Part 19 (1/2)
Blackstone's eyes narrowed. ”This isn't about me and Nora. Any reason you tacked on that last sentence?”
Darius made himself take a deep breath. He couldn't afford to get any angrier than he was. ”I don't want to deal with Ariel Summers.”
”Why not?”
”She's obsessed with Darius.”
”So?”
”It won't be good for her. I won't have anything to do with it.”
”So don't tell her about him.” Blackstone stood, went to the downstairs refrigerator, which stood in an alcove near the microwave and shelves full of popcorn, and took out a pale ale from the Rogue Brewery.
As he opened the bottle, he paused. Darius slid down among the sections, not wanting to see Blackstone's face, but the man was so tall his expression was unavoidable.
”You're in love with her,” Blackstone said, with something like awe in his voice. ”That's why you don't want to tell her about Darius. You're in love with her.”
”I don't know her,” Darius mumbled.
”That explains why you run from her, why you won't talk to her.” Blackstone came around the sectional and sat down near Dar. ”The man saved her life. She's going to be obsessed with him until someone or something else gets her interest.”
”And you think that'll be me?” Darius swept his hands down his tiny body.
”Not in those clothes,” Blackstone said.
Darius snorted. ”She falls for a guy who looks like paintings of the angel Gabriel and you think she'll go for me?”
”Why not?”
”Have you ever seen me with a woman?”
Blackstone clutched the bottle, as if he didn't know how to drink from it. His epiphany had apparently interrupted his ritual. ”I've never seen you interested in anyone before. You are usually so rude, you push them away.”
”I was rude,” Darius said.
”And she didn't leave.”
Darius sighed. ”She wants to find out more about Darius. It's not about me at all.”
”Why couldn't it be?” Blackstone asked.
Darius pushed himself upright. ”You handsome guys have no clue, do you?”
Blackstone blinked at him, clearly astonished at Dar's tone.
”It's never about guys like me. We're the villains of the piece. Or we're the comic relief. You see it everywhere. The evil trolls or the cute dwarves--the little men who take care of Snow White and sing 'Hi-ho!' And then, when Prince Charming shows up, we're supposed to step aside because a beautiful woman wouldn't want one of us when she can have you.”
Darius stood and stomped across the cus.h.i.+ons, careful to avoid the cracks between the sections. Blackstone watched from his seat at the edge of the sectional.
”And why wouldn't she want you?” Darius asked. ”Look at you. Exactly what the fairy tale ordered: tall--”
”I can't help that,” Blackstone said.
”Dark.” Darius flicked at a lock of Blackstone's black hair.
Blackstone touched his scalp as if Dar's flick had burned him.
”And handsome. The whole package.” Darius jumped off the couch and landed on the floor. He was shorter standing full height than Blackstone was sitting down. ”You don't have to be smart or brave or funny. Those are just bonuses. All you need to be is pretty and you get the girl, every time.”
”I only got the girl once,” Blackstone said, clutching his unopened beer bottle as if it were his lifeline.
”Really?” Darius crossed his arms. ”Just once?”
”Yeah,” Blackstone said. ”Nora. And, as you so kindly pointed out, that took ten years.”
”Nora,” Darius said with emphasis, ”is your soul mate. I'm talking about all the other women around you.”
”What women?” Blackstone asked. ”I didn't see your Ariel make any pa.s.ses at me.”
”Emma thought you were good enough to kiss.”
”A thousand years ago,” Blackstone said. ”Ten years ago she was throwing dishes at me and begging you to take her out of my life.”
”The next time you go into a crowded room with me,” Darius said, ”watch the women. See how they look at you, then see if they even notice me.”
”They notice you.”
”Sometimes,” Darius said. ”They think we're Mutt and Jeff.”
”You have to update your references. No one remembers that comic strip.” Blackstone retreated into sarcasm and superiority when he was nervous.
”Usually though,” Darius said, ignoring the sarcasm, ”they don't notice me unless I say something rude. Then they look at me as if I'm a bug they want to squash.”
”Most people don't appreciate rudeness,” Blackstone said in that same superior tone.
”Don't you think I know that?” Darius asked. ”When I speak normally, rationally, calmly, they don't hear me at all. I could be talking to myself, although sometimes I even wonder why myself would listen.”
”That's not true,” Blackstone said. ”I've never noticed anyone ignoring you.”
Darius let out an annoyed puff of air. ”Of course not. I'm always rude.”
”Even before you were always rude.”
”You didn't know me then,” Darius said.
”I've been around you when you're not rude. People notice you then.”
”I'm only polite to friends,” Darius said. ”And only when I'm having a bad day.”
”Well, you're not having a bad day today then,” Blackstone said.