Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel (18 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Clover Grill, as usual after
about ten, was packed. They advertise they’re there to make you feel more beautiful than you are, so it would stand to reason people love the place whether they’re drunk or sober. In addition to having a hilarious staff, the food is to-die for - no pun intended, at least not this time.

Halfway through my amazing burger it hit me - although technically this could be called a first date, Theo and I were way past that marker. The man had pulled me from the Mississippi, kept a vigil at my bedside, and helped me face a room full of total strangers. Most guys would be expecting lots and lots of sex before even one of those things happened. Hell, I would be expecting great sex, not just mediocre or even good, before anything along those lines happened.

“So, I take it my story about accidentally burning my mother’s favorite parlor chair when I was fourteen is not nearly as funny as other people have led me to believe.” I blinked, trying to replay the last few minutes of conversation in my mind and failing completely. Sometimes I’m a great multi-tasker, others I’m not. This was obviously one of those times I wasn’t.

“Sorry. Just thinking. Things.”

“Right, things. They’re absolutely horrifying, those things. Especially when all you can really call them is things.” Theo took a bite of his burger, nonchalantly wiping away the juice dripping down his chin. After swallowing, he continued, “I’ve always found that some things, when you ignore them, turn out to be not things at all but merely doo-dads. Which are not nearly as bad as things.”

I stared at him, torn between asking what the hell he meant and laughing. Finally, I shook my head and laughed. “Theo, you have possibly the most interesting way of putting things I’ve heard in a long time. And I’ve heard lots of interesting things.”

“Growing up on the streets and such.” Theo’s eyebrows drew together in concentration and he put his burger down to nab a fry from the basket we shared. “Or did you mean growing up with the nuns? I’ve always wanted to ask Father O’Brien about the sordid escapades of the Catholic Church, but I’m afraid he would damn me to Purgatory just for having the thought.”

My instantaneous laugh had more than one person looking over in our direction. “I don’t think priests can actually damn someone to Purgatory. I think you have to earn that trip all on your own.”

“Good to know. Remind me to actually ask him those questions the next time I see him then.” He went back to his burger, as unconcerned with the ending of whatever conversation we’d been having as he would have been to find out the sky was really blue. Since I wasn’t entirely sure of the point of the conversation we’d been having I willingly let it go.

We ate the rest of the meal in relative silence, with the occasional comment about the Saints, or some new movie playing. Theo picked up the check without any comment, and I sat awkwardly, not sure what to do. We were on a date, but not really, and I wasn’t even a really good dater to begin with, for lack of a better word.

We stood on the sidewalk for a moment while he looked up, then down, Bourbon apparently having some internal debate. Finally, he took my hand and turned us in the direction of Esplanade Avenue. “I promised you dinner and drinks, and I never fail to deliver.” The way he wiggled his eyebrows made me laugh again and I pictured of how the two of us looked. Theo’s dark, tanned and casual in jeans and a button-down look. I stood beside him with my hair down, dress blowing in the breeze - so normal.

He led us to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, one of those places loved by locals and tourists alike. The oldest established bar in the U.S. - how could you not love a place like that? Candles, haunted history and a MegaTouch. It really didn’t get any better, as far as bars went.

I bit my tongue to keep from laughing when he deposited me at a table with a clear view of all the doors and a stern warning to stay put until he got back. I’m not sure if he was really concerned or if Gillian had issued some dire threat before letting him take me outside the house. I stayed put anyway. It took him a few minutes to bring back drinks, but after one sip I deemed it worth the wait.

“If I say good choice, will you be offended?”

“Not really. It takes quite a bit to offend me.” Theo took a sip of what looked like straight whiskey, swirling it around on his tongue before swallowing. “After all, I’m related to Lies and Guile. And Great-grandmother Lisette. Since their tongues could strip the hide off a shark, I’m pretty mellow.”

“I’m trying to not say bad things about the twins, so let’s find a new topic of conversation.” When his eyes began to lighten mischievously, I hastened to add, “No Williams, or Gillian, or magic. Just normal things.”

