DRASTIC (Book 4 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 11: Smart Girls Lie To The Boys They Once Loved

The song is River by Leon Bridges. One of my favorite songs and so perfect of for the end of this chapter...

Marley

Bodie and TJ glare at each other as I glare at them over the hood of the car. 

"Nothing. Just catching up," Bodie says. He picks up a leather duffel bag he had dropped at his feet, jerks open the passenger door and tosses it in the back as he collapses inside.

I give TJ an imploring look over the hood of the car.  TJ explains, "He knows about Darius. He knows Daemon is his father. It's all good." TJ's expression is unreadable because he's still angry at me. I just nod mutely and TJ turns away, going back inside.

I slide into the car and grip the steering wheel, almost afraid to look at Bodie.

"What's his name?" he asks calmly, wrapping the bloody cloth around his hand again.

"Darius," I say.

"His birthday?"

I swallow, in order to force the answer out. "November 7th." I put the car in drive and I pull to the edge of the parking lot, but I don't enter the street. I know this conversation isn't finished.

He's silent a very long time. I'm sure he's counting backwards, trying to piece it together. I  wonder if he remembers the date of the one time we were together. I will never forget it. Valentine's Day. I looked at it so many times on a calendar, when I was pregnant.

February 14th. The day I'm sure my son was conceived. The only time in my life I have ever been with two men on the same day.

My best day. My worst day. A day of shame and a day that gave me the greatest gift of my life.

"You're sure?" he asks.

"There was a paternity test," I say, my voice low. "Daemon is Darius' father."

He looks over at me, and his glance is cutting. "I'm not talking about a piece of paper. I'm asking you—when you look at your son, you see his father in him? You can look Daemon in the eye and know that you are telling him the truth, when you tell him Darius is his son?"

Fear creeps all over my skin.

Something undefinable.

Something foreboding.

"What are you saying, Bodie?" I whisper. "Why were you and TJ arguing?"

"Does the boy look like his father?" Bodie's words are low but emphatic.

My heart is pounding. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Just answer my goddamn question." Bodie voice is almost a snarl now, and he looks more angry than I would have thought possible.

We stare at each other. I know what he's asking me.

Suddenly, I gasp for air, because I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. "Darius is...darker than me. Darker than you. Not as dark as Daemon, but that doesn't mean much, does it? Considering my skin color? His features are strong, but not like...either of you. I try not to dwell on his looks, but the truth is...I figure he looks like his grandfather. The man he nor I will never know. The man that raped my biological mother."

Bodie's angry expression melts away. "Fuck," he mutters. He reaches for my hand and kisses it. I try not to think about the thrill that travels up my arm and across my chest, straight to my heart.

"I'm sorry, Marley," he says softly. "I don't mean to make you relive shit you put to rest a long time ago. I just have to know. That you are sure, in your heart, who Darius' father is."