily. “Yeah?”
“This is your new plan. Stop being a baby and go home and tell her right now. Coward.”
Joe shook his head and started to explain why that wasn’t going to work.
“It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order.”
Joe felt a little sick to his stomach. While he was home, he might as well grab his pillow and toothbrush.
TORI tried to read her book while she waited in front of the fire for Joe to get home. Superhero X hadn’t called yet to tell her what time to meet. But Joe had called half an hour ago and asked her if they could talk. Even though he wanted them to stay at his parents’ a little longer, he wanted privacy, so he suggested they talk at their house.
Tori was tired of fighting. And after talking to Superhero X last night and her dad today, she wanted to try harder to get this argument behind them. She loved Joe and she wanted to be married to him. If it was so untenable for him that his wife was a superhero, maybe she was going to have to do something else. The superhero thing could be just another temp job that ended.
She’d better think of something fast, though, because now she needed money to buy another car, too. Sheesh. She wondered how tight their finances were. Would Joe feel threatened if she asked him outright? She had seventy-eight dollars in her savings account. Not even enough for a monthly bus pass. So many things they hadn’t done yet – paperwork to create a joint checking account, paperwork to change her name, paperwork to change life insurance beneficiaries. Ugh. She wanted a job with no paperwork. She wondered if she could Google that.
Come to think of it, what would she do for money if she worked as a superhero? Another question for X. She wished she could make a list, but she was afraid Joe would find it and get mad again. Or still.
She heard the back door open. Her stomach jumped a little. She was nervous about how their conversation would go, but she knew part of her butterflies were from missing the man she loved.
He walked into the living room in his stocking feet and paused. He wore jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled above his wrists. He looked nervous. Tori only had a small reading lamp on in addition to the light of the small fire. Maybe the soothing lighting would help them talk calmly.
“Hi,” she said, determined to meet him halfway. It occurred to her this afternoon that she might have been ignoring him more than he’d been ignoring her. If the argument was partially her fault, she was going to do her part to fix it.
“Hi,” he said. He walked over to where she sat on the couch. “Mind if I sit down?”
She shook her head. After he sat, she pulled the blanket she’d tucked around herself over his lap as well. He scooted an inch closer.
“So,” she said.
“So.” Joe stared at the fire.
For someone who wanted to talk to her so badly, he didn’t have much to say. Tori tried to decide what she needed to confess. One thing was obvious and long overdue.
“I love you, Joe.”
He turned to her, surprise and pleasure and worry chasing over his features. “I love you.” After a moment, he turned back to the fire.
She sighed. Fine, she’d go first. “I’m sorry. I had no idea. I think I’ve figured out what happened. My parents have had me on medication since I was four. I think they knew or suspected what was happening to me and were trying to hide it. But they never said anything to me.”
She looked away from the fire to find him watching her. “When I met you, I just…” She shrugged, not sure what words to use. “I felt invincible when I was with you. I stopped taking the drugs and seeing the psychiatrist only a week or so before we met, but you made me feel like I could do anything.” She smiled a little.
He frowned. “You were seeing a psychiatrist?”
Oh great. Not another thing to argue about.
“Because
you have a super power? That’s wrong.” Joe reached for her hand. “That’s fear and paranoia and – and bigotry.”
Tori had used that word last night with Superhero X. She wondered if Joe and X could be friends. That might make life easier on her.
“They had their reasons,” she said. She’d been thinking about the next part for the last few hours. She wasn’t ready to offer, per se, but she was willing to have the conversation. “Would you,” she cleared her choked throat, “would you feel more comfortable if I went back on the drugs?”
“No!” Joe whipped around to face her. His hand pulled her closer, off balance. “Absolutely not! I don’t want you to take drugs for something that’s a natural part of your makeup.”
Tori regained her seat by sliding a little closer. Joe took advantage and pulled her all the way over to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and stared into the fire. Tori felt like she’d been holding her breath for the last ten minutes and she could breathe again. She nestled her head into his shoulder. This felt so much better. Dad was right, choosing Joe over being a superhero was the right decision.
