Free Keep Me in the Dark by Karina Ashe

of the strange tension between us.
    He frowns, eyes oddly bright and…heated. “Do you really think I’d do that?”
    “I don’t know, I…” I’m suddenly oddly lightheaded. I’ve never seen David look like that at me.
    “I wouldn’t. I’d never do anything to make you feel bad. I…” he rakes his hand through his hair and looks away again. His cheeks are burning. For some reason, my heart is fluttering. It startles me. I’ve never felt this way before about my friend. Then again, I’ve never seen him act this way.
    “Are you feeling better?” David asks.
    “Yeah. Thank god it’s just water. Dolly would kill me if I stained this.”
    “I wasn’t talking about the shirt,” David whispers.
    I’m breathing heavily. “What do you mean?”
    He sighs. “You really think I wouldn’t notice how sad you’ve been this past week?”
    I almost drop my glass. I will drop it if I hold it much longer, I realize, so I set it down on the floor between us. “I’ve just been…” I don’t know what to tell him, so I trail off.
    “I asked Cassie what was up,” David said.
    I freeze.
    “She wouldn’t tell me.”
    Thank God.
    “But luckily Dolly was there and she did.”
    Shit! What the hell, Dolly?
    “Any guy that hurts you isn’t worth crying over,” David says, his voice low and husky.
    Wait a minute, just how much did Dolly tell him? “It was nothing, it was—”
    “It wasn’t nothing, not if he makes you cry like that.” David sounds angry. I don’t realize that he’s advancing and I’m retreating until I hit a small white table by the woman’s restroom.
    “David,” I whisper. Down below, I hear them cheer. Someone is giving a speech—probably the beneficiary or someone toasting him.
    His chest rises and falls quickly. There’s an intensity in his gaze I’ve never seen before. His hands trail over my wrists. “You should be cherished. You should be told how beautiful you are every day—how much you are wanted.”
    I can’t say anything. He’s close, and I’m noticing the fine sculpt of his cheekbones, the smoothness of his skin, the scent of his pine aftershave. The light hits his face, and I see his beautiful brown, warm eyes. They look straight into me, demanding that I look straight into them.
    His hands slide over mine. His fingers are strong. They’re used to playing the piano, guitar, and violin. His full lips play the clarinet. He becomes a god when he plays. There’s no one like him. And I feel like he’s aware of every little shiver in my body and every muscle tightening as if he’s about to play it.
    “What are you saying?” I can’t believe how breathless I am.
    He swallows—a sign of nervousness—but his eyes don’t leave mine and his grip tightens. He doesn’t back down even though he’s afraid. “That if you were mine, I would tell you every day of your life, as often as I could, that I wanted you. That you are beautiful. That I love you.”
    My eyes feel dry. My throat so tight. “I can’t do this, David.”
    “Can’t do what?”
    I don’t know what I can’t do all of a sudden. Even though I’m so afraid I can’t stop looking at him. He’s pinned me with his gaze. “I can’t do this,” I whisper, somehow. “I love him.”
    Something briefly flickers across his eyes. I’ve hurt him. I can tell by how his hands briefly tighten even more over my wists. “But he hurts you, Laura. He won’t let you in. He doesn’t support you. He won’t even let you look at his face.”
    My cheeks are hot. I can’t believe Dolly told him that much. It is so embarrassing that I gave myself to someone who won’t even…I shut my eyes. God, I don’t even want to think of it.
    “I have to go,” I say, but David doesn’t let go and I don’t try to free myself.
    “Look at me,” he says. It’s a demand. David has never demanded anything from me.
    I shut my eyes tighter. “I don’t think—”
    “Laura, look at me.”
    I do. And his eyes are warm and brown.