Shine and Shimmer (Glitter and Sparkle #2)

by Shari L. Tapscott

  “You got home okay?” I interrupt.

  He pauses. “Yeah.”

  “Well, then no harm done. I’ll see you around.”

  I’m just getting ready to hang up when he says, “She’s really ticked this time. I don’t know what to do. Page and Elle won’t talk to me because they’re her best friends. Neil’s no help. I’m in too much turmoil to even paint.” He grows more and more dejected. “I know I don’t have a chance with you anyway, so I thought maybe you’d have some advice for me.”

  “Sure—stop dating other girls.”

  Zeke’s silent for a moment. “But Zoe and I aren’t even together right now.”

  “Do you want to be?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then stop. If you want to be with Zoe, don’t go out with other people just to pass the time until you can have her.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I cringe.

  That’s exactly what I did to Linus. I should have never gone with Zeke, not when Linus already had my heart. And now I’ve hurt him.

  “Listen, Zeke, I gotta go. Just don’t…don’t be a jerk. Then maybe she’ll give you another chance.”

  ***

  I’ve been meaning to go into the little bakery located on one of the streets by the park, but I never imagined I’d be looking for cupcakes decorated with video game stuff.

  “You’re sure he’ll like it?” I ask as I peer at the gray-frosted cupcake in its little individual box.

  “He’ll love it,” the girl behind the counter assures me.

  A tiny dragon perches on top of the cupcake, which has been frosted to look like rocky peaks. There’s a funny symbol I don’t recognize, but apparently, it’s from some epic video game I’ve never even heard of.

  I pay a ridiculous amount for the single cupcake, and then, with a controller I purchased online in hand, make the short walk to the game store. Linus and I haven’t talked since he brought me home, and that was over a week ago. I can’t leave things like this. Even if all we can have is friendship, I want it.

  When I first push open the door, I don’t see Linus.

  Tim, the guy who was working last time I was here, turns toward me. Once he recognizes me, his features harden, and I get the geek equivalent of the cheerleader blow-off.

  “I’m here to see Linus,” I say.

  He turns his back on me and continues organizing games. “I don’t think he wants to see you.”

  I purse my lips, take a deep breath in through my nose and then let it out slowly before I attempt to speak again.

  “Why don’t you just go tell him I’m here?” I say, hoping Linus is in the back.

  Tom turns and stares at me. After several moments, he shakes his head and disappears through the door. I wait so long that the flat screen above the register begins to repeat advertisements.

  When I hear footsteps, I quickly turn my attention to the door behind the counter. Linus steps out, and though his expression is guarded, it’s not hostile. He’s wearing a shirt that, ironically, has a symbol that matches the one on the frosting. I’m going to take that as a good sign.

  He watches me for several moments, and then he raises his eyebrows, silently telling me to state my business.

  My heart stutters, and I gulp before I hold up the cupcake and the controller. “I’ve brought a peace offering.”

  Without saying a word, he walks around the counter and stands in front of me. He peers at the cupcake, and his lips twitch with a suppressed smile. Then his eyes swing to my other hand. “I don’t have a PlayStation.”

  “Oh,” I say, deflating. I look down at the controller. “I didn’t know there were…different…” I clear my throat and blink a few times. “Never mind. I thought we could…play later. Or something.”

  This was dumb. Did I really think a cupcake and a stupid remote were going to fix things?

  “Is it chocolate?” he asks just when I’m about to turn away.

  Nervous, I slowly meet his eyes. “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” He holds his hands out. “I accept your peace offering.”

  He gives me a small smile, a real one, one that crinkles the edges of his eyes. Relief washes over me, making me feel all warm and a little giddy. All I want to do is jump into his arms, but we’re not there yet. I’m not sure we’ll ever be there.

  “I want to be friends again,” I say quietly. “I’m so sorry. I just want to go back to the way we were before…before everything went wrong.”