“Okay, well, I appreciate that. I can try to find someone who can help me control the power so I don’t use it. I have a couple ideas of people to ask.” She hoped that her friendship with X wouldn’t make Joe jealous. She didn’t know who else to ask. “I’ll find a way to turn it off.”
Joe sighed. He kissed the top of her head. After a moment, he said, “I didn’t say you had to do that either.”
Tori sat quietly thinking. She didn’t know what else she could do. She was deeply relieved he didn’t want her to go back to Dr. Huntington and the meds. But she didn’t have any ideas about what was next until she talked to X. It didn’t look like he was going to call tonight. Just as well. The conversation with Joe was going better than she could’ve hoped.
She approached the topic from the other side. “Just so you know, I’m not saying I have to be a superhero to be happy. I don’t even know for sure what that life would be like. I’d have to find a way to save the world while holding down a nine-to-five job? And – bonus here – I get to hang around murderers and criminals just like the police, but I don’t even get paid for it? We just got cable, Joe. When am I going to have time to watch it?” She added a little laugh.
Was she trying to talk him into this or out? She felt like an idiot that she didn’t seem to know what she wanted.
“Then there’s the problem of what to tell our friends,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. “My family isn’t like yours. We don’t have any superhero friends. There’s the freaks – that’s me and my sister – and there’s the normal people. Luckily for us, the normal people have chosen to love us anyway. They just ask that we don’t show our freakiness to the whole world and ruin their dinner parties.”
Tori felt herself breaking down. She hadn’t thought about all the secrets and lies she’d have to deal with. Forever. She clenched her jaw and told herself to buck up, be strong. If word got out, it could ruin her relationship with everyone she knew except her dad. Tori felt tears running down her face. She wished she could go to bed and hide. And watch cable TV.
“You are not a freak.” Joe held her close, speaking quietly, vehemently. “You have powers that you can–”
“You don’t understand because you’re not a freak,” Tori exclaimed. “You’re cool.” She felt Joe chuckle. “You don’t understand what it’s like. Even on the drugs, and looking back I can see it now, even on the drugs I was scared people would find me strange or be afraid of me. It’s a horrible way to live!”
“You’re wrong. I do understand,” he said. She shook her head, embarrassed that she was crying harder. “I do, Tori. I was shocked when you told me about your power because–”
“Because Katie made me!” Tori remembered how uncomfortable that had felt. Did she make people feel that way? “I was going to tell you, but I was going to say it much nicer than it came out. I’m so sorry, Joe. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to yell at you and say those horrible things.”
Tori felt the pressure building inside. The stress of the last few weeks along with the fear that she was losing Joe and the overwhelming relief she felt right now that maybe she wasn’t – it all churned inside her until she burst out – “I just want you and me to be okay again, to be alone together! I want everything else to go away!”
A bright flash of white light burst around them. Tori gasped and clutched at Joe. He was still with her, staring in shock at her and at the white nothingness around them. He pulled her closer, protectively. The air shimmered for a moment, then stilled. The living room was back. Or they were back in the living room.
“What was that?” Joe breathed.
Tori sat open-mouthed beside him. Oh, no. No no no no! She didn’t just do that! How did she do that? “I’m sorry, Joe. Oh, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what I did, but I swear I’ll never do it again. I’ll get help! Superhero X can help me. I’ll–”
Joe turned her in his arms and kissed her soundly.
In her surprise, Tori didn’t resist. After a moment, she kissed him back. She’d missed this so much. The feel of his lips, his tongue, his hands made her feel like an electric current ran through every nerve in her body. She felt more alive, more aware, more–
He pulled away.
She moaned in protest.
He laughed.
She opened her eyes. He was laughing? At her? No, he looked…excited.