“Okay. Since we can’t talk about any of those things, I guess we can talk about sex.” His face might have been innocent and his voice straightforward, but unmistakable heat filled his eyes. You could have been blind and able to see the heated way he looked at me.

“There are other normal things to talk about besides sex, Theo.”

“True, but none nearly as interesting. I’m going to guess you never got to play one of the most amusing of drinking games. Never-Have-I-Ever.” Theo still looked innocent, but I he didn’t fool me. “Very fun game. Simple rules.”

“Don’t you usually have to have more than two people to play a drinking game?” I traced the rim of my drink with my finger. It was one of those flirting with danger moments. The man’s eyes were lethal, meant in the best way possible.

“Usually, but since this is more for information than for kicks and giggles, I think two is a good number.” Half done with his drink, Theo raised a hand to signal one of the bargirls over. After she left, he continued, “I mean, it’s better than one. One is the loneliest number of all.”

“Okay, when you break out cheap song lyrics to make a point, I have to cave. It makes me wonder what else you’ll quote unless I agree.” Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest, swinging the leg I had crossed over my knee. “So what are the rules for this game that’s not really a game?”

“Like I said, simple ones. You say something you’ve never done, and if the other person has, they drink. If they haven’t, they don’t.” The bargirl brought our drinks back, and Theo turned a serious face toward me. “It always helps to have a full drink when you start the game.”

“I can imagine,” I answered dryly. “Since I’m the newbie, I get to ask the first question.”

“I was going to say ladies first, but we’ll go with your reasoning. Either way, ask away.” Theo sat back, mimicking my pose. “I’m an open book.”

“Yeah, in what language.” His snort of laughter indicated he’d heard my mutter. I thought for a moment, fingers tapping on my arm. “Alright. Never have I ever kissed a person of the same sex.”

“If you wanted to make sure I wasn’t gay, you could have asked for a demonstration.” Theo didn’t touch his drink. “But it’s good to see you getting into the spirit of the game. My turn. Never have I ever had sex with more than one person at the same time.”

If he was waiting for me to pick up my drink, he’d be waiting for a long time. “That was never something I did, even when times were really desperate. Never have I ever had sex in the same building as a family member.”

“That’s low.” Theo took a sip and smiled. “Although I was getting thirsty. And before you ask, it was in my parent’s house, when I was sixteen. I snuck LoriAnn Manne through my window once.”

“With a name like that, I’m surprised it was even once. Poor girl.”

“Actually, she’s a guy now.” Theo threw back his head and laughed at the expression on my face. “I guess she-he, felt he had to live up to his name.”

“So many crude comments in my head right now, so many.” I shook my head, uncrossing my arms and leaning forward to place them on the table. “Your turn.”

“Alright. Never have I ever had sex with more than one person in a night.”

Nonchalantly, I picked up my drink, and took a long sip. My gaze leveled with his when I answered the unspoken question. “I didn’t enjoy doing it, but everybody had to pull their weight. If that meant more than one turn a night, well, what could you do?”

“How were you able to stop, get off the streets?” Theo’s hand covered mine, squeezing once. A week ago, I would have pulled away. A lot had changed in a week.

“I put in my portion, but I saved the rest. Boosted a couple of cars, took them to chop shops. When I was eighteen, I got a legal job, held it for a little bit.” I smiled ruefully, thinking about the life I’d lived. “I’m not exactly a people person, so working with others on a regular basis for hours on end didn’t really work out for me.”

“So you were on the streets for two years? You always make it seem so much longer.”

“A year on the streets is like seven in the civilized world. I may be younger than you, Theo, but I’m a lot older at the same time.” I took another sip of my drink, not sure of the rules and not really caring. “Although come to think of it, I don’t know how old you are.”

“I’ll be twenty-nine in a few months.” He placed a hand over his heart, striking a pseudo-tragic pose. “Almost thirty, and never been in love.”

“Well, there goes a possible question.”

