Darius the Great Deserves Better - Adib Khorram Page 0,45
.”
“It’s like I can’t ever do anything right for you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then what?”
“I mean. Yeah. What you did hurt.” I hated how my voice wobbled. “I was already cleaning up and you just yelled at me in front of everybody. Instead of helping me out or . . . like, doing it yourself. And I’ve been trying to keep up with everyone needing ten things at once, and I barely got any sleep for worrying about my dad, and it’s been a really tough day. Okay?”
I took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.
Landon looked at his feet.
The silence between us hung fragile and tender.
“You’re right,” he whispered at last. “I’m sorry.”
He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears at the corners of my eyes.
“Why are you worried about your dad?”
“He’s having a depressive episode.”
“He is?”
I nodded.
“He’ll be okay.”
“Are you, though? Okay, I mean.”
I shrugged.
“I guess.”
Landon studied me for a second. He reached up and brushed my hair off my forehead.
“You stay here for a little while. All right? Just . . . take a break. And I’ll bring you something to wear. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I really am sorry, Darius.”
He stood on his toes to kiss me on the cheek, and then rested his palm against it.
“It’s okay.”
He unlocked the door, but then he turned around, his cheeks turning pink.
“Just so you know.” He glanced down again. “I really like your underwear.”
My own face went to Red Alert.
And for a second, I wondered what Landon looked like in his underwear.
He gave me a quick, shy grin, and then he closed the door behind him.
Landon came back with an apron and some safety pins, and we pinned my jeans back together as best we could.
He didn’t say anything else about my underwear, but he kept glancing at me as we worked.
Somehow, being with Landon in my underwear, I felt even more naked than I had with Chip in the locker room.
“Thanks,” I said when my jeans were as repaired as they could be.
“No problem.” Landon leaned in and kissed my shoulder, something he’d never done before. It was just a quick peck, but it felt like a lot more than that. “Seems like a shame to get all dressed again, though.”
“Stop,” I said, but my skin broke out in goose bumps.
I had this idea. This image of us making out in the bathroom.
But then the image turned to someone knocking on the door, interrupting us, and getting in trouble (or at least suffering a Level Twelve Embarrassment).
I slid my jeans back on, tied the black apron around my waist, and stuffed my feet back into my still-tied shoes.
I didn’t want to risk bending over: The safety pins could only do so much to reinforce the structural integrity of my jeans.
“I talked to Alexis. She said she’ll switch with you at the tea bar for the rest of your shift.”
I hooked my fingers into Landon’s belt loops and leaned down to kiss him on the shoulder.
It was a good spot to kiss, I decided.
“You’re the best.”
Landon beamed at me.
“I try.”
* * *
When five o’clock finally hit, Mr. Edwards came over and relieved me.
“Good job today, Darius,” he said as he knelt under the counter to hook up another tank of nitro. “There’s something for you by your bag.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
Sure enough, in the cubby with my messenger bag lay a long windowed envelope.
The window just showed a white page, but the envelope wasn’t sealed, so I opened it up.
“Oh,” I said.
It was my first paycheck from Rose City Teas, a little over two hundred dollars after taxes. Not as much as I used to make at Tea Haven, but still. It was money that could help with soccer clothes. Or more underwear, since Landon seemed to like what I was wearing. Or a new pair of jeans.
But I thought about the broken dishwasher at home too.
And Laleh’s depleted college fund. And the school supplies she would need in the gifted program.
I thought about the circles under Mom’s eyes, and how Dad wasn’t bothering to shave anymore.
And I felt really selfish for some reason.
“What’s that?” Landon said.
“My first paycheck.”
He grinned.
“You can set up direct deposit if you like. But Dad likes to give the first check on paper. Says it feels more momentous that way.”
“Cool,” I said.
And it was cool.
But I had this lump in my stomach.
I knew I was supposed to be happy, but all I felt was tired.