  That’s a lie. I don’t want to go back to the way we were before; I want so much more. But I’ll take what I can get, and I doubt I’ll get much more than friends.

  “We’re good, Riley.” Linus holds my eyes for several moments before he looks down and flips open the top of the cupcake box. When he looks back up, he’s grinning. He points to the dragon. “You know I can’t eat something this awesome, right?”

  For the price I paid, he had better.

  “Take a picture and eat the cupcake, Linus.”

  He meets my eyes, and an ornery look crosses his face. He thrusts the box back into my hands and pulls his phone from his pocket. “Okay, hold the cupcake up and look really remorseful.”

  I shake my head, trying not to laugh. “I’m not doing this.”

  Giving me an exaggerated frown that’s entirely too adorable, he says, “I thought you were sorry…?”

  “Oh, shut up,” I laugh and give him a puppy dog face as I pose with the cupcake.

  “Is that remorseful?” He raises an eyebrow. “You have more of a duck face going on…”

  “Would you just take the stupid picture?” I playfully smack his shoulder with the controller that I’m going to have to ship back.

  His coworker wanders back in and scowls at me, not as eager to forgive. He rolls his eyes and returns to the back room.

  Leaning forward, I whisper, “I don’t think your friend likes me.”

  Linus holds up his phone. He snaps a picture as I frown while trying not to laugh, and then he lowers his voice. “He thinks you’re a siren, here to lure me to my demise.”

  “And what do you think?”

  He wraps his arm around my shoulder, friendly as can be. “I think you should come by my house tonight.” He taps the remote. “And don’t worry, I have all the controllers we need.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I walk up Linus’s drive, and I’m so nervous I debate turning back. The front door swings open before I even reach the doorbell. Linus stands in front of me. He’s barefoot, and his hair is wet from a recent shower. My mouth goes dry.

  Thank goodness he has a T-shirt on.

  Rubbing a towel over his water-darkened hair, he says, “You’re early.”

  I cross my arms and remind myself that we’re trying this friend thing again—nothing else. And I need to keep my hands to myself.

  Of course, if he were to toss that towel aside, stride through the door, yank me into his arms, and kiss me senseless, I certainly wouldn’t object.

  “You okay, Riley?” Linus asks, his forehead knitting.

  “Fine,” I say with so much more composure than I feel. “Nice house.”

  He watches me for a moment, a quizzical look on his face.

  “Thanks. Come on in.”

  But he doesn’t move. He stands in the doorway, taking up half the entry, and I’m forced to walk right past him. My shoulder brushes his chest on the way in. He’s warm and solid and smells like soap, toothpaste, and all kinds of drugstore toiletries that have never made me swoon before.

  This is going to be torture.

  “So, what game are we playing?” I ask as I purposefully avoid looking at him by studying photographs on the entry wall.

  Linus doesn’t answer. I glance at him and find him studying me with a questioning, amused sort of expression.

  “Let me toss this in the laundry,” he finally says, holding up the towel. “Then we’ll pick something out.”

  I nod, hoping to look cool and unruffled.

  Linus jog
s up the staircase just to the left of the entry, and once he’s out of sight, I groan quietly into my hands. This is going to be so much harder than I thought.

  While I wait, I take in Linus’s house. It’s in a newer subdivision, a stucco with rock accents, and the entry floor is stone. There are pictures everywhere—on the end tables, walls, and bookcases. A good percentage of them are Linus and his parents, but there are others as well, extended family members and friends. There are even pictures of dogs and cats, and I wonder if they’re animals from the shelter.

  “My mom’s a photographer,” Linus says from behind me when he catches me staring at the huge collection over the television. “She takes pictures of everyone.”

  “They’re really good.”

  “Thanks. Oh, I ordered pizza,” he says as he kneels in front of the television and opens a game case. “Extra onions because I know how much you like them.”

  “Funny.” I lean over his shoulder to see what he’s picked out. “That looks like a kid game.”

  He glances back at me, smiling. “It’s a classic, and it’s the best way for you to start. It’ll be fun.”

