Southern Hospitality

11

Dinner

They went to a local pizza place for dinner.

Since Derek knew the area better than her and could actually drive, he drove Chloe.

"E-everyone's staring," she whispered in surprise as he helped her out of the car and with a glance around, he saw she was right. People in the small town always seemed to be on edge whenever he came in but mostly he ignored it.

"They've always been afraid of me," he muttered, closing the truck door gently.

Her blonde brows drew together. She looked adorable, sucking in her lower lip and her eyes turned down to watch her feet. "It's not right," she said abruptly. "What have you done to make them treat you this way?" A fire gleamed in her baby blues and he shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. I'm big enough and scary enough that rumors fly without me having to do anything," he answered flatly.

Chloe hopped up onto the sidewalk and shook her head. "Still," she tried to push on but he just gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and blew out a sigh.

His body was thrumming with energy, hyper-aware of her presence, her hair tickling his arm, her sweet floral perfume invading his lungs, her quiet voice murmuring nonstop chatter, her body heat against his side.

When he looked in the window as they passed a bakery, he thought they looked like a couple. She looked beautiful, her curls gleaming like spun gold, her lips moving; he looked dangerous, his hair blacker than a crow's feather, his mouth set a thin line.

They looked like they didn't belong together at all.

The restaurant was mildly busy and he immediately spotted Ramon flagging them down, a smile lighting up his normally sallow face. "Hello," he said pleasantly with another smile, shaking Derek's hand like he was Chloe's father.

Beside Ramon was a dark-haired boy with long eyelashes and freckles all over his face. "I'm Peter. I've heard so much about you from Ramon. What was it like to birth the foals with Derek? None of us can believe you two are together. Well, I kind of can, but you know. I never thought you'd actually…" He voice trailed off as Derek zoned out.

"We aren't," Derek snapped, ignoring the hurt look Chloe shot him. Chloe would never date a monster like you, he told himself.

The entrees were huge and Chloe didn't eat even half of hers, going wide-eyed when she saw the boys calmly eat theirs in one sitting. "Want mine?" she asked, nudging Derek in the side.

He shrugged. "Take it in a box," he said, taking a long sip.

"I have to pee," Peter announced and stood, taking Chloe's pink elbow in his tan hand. "You're coming with." Peter had a glint in his eyes that Derek didn't really care for but if Chloe didn't seem threatened, he didn't see the need to point it out.

He watched them leave, elbow in elbow, Peter tall and broad and tan, Chloe short and thin and pale, heads bent together as they spoke about God knew what. He sighed heavily.

"She does, you know," Ramon said suddenly, pulling Derek's attention away from the way Chloe's tights accented her thighs.

"What?" he barked out and several heads turned their way. Scowling, he took a sip of soda.

"She likes you. More than you know." Ramon's easy going smile was gentle and had a certain wise quality about it that made Derek want to believe him. But, still, his doubt won out in the end.

"No, she doesn't. Remember? I'm the town's local bastard. Girls don't like guys like me," he sneered, ignoring Ramon's eyes staring passed him.

"Some girls like 'guys like you'."

He twisted around and his heart skipped a beat to see Chloe standing behind him, her lips pursed as she squinted up at him. "I don't think you're a bastard," she continued, her voice firm as she stepped closer and closer. Her blue eyes looked like oceans. "And I do like you." She suddenly smiled. "So doubt me all you want, Derek."

"Who's paying? I forgot my wallet at home." Peter's soft, demure voice drifted from behind them.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Derek asked tightly, fighting to keep his voice level as his irritation spiked to anger.

Peter's blinked his lynx eyes at Derek, confusion written across his face. In the lynx eyes, he saw truth. "What are you talking about?"

Derek turned back to Chloe and his heart nearly exploded when she wrapped both arms around him in a hug.

People around them gasped, whispered.

Ramon let out a snort.

Peter giggled.

Chloe was flushed in the face when she pulled away. "So," she said abruptly, wide-eyed as she fixed her hair, "do you believe me?"

He glanced down at the table, then at her, then at the table again, and shook his head. "You're crazy," he told her.

Her face fell.

"But you're the good kind." She was grinning now, her eyes shining like clear blue waters.

As they left, the townspeople whispered behind them. Derek caught a glimpse of Peter and Ramon heading towards the opposite street, to some frozen yogurt place, and smiled.

Chloe walked beside Derek, quiet but a smile on her face. Taking himself by surprise, he reached down for her hand and slid his fingers into hers.

The sun was setting and the sky was a myriad of colors, blue and purple bleeding into each other, pink giving way to red, orange fading into yellow. The sun dipped behind the skyline and all the sky was a clash of beautiful, pastel colors. He glanced down at Chloe and saw the colors reflected in her big, black pupils.

He looked at the store window as they crossed the street and thought, now we look like a couple. For once, they didn't look so utterly unmatched. His mouth stung at the memory of her lips.

In his reflection, he smiled a tiny bit. He swore it was a fluke.