Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

eyes?”
    “ Blue eyes? Oh, you mean Wade. His family owns the gym there. He plays hockey and goes out with Melissa Grouper.” He spoke, trying to jog my memory, but I came up blank.
    Thinking about him made me smile. “His eyes are crazy blue…weird blue. I swear I know him from somewhere,” I muttered more to myself than him.
    "Hmm, maybe at school. He’s pretty serious about Melissa; has been for about three years. Speaking of guys—what’s up with you and Blake?” he asked.
    He had been convinced, as I had been, that we would be something more than friends. It wasn’t just me thinking it. Alise, Shane, and I, had seen the signs. It didn’t make me feel better. I was still humiliated.
    “ Nothing, nothing now and nothing ever. We are friends. Friends who can sleep beside each other and be comfortable, but I guess that’s it. I’m destined to be alone forever.” The words flew out before I could think about them, or my tone.
    Shane laughed. “Okay, okay, Jeeze. You and your sister have that in common, I guess. There is more spice in you two, than sugar.”
    I frowned at the comparison. “Sorry. You’re right—that might be the only thing we have in common, unfortunately.” ‘Besides loving you.’ I thought to myself, even though I knew Alise didn’t love him. I didn’t even believe she liked him. I knew for a fact, she'd been having ongoing affairs with every guy she knew. I had dreamt of helping Shane find out about her. I'd even planned how I would do it. I just didn’t want to be the reason her eternal happiness was destroyed. Her eternal happiness, that only ever lasted the afternoon.
    He shook his head. “Yeah, you’re night and day, there is no doubt. I’m kind of glad, though.”
    I looked over at him and sighed. His sandy-colored hair was always styled choppy. I wondered if he styled it or just left it when he got up out of bed. He had a warm smile; the other girls always talked about how hot he was. There was no doubt.
    Beyond his looks, I always loved his kindness. There was something more to him than met the eye, too. Like his eyes held a secret passion. The kind of passion that only the person he loved would understand. He was like a treasure chest. If you were lucky enough to find the key, then you could spend a lifetime enjoying what was inside of it. He was always kind and cool around everyone, but I could see the underlying passionate romantic.
    I noticed he was looking at me. It wasn't that his eyes never left my face, but the intensity of them made me uncomfortable. It made my stomach feel weird, a good weird. I wanted him to move closer. I wanted him to stretch his hand across the grass and take mine.
    I wanted it more than anything in the world. I would have given up food, air or water to have him touch my hand, even in kindness. Okay, I wouldn’t have, but dammit I wanted him to touch me.
    “ You look nice tonight. Finally wearing colors again, huh?” His voice seemed laced with some kind of emotion.
    I looked at him quizzically. “Yeah, how did you notice, I was only wearing black?”
    “ I notice you Aimee, everyday.”
    My heart stopped.
    Those were magic words. I squealed with joy in my mind but remained calm, even though I freaked out inside my head. My super-hot sister’s boyfriend was hitting on me.
    I didn’t know what to say or do.
    Maybe he was just being nice to me, maybe I was being an over-reactive idiot. His eyes didn’t seem to say kind, they looked more like steamy. I smiled inside enjoying the moment.
    I panicked and looked away from him, pretending to look back up at the stars. I made myself remember Alise had already been there and polluted that. It wasn’t that I truly cared, but I needed an excuse to not like him. Whether I hated Alise or not, I wasn’t going to steal my sister’s boyfriend.
    I struggled in the silence, not sure what to say. I tried to relax.
    "I noticed you were different tonight, right away."
    I gulped again. "Alise got a hold of me. She's against black, unless it’s a cocktail dress or lingerie. She was savage about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but I would never date anyone that abusive. I guess guys tolerate a lot more than girls do, though.”
    He sounded lost in his thoughts. “Yeah, otherwise the world would stop going 'round.”
    "I guess."
    We sat in silence staring at the stars for a long time. He was my kind of company.
    “ So Blake isn’t the one for you, huh?” he asked again, but