  If we were together, if we were dating, I’d lean down and kiss him right now. I wonder what he’d do if I did? I take a step back to remove myself from temptation.

  Linus finishes setting everything up, and he pulls me back to the couch, jarring me from my daydreams. Once we’re seated, he hands me a strange two-part controller and points to the buttons. “Use this one to jump, this little joystick to move—”

  I set my hand on his, stopping him. He gives me a questioning look, and I take a moment to steady myself. “Listen.” I look at our hands because it’s too hard to watch his eyes. “I need you to know that I’m not doing this because I’m trying to impress you or change myself so you’ll like me or anything. I just want to do something with you that you enjoy. Because I like hanging out with you.”

  He taps my hand, waiting until I look up. “I know that, Riley.”

  “I just didn’t want you to think—”

  There’s a smile in his eyes. “I don’t. Now pay attention. You use this button to pick things up.”

  “Pick things up?” I ask, confused and relieved.

  “Turtle shells and…never mind.” He grins. “Just focus on moving around at first.”

  Focusing on those little buttons seems like a very good idea when Linus is sitting this close. He’s against the armrest, and I’m in the middle, but he’s angled toward me, settled in to play, and his knees brush my legs.

  Snap out of it, Riley.

  The first fifteen minutes are a catastrophe. I can get the little guy to move, but I’m incapable of timing the jumps right, and my character keeps falling down holes. Why are there random gaping holes in the ground, anyway? Not long later, I begin to get the hang of it, and I’m so into the game, I jump when the pizza delivery guy rings the doorbell.

  “Let me pay half,” I say since this isn’t supposed to be a date.

  I’m pulling my wallet out of my purse when Linus walks to the door. “I got it.”

  I tap my fingers against the leather, perplexed. He’s probably just being nice.

  “My mom will kill me if we eat on the couch,” Linus says as he carries back a box. Then he flashes me a grin. “So, we’ll have to be careful.”

  The night passes quickly, and I’m so engrossed in the ridiculous cartoony game that it completely takes me by surprise when I glance at the clock on the wall and see that it’s after eleven. “Oh, wow. It’s getting late.” I stretch my arms above my head. “And you have to work tomorrow morning.”

  He tosses his controller to the side, lies against the back of the couch, and loosely crosses his arms. He looks completely relaxed, completely at ease. “You don’t have to leave yet.”

  “You look tired.” I reluctantly grab my purse. “And you have your Science Explorers tomorrow after work. It’ll be a long day.”

  “Will you be at the school?”

  Fidgeting with my keys, not ready to leave, I answer, “Later in the afternoon. I want to make some more of the lavender soap.”

  “I’ll stop by after my class.”

  He stands when I stand, walks me to the door, and then motions inside, toward the video game that’s still up on the television. “Was it as awful as you thought? Did you have any fun?”

  I could have had more fun…

  “Yeah, I did.”

  Linus’s eyes are hooded, a little sleepy, and his lips part just slightly. I catch myself staring at his mouth, remembering what it’s like to kiss him.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He leans against the door frame, just like he did earlier when I got here.

  I debate stepping in to hug him goodbye, but I don’t trust myself. A little disappointed that this is all there is between us, I walk to my car and wave as I pull from his drive.

  ***

  “I hear this is your last Saturday.”

  I glance up at Zeke—who is thankfully sober. It’s a beautiful day, and the festival is busy. It’s the first time we’ve talked today, but he’s sent plenty of glances my way. He stands in front of me with his arms crossed. Though he’s trying to act casual, I can tell he’s nervous.

  We only have fifteen more minutes until three, and I’ve already started packing up my stuff. “You heard right.”

  “You don’t have to quit because of me,” he says and then looks surprised when I laugh.

  “Listen, Zeke,” I say, setting my palms flat on the table. “I lied to you. I don’t make soap, and I don’t make candles.”

  Mystified, he glances at the soap and the last of Lauren’s tarts.

