Til Kingdom Come [Harry Styles- Bk 4]

ch.67 My respect

For the next few weeks, Harry's hand seemed glued to a can or glass of some sort of alcohol. He became lazier about going to work and harder on Des' wrestling. He made Des work out nearly every night, running laps, lifting twice his weight. It was too much and it was scary. Harry was scaring the hell out of me.

All the while, Darcy and Richie grew stronger. Richie drove Darcy home every day or if she went to his house, she was smart enough to come home before midnight so Harry didn't have any suspicions. 

Sure, it bothered me that Nick was Richard's dad. It just caused memories of Liam to come back and I didn't want to think about Liam because it made me feel guilty and nervous. But, even more importantly, how did I not know that Nick was Richie's dad? Darcy and Richie were friends back in grade school, but they never had playdates and Nick wasn't the type of man to go to PTA meetings, so there was no chance of meeting him then.

I shook my head. I'm not going to ruin Darcy's relationship because of my own insecurities. Richie was a gentleman. I probably shouldn't have spied on the two of them, but they started this little make-out regime that cleverly spanned the time Harry was training Des. Richie would bring Darcy home and they'd kiss in the backseat of his truck. Then he'd carry her to the backyard and they'd kiss in the garden, hiding behind the trees and bushes.

I knew they hadn't gotten that serious yet because Darcy would have told me... That's probably not the smartest thing to assume as a mother, since kids lie all the time, but Darcy and I are close. Plus, I would know if she had done anything serious because it would be written all over her face. She'd be jumpy and blushing and all that post v-card loss excitement and paranoia. I personally didn't get that since Harry was nearly killed, just hours after we first slept together.

And Harry was strict with Richie and made sure to question his brains out so as to scare the poor kid. I went outside to check on the flowers...and Darcy and Riche-- if they were in the garden. I stood far away, casually watering the flowers by the porch, away from the two of them.

"Baby," Richard whispered. I could see the silhouette of his figure, leaning on top of Darcy. He kissed her neck while she twirled her fingers in his hair, tugging whenever his lips trailed lower on her neck.

They rested against a tall tree, making sure that their shadows lined up. Richard's lips pressed to the peak of Darcy's bra. His hands gripped her hips and she  wrapped her legs around him--but they were fully clothed, just cuddling a little too intimately. Darcy's cut-off jean shorts showed off most of her tanned legs and her boots completed her southern belle look. She dressed casually with Richard. She didn't need to impress him with her cheerleading uniform.

"Darc," Richie whispered from nearby. I turned and saw that they Darcy was sitting in Richie's lap. 

"Richie, you'll get into UCLA. I know you will," Darcy nodded, tracing the buttons on Richie's shirt. Richie sighed loudly and tightened his grip around Darcy.

"But it's all the way on the other end of the country, how am I supposed to see you?" he whispered, pushing her hair softly out of her eyes.

Darcy took Richie's sturdy hands in hers and looked into gentle, stone-grey eyes.

"Richard, you're not giving up that scholarship because of me," she told him sternly. 

"Darc-"

"If you ruin your future because of me, you're an idiot," she spat tersely. Richard was quiet. Damn, Darcy was quite forward and rude if I do admit so myself. The corner of Richard's lips curled just a tad.

"You're my future," he told her, kissing her hand softly.

Darcy jumped up out of his lap.

"What's wrong?" Richard asked hurriedly.