“You are the coolest girl I know!” He swung his arm around her neck and looked around their living room again. “I can’t figure out what you did, but it was wild. You’re not only the coolest girl I know, you’re the coolest superhero I know!”
Joe laughed again and squeezed her. Tori kept blinking as if she would be able to see what was happening here if she could just focus.
“Tori, I’m sorry for everything I said. I really am. I didn’t understand. Will you forgive me?”
“Um, yes?” Okay, so they weren’t breaking up then. She felt so tired. She leaned against Joe. The clock on the mantel pointed to five-thirty. If Superhero X called, she’d take Joe with her to meet him. “I’ve met someone who can help,” she said. “He’s–”
“I know.” Joe kissed the top of her head.
“What do you mean, you know?”
“You’re expecting his call, right?”
Tori sat up suddenly. “Joe, it’s not like that, I swear.”
He put his finger over her mouth, cutting off her protests. “I know. You think Superhero X can help you.”
Tori paused, then nodded slowly.
Joe pressed his lips together in a somewhat rueful smile. “Remember last night when he told you he has secrets he needs to tell you?”
Tori frowned. How could Joe know that? Unless he was watching them. But she was sure no one else was around. So how… Her eyes bugged out and her mouth dropped open. “No way,” she breathed.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you since before we got married!” he exclaimed. He leaned back in the couch, his arms stretched over his head. “Ugh! I know what you mean about being afraid the other person won’t accept you.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I was terrified. Your family isn’t keen, and what if they convinced you not to marry me?”
Was he saying what it sounded like he was saying? Had she married Superhero X?
He raked his fingers through his hair. “I couldn’t live without you. My dad threatened to not go through with the wedding if I didn’t tell you. I tried! I don’t know if you remember, but you told me to talk to you later, in bed.”
She did remember that part. She’d felt so risque mentioning the bedroom on their wedding day.
Joe cupped his hands around her face. “I was crazy for you, and the idea that someone, anyone, could keep us apart only made me crazier. So I lied to my dad.”
Tori finally found words. “You lied to Owen?”
He pulled her into his arms and laughed. “I did.
He asked me if I talked to you and I said yes. I did talk to you. I just didn’t tell you what I’d promised to.” He leaned back and searched her face. “So you see, I do know how you feel.”
It finally occurred to Tori that Joe was nervous. Nervous that she’d be angry. About him being a superhero, or withholding the information, she wasn’t sure which, but he was just as scared as she’d been. And that made her feel a whole lot better.
She was about to tell him it was fine, she forgave him, when she had a shocking thought.
He saw her expression and his eyes clouded. “What?”
Staring at him for a moment, she reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss. It was tentative at first, then that amazing feeling of safety and strength permeated the kiss until they were pressed up against each other, fingers in each other’s hair, hands beginning to roam, just like their very first kiss. Their first kiss when Joe was Superhero X, dressed as Zorro on Halloween night.
She pulled away and this time it was Joe who grumbled a protest. She smiled a little and then shook her head at him, her teeth worrying her lower lip. “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh.
He looked stricken.
“Now I’m not sure which of you is the better kisser.”
It only took Joe a moment to get the reference. Then he was on top of her, Tori screeching and twisting and melting into him.
It was an amazing two minutes. Then Joe stopped with a sigh of disappointment. “We can’t.”
“Joe!” She tightened her arms around him. They were finally making up and he was stopping?
“I know, I know.” He kissed her neck but moved his weight off her. “But one, I need to explain more about why we’re staying at my folks’ place, and two, Mom thinks we’ll be back for dinner by six.”
“Ugh! Call her and tell her we’ll be late,” Tori whined. She tried to pull Joe back down, but he leveraged her back into a sitting position instead. She pretended to sulk. Then she pulled her open shirt closed.
“That’s reason three. It’s cold in here. I want to see every inch of you, not covered in goose bumps.” He rubbed one of her arms to warm it. Then he tucked his shirt back in and helped her with her clothes.
Unexpected Superhero (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke Book 1) Page 27