  I smile and wave my hand over the table. “I learned how to do all this to impress you. Isn’t that sad?”

  He rubs a hand over the tattoo that starts at his neck and disappears under his collar. “Why would you do that?”

  It’s a lot easier to be honest with Zeke now that I don’t have him up on a pedestal. Smiling because I couldn’t care less at this point, I answer, “Because I wanted you to like me.”

  “I would have liked you anyway, Riley.” He shifts forward and flashes me a flirty look. “I have a thing for blonds.”

  I give him a chastising look. “Don’t let Zoe hear you say that. Did you listen to anything I told you?”

  But we both know she isn’t here today, and I doubt Zeke will ever learn.

  “She won’t talk to me,” he says.

  “Maybe you should paint an apology on yourself and then send her a picture.” I say it with a straight face, and it takes him a moment to realize I’m joking.

  He grins. “Maybe you could paint it for me?”

  “Go away, Zeke.”

  Obliging, he takes a step back, but then he stops. “You know, if you weren’t all in love with Bradford, I’d definitely be all over you.”

  I flush, startled by how observant he is. With a wink, Zeke turns back to his own table.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The summer passes much too quickly. It’s already the beginning of August, and I go home in two weeks. Linus and I have slipped into a comfortable routine—and by comfortable, I mean frustratingly friendly. We spend most of the evenings together, and all his days off. We go to the burger place and share onion rings and fries. We play video games. We go geocaching and hike. We’ve even gone for a few bike rides.

  Has he kissed me? No.

  Have I kissed him? No.

  Am I dying inside? Yes.

  We’re sitting in the park, lying on a blanket in the shade of a tree. Linus browses a strategy guide for the same game I had the cupcake fashioned after, and I’m reading a romance novel. He doesn’t even tease me about it, and I don’t feel self-conscious reading it in front of him.

  My phone chimes. Without looking up, Linus asks, “Lauren or Zeke?”

  I turn the page in my book. “Zeke texted this morning, so I’m guessing Lauren.”

  Linus tilts his head and meets my eyes. “
I’ll bet Zeke.”

  “Oh yeah?” I set my book aside. “And what do I get if I win?”

  Something flickers in his eyes, something that makes my stomach knot. In a low voice, he says. “Anything you want, Riley.”

  There is a full-out butterfly riot in my stomach. He shouldn’t say things like that, shouldn’t look at me that way. Doesn’t he know he’s killing me?

  No. He has no idea. Why? Because I’m as bad as Brandon. Just like Lauren’s brother is too scared to tell Harper how he feels, I’m too scared to tell Linus how much I like him.

  Sitting up, I grab my phone. Linus is probably right—it’s likely Zeke. Ever since our “date,” he’s been the neediest human being known to man. Why in the world did I think I wanted to date an angsty artist? Because I definitely don’t.

  It’s bad enough I’ve somehow been thrust into the role of his own personal relationship guru. Which is a little absurd considering my recent track record. Zeke’s even gotten desperate enough that he’s started calling Linus if he can’t get a hold of me. Linus is a lot more patient than I am. At first, I thought he might be uncomfortable with everything, considering. But I think it’s hard to be jealous of a guy who is just so darn pathetic. That, and Linus and I aren’t dating, so what’s there for Linus to be jealous of?

  “It’s Zeke,” I say.

  Linus grins, happy to be right. “Let me guess…he and Zoe are fighting.”

  I wrinkle my brow as I finish reading. “No…I mean, yes, but…”

  Sitting up on his elbow, Linus takes the phone when I hand it to him. His eyes go wide, and he starts to laugh, but once he gets to the end of the text he groans and flops back to the ground. “He can’t be serious.”

  Apparently, Zoe, in a fit of jealous rage, stole Zeke’s keys and wallet and left him deserted in a hotel in a tourist trap near the Wyoming border. And he wants us to rescue him.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll tell him to find someone else.” I’m already typing the message into my phone.