Page 49 of Rival Darling
“A fake date.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
I shook my head at him. I still didn’t know what to make of the guy sitting across from me.
“What?” he asked. I must have been staring at him too long.
“I don’t know.” I hesitated, unsure whether I wanted to dive into the apparent dark side of Reed Darling. “I’ve heard a lot of stuff about you is all, and most of it isn’t good. But the few times we’ve met, you’ve gone out of your way to help me. I’m just trying to figure out who is the real Reed Darling.”
He laughed softly to himself and shook his head. “Well, now that we’re dating, maybe I’ll get a chance to show you.”
“True,” I replied. “But it’s just that some of the things I’ve heard are somewhat…concerning.”
“And do you believe everything you’ve heard?”
I didn’t answer straightaway. It felt unlikely that everything I’d heard about Reed was true, but that didn’t mean none of it was, especially given so many people had warned me about him. As I watched him, I got the impression he’d be disappointed if I admitted that.
“I guess not everything,” I said. “But how am I supposed to know what’s true and what’s not?”
“How about this,” he said. “Every date we go on, you can ask me about one of the rumors you’ve heard. I’ll answer you honestly, and if you don’t believe me, I can show you the receipts.”
“Do I get to ask you about one today?”
“I thought this was a planning session, not a date,” he replied.
“I mean, there’s coffee and talking.”
“But no flirting,” he replied. “Because that’s strictly against the rules. I’m not sure any date can really be considered a date without flirting.”
I opened my mouth to object, but he continued.
“And I also don’t think it can be considered a date when there’s zero chance we’ll kiss at the end of it…”
“I kissed you last night. Doesn’t that count?”
Warmth filled his eyes, and the memory of our kiss almost seemed to dance in his gaze. But the look was fleeting, and his smile quickly faded as he composed himself. He sounded more serious as he continued. “You really do want to know all my deep dark secrets, don’t you?”
“I’m just trying to make sure I’m not fake dating a criminal.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded. “Give me a rumor, and I’ll tell you if it’s true or not.”
My eyes dipped to the neck of his sweatshirt. I could see a hint of the scar the girls had been talking about earlier disappearing beneath his collar. Although I was intrigued, I didn’t feel comfortable asking him about it. It felt very personal, and a part of me didn’t want to hear about how he’d broken some poor girl’s heart enough to make her attack him with a deadly weapon. Instead, I decided to go with one of the first things Mia had told me about Reed.
“Did you miss school last year because you had to spend time in juvie?” I asked.
“Juvie?” His jaw seemed to clench a little, but he smiled. “Is that rumor still going around?”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No, I didn’t go to juvie. Last year, my dad had to move my grandma into a nursing home just as my junior year was starting. He needed help getting her settled and for someone to help out at the garage while he took time off. I volunteered, kept up with my classes online, and missed some school as a result.”
“Well, why would people assume you were in juvie?”
“Because I’m a Darling.” He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through it. “Either that or Parker was messing with everyone.”
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting your proof.” He turned the phone to face me and flicked through several pictures of him, Danny, and an elderly lady. A few of the pictures were selfies of the three of them, but there was one particularly cute one where Reed and his grandma were hugging. She was completely dwarfed by his massive size as she looked up at him adoringly.