“Maybe I should clarify. Never have I ever been in love until about five days ago.” His eyes were serious now, the intensity of his emotions darkening the color to almost black. My heart gave a sharp lurch, trying to drop into my stomach. Luckily, my ribcage prevented the fall.

“If I’m not mistaken, I fell on my ass the first time I met you.”

“Which I found charming. No, seriously.” He tightened his hand over mine when I tried to pull away, aware for the first time of just how physically powerful he could be. Williams put all his strength out there simply by standing in a room. Theo kept the possibilities of what he could do under much tighter wraps. “All it took was one look, Jude. One look.”

I opened my mouth, shut it. Opened again, shut again. What the hell could I say? “You have no idea who I am.”

“I know that even though you don’t like people, you’re shouldering the responsibility of a great number of them. You don’t like to see people in pain, and you’ll do almost anything to make it stop. You don’t like crowds or tequila, and you like your burgers with nothing but mayo and salt.”

Theo placed his right hand over my left, forming a circle with our arms on the table. “I know you wear your hair down because you don’t want the trouble of putting it up, but you don’t know what to do with it down, either. You raise your left eyebrow when you’re thinking about a problem, and you tuck your tongue in your cheek right before you say something very smartass.”

He brought our hands together, then raised mine to his face, eyes closing, inhaling deeply. “I know your skin feels like living silk, and you smell like roses and chocolate.” He placed my outstretched hand over his heart, opening those dark, intense eyes. “And I know that short of dying, there’s not a thing in this lifetime or any other that could make me not love you.”

My mouth went dry, and despite the physical impossibilities, my heart fell into my stomach. I had no idea whether I was secretly happy or scared to death. Maybe a little of both. Or a lot of one and a little of another.

“I can probably assume you’re freaking out more than a little. That’s okay. I was more than a little freaked out myself when the thought first hit me, which was sometime while you were eating dinner with the Council that first night.” He let go of my hands and I drew them slowly back across the table. They say when people are acting crazy you don’t make sudden movements around them. Or maybe the sentiment related to wild animals. Either way it seemed like good advice to follow.

“Theo, it’s impossible for you to fall in love with someone you don’t really know all too well in less time than it took God to create the earth. Whether you go the creation route or intelligent design.” I really, really needed to believe my own words. I took another long sip, noticing the plastic cup was almost empty. More alcohol. I really, really, needed more alcohol.

“A week ago you would have said it was impossible for you to throw lightning bolts or astral project.” Theo drained his drink, looking around for the bargirl. Since I needed at least one more round, I hoped he found her fast. “Time is relative. Hell, sometimes reality is relative, since our reality is different from the reality of probably every other person in this room. But what I know, with every ounce of being, is not relative. It’s absolute.”

How do you look in the face of utter certainty and entertain the beginnings of doubt? It’s also apparently impossible to entertain censoring your thoughts, because mine came spilling out of my mouth before I even knew they were there. “Theo, people like you don’t fall in love with people like me. You deserve some Garden District princess whose family wouldn’t even know kids lived on the streets.”

“And what about you, what do you deserve?”

“Nothing. I deserve nothing.” I realized even though I was saying it, I didn’t really want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe no one waited out there for me. I could accept it, but I didn’t want to believe it.

“I don’t believe that. Neither do you.” Theo’s smile lit up his entire face and made you see just how attractive he really was. “You’re just saying it because you’re scared.”

“Scared? Me?” I scoffed, even though I knew he spoke the truth. Screw scared, a step away from flat out terrified described me better. “I play with vampires now, mister. You underestimate me greatly if you believe that.”

“Alright, then. If you’re not scared, you won’t have a problem with me kissing you.” He slid around the table until he sat next to me. He kept his hands above the table, away from my legs, even though my dress rode high enough to expose a decent amount of thigh. Points for him.

“You’re daring me to kiss you? What, are we back in middle school or something?”

“Whatever gets the job done. Besides, think of it as playing spin-the-bottle without actually spinning the bottle and possibly landing on someone like that robust gentlemen over there.”