DARIAN POV

A rush of adrenaline ran through my veins that I had never felt before. I almost felt high and I didn’t want it to end. Who knew being up on stage was something I’d actually like?

“You have an amazing voice,” Lizzy said into my ear over the cheering crowd. “I never knew you had a voice like this! Damn, kid!” She leaned up on her tip-toes and kissed me.

I stepped away from her, not at all ready for what she had just done. My eyes immediately scanned the crowd for B but she was no longer sitting with the guys. Had she seen the kiss and ran off? Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Lizzy, I can’t do that.” I stepped farther away and descended the stage steps and back into the crowd. I was heading towards the table but several people kept stopping me to tell me how amazing my voice was, how great I was up there, and how I should be in a band. Right now, I didn’t care about any of that. I need to find B before she overreacts like always.

“Dude, nice job!” Wizard slapped me on the shoulder. “You should try out for our band.”

I momentarily forgot about B as I stared over at Wizard. “Your band? Since when do you guys have a band?”

Cage laughed as he leaned forward. “We’ve had a band for years, brother. We brought you here tonight to see if you’d be a good fit.” He chugged from his beer before glaring at me. “What do you say, Darian? Are you in or are you out?”

A band? I never in a million years thought about joining a band, but what could it hurt? I’d never sung in front of a crowd before and never even thought about singing in public, but I did and I actually liked it.

“Can I think about it? I need to go find my girl. By the way, where did B go?” I shoved his question to the side.

Cage rolled his eyes like I was annoying while he leaned back in his chair and pointed towards the exit.

I ignored him and took off running through the crowd.

After finally making it outside I scanned up and down the sidewalk for B but I didn’t see her. I ran up to the bouncer and asked if he’d seen a blonde in a white sundress run through here. He was a man of few words but pointed in the direction that I could find her.

My feet took me in that direction but she wasn’t anywhere. Damn it! I thought coming to college would be different for us, but she was still clearly overreacting. I love that girl more than anything but sometimes she makes me want to flip out.

When I didn’t find her, I whipped out my phone and tried to call her. It began ringing in my ear but then I heard her ringtone, meaning she was still close by. She declined my call, sending me right to voicemail, just as I turned around the corner of the building and saw her leaning against it. It was clear that she had been crying and my first instinct was to go to her and wrap my arms around her, but something told me I shouldn’t do that right now.

“Hey,” I greeted softly as I stepped closer to her.

Her head whipped up as she stared at me, completely surprised that I was standing here.

“Hi,” she replied dryly before looking away from me again.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I needed some air.” Her answer was clipped and her tone was tight. She was pissed, no doubt.

“Listen, B... I didn’t know Lizzy was into me like that. It’s not like I kissed her back.”

Her head whipped up once again and this time her stare was venomous. “What do you mean? She kissed you?!”

Oops. Maybe she hadn’t seen that kiss and I just screwed myself over. “B, it was a tiny kiss after we sang together. It was nothing.”

She came out of nowhere and punched me in the chest. It almost knocked the wind out of me but I recovered quickly.

“Come on, B, I thought we were past all this high school drama.”

“Well, we might be if you weren’t such an asshole!” She started walking away from me but I wasn’t about to let her.

I ran after her and grabbed her arm and spun her toward me. “Belle, just relax! Can’t we talk about this?!”

“There’s nothing to talk about! You tell me one thing behind closed doors and then do something completely different in public.” She was breathing heavily and I could tell she was seconds away from crying again. “It’s over,” she whispered out. “Go enjoy your freedom, Darian.”

“Are you serious right now?! You’re dumping me again because Lizzy kissed me?! I had no idea she was going to do that!” She kept walking away from me as my anger rose higher and higher. “Annabelle!”

She was being a stubborn little bitch and I had zero patience for it. I ran after her again but instead of grabbing her arm so we could talk about it, I jumped in front of her and hefted her over my shoulder and carried her to my Jeep. She kicked and screamed the whole way but I didn’t care.

“Darian Lee Cooper, put me down. Right. Now!” She screamed out while slapping my lower back and ass.

“Not a chance, hot stuff.” I slapped her ass back making her squeal before I whipped open the passenger door and tossed her in. She tried to get out but I blocked her way.

“Darian, let me out! I don’t want to be with you anymore!”

Her words stung me just a little, but I knew she was speaking out of anger and didn’t actually mean them.

“You don’t want to be with me anymore?! Who else are you going up against the world with?! You say goodbye to me one more time, B, and I’m fucking out of here. I love you and only you. It’s me and you against the world, but right now you’re making me feel like we’re against each other. We’ve fought and broken up more times than I can even remember. This shit ends tonight. Either you don’t want to be with me, or you stick by my side and stop this petty bullshit.” I was out of breath and full of rage. “Pick, B. Right. Now.”

Her eyes searched mine for validation as I glared at her in anger. I was tired of fearing when this girl was going to break up with me over something stupid. I should be worrying about our happiness and our future, not when she was going to dump my ass again.

She crossed her arms over her shoulder and stared straight ahead after pulling her legs into the Jeep. “Take me home, Darian.”

I slammed the passenger door and took a few deep breaths. She was the last person I wanted to freak out on right now but she was really pushing my buttons.

After I jumped in the driver’s seat, I drove us back to campus in silence. Annoyingly deaf silence.