Chapter 4
It was five o'clock by the time Misty came back out of the room. He had heard her talking on the phone and from the sound of it, it had been one of her sisters. She seemed angry and dismissive to him.
She had fixed her hair beautifully in the back, leaving most of it down but tying to sides up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were outlined in smoky black eyeliner, with a hint of dark eye shadow and she had found a skirt that accentuated her hips.
Brock's throat went dry and he tried to swallow. "Misty, you're…still my date right?" His eyes scanned her as she walked towards him.
Shaking her head, she stood close to him. "I think it's best we go to this festival alone tonight." She told him, studying his face and where his gaze was. It certainly wasn't on her face and that's what she wanted. "That way you can flirt with any girl you want and I can find a nice gentleman to spend the evening with."
He folded his arms and regarded her confidently. It was clear by her demeanor that she was doing this out of spite. Strutting around in front of him like this was not her style, she was clearly jealous over Holly.
"Alright, I know what this is about." Brock trapped the entrance of the living room, preventing her from leaving the conversation. "You're mad because you think I was flirting with her."
"Think?" She questioned in disbelief. "I saw you!"
"And? What's your deal?" He relaxed against the doorframe, stuffing one hand into the pocket of jeans and fiddled with the lose change nervously. "Why are you so jealous?"
That caught her off guard and she looked away, embarrassed by her obvious display of emotions. "I'm not jealous! It's just…I don't like it when you flirt with other women. You know that…"
"Oh, I'm well aware of that." He laughed and shook his head. "That's called jealousy, by the way."
Scowling, she turned away from him, folding her arms and trying to ignore the anger he was invoking in her. "You want me to be jealous, but I'm not. In fact, I don't care who Holly is for that matter."
"So," He walked slowly towards her, steeping into her view. "you wouldn't care if I told you she was an old girlfriend of mine?"
Misty looked up from his shoes to his face, quite surprised by his confession. "She is? So, you've been to this town before, right?"
"Yes." He confirmed hesitantly. "This was kind of our vacation spot when I was younger. Last time I was here was when I came back from Ivy's. I spent a few days here and met Holly. She really wasn't as much of a girlfriend as she was a one-night stand." He admitted shamefully, he clearly wasn't proud of it, but Misty was still angry.
"You have no moral value, do you?" She rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "And, so, what? You bring me here to see how far you could get with me? Is that what you've been doing this whole time?
He was speechless, not sure of how to answer it. Maybe that had been his intentions at first, a bet with Ash, but somehow all of that didn't seem to matter anymore.
"Well, not exactly…" He answered, but she dismissed him.
"Save me your explanation, Brock!" Cutting him off, she stomped back into the bedroom, ignoring the dull ache in her ankle. With a deafening slam of the door, she locked the door with a loud click, telling him he wasn't welcomed and she was certainly not going with him to festival.
She'd be attending by herself.
The festival wasn't hard to find. Though, she would have probably found it much easier if she would have been with Brock, but she had left long before he was ready. She didn't care about the other couples she saw milling around between the funnel cake stands and drink vendors, hand in hand.
Of course, it would have been nice to be with someone. Misty felt lost in the vast amount of people and she just wished she had his hand to grab onto like she always did when she felt lost or overwhelmed.
She found a bench located near the edge of the festival, underneath colorful lights and banners. The entire park was buzzing with bells ringing from games and music from some distant source misty couldn't see. She started to feel bad for the way she had treated Brock. He was trying to explain and she didn't give him the chance, but then again, if he only brought her here to play games with her, she didn't feel bad for walking out on him.
Misty stared down at her feet, realizing she still had the bandage on her foot. The same one he had put on earlier that morning before he made his intentions known again. He kept flirting with her and she wasn't even sure if he was aware he was making her fall in love with him. Even more than she was to begin with.
"What's a pretty girl like you looking so sad and alone for on this beautiful night?" The sound of an unfamiliar male voice brought her out of her thoughts. Immediately, she felt his eyes on her. They were crystal blue against lightly tanned skin. His hair was a sandy blond, neatly combed and parted to the side.
His smile revealed a row of perfect teeth. "Name's Danny." He offered his hand.
"I'm Misty." She replied, taking his hand. He helped her off the bench seat.
"That's a very beautiful name." Danny replied with a smile, leading her into the crowd of people. Now it wasn't so bad that she was with someone, even if she wasn't with the guy she really wanted to be with.
"Thanks." She said, shyly.
"You're not waiting on anyone are you?" He asked, curiously. "I'd really hate to have stolen away some guy's girlfriend and he comes and knocks me out." He chuckled lightheartedly and Misty smiled.
"Well, no, not exactly." She replied, looking around for Brock, wondering exactly what his reaction would be if he saw her on the arm of this gorgeous blond. "I came here alone. I'm staying in a cabin on the edge of town with…a friend of mine."
"Ah. So, you're from out of town." Danny concluded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. It was a bit unexpected, but Misty tried her best to relax. "Well, maybe I can show you around and you can pay me back by simply being my date tonight."
The night was cool and Danny had offered her his jacket that she wrapped around her shoulders thankfully. There were fireworks in the sky, the smoke temporarily clouded over the abundance of visible stars.
She had been at this festival for almost two hours and still hadn't seen Brock. Maybe he hadn't come. Maybe he was angry at her for taking off the way she did. But the Brock she knew would have at least come looking for her by now.
Danny had found an area away from the large crowd of people. He spread out a blanket in the patch of grass just outside the festival grounds. Misty tried her best to get Brock out of her mind, but he was all she could seem to think about.
She felt Danny's arm around her shoulders. A man had never paid this much attention to her before, nor had she been out on an actual date. Sometimes she longed for the normal life of a teenage girl. Boys, dates, proms.
Instead she spent the last five years traveling around with Ash, an immature child who only seemed to care about himself and Brock, the man who she had long ago fallen in love with but who she knew would only break her heart.
Misty concentrated on Danny and no sooner had Brock left her thoughts when she saw him sitting near a funnel cake stand with his ex-girlfriend, Holly. Her anger mounted.
She just watched the two of them. Holly would laugh every once in a while, taking a bite of funnel cake. Brock sat with his arms propped on the table, saying something every so often in which Holly would respond with a giggle.
It made her physically ill.
Brock had warn a dress shirt, without a tie. It made him look distinguished and even more handsome, which Misty was sure had been next to impossible.
"You alright?" Danny asked her when he saw her sour reaction to something off in the distance.
"No, I'm not." She responded, sounding rather depressed. This was his plan all along. He came here to Rowland Village just to take Holly to this silly festival and he just dragged her along for the ride and a few thrills. "My friend is here…with someone else."
Danny looked in the direction she was staring and he finally locked eyes with Brock. Holly still rambled on, but he had tuned her out. The only coherent thought in his mind was Misty was with another man, not him.
She really had gotten angry with him and not the usual type of angry. This time he had done it and seeing him here with Holly wasn't making things any better between them. Eventually, Holly had caught on to the absence of his attention.
"Brock? Are you there?" She asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
He looked over at Holly who was smiling at him with that same sparkle in her eye she had for him all those years ago when he met her at this very same festival. Her attraction to him hadn't faded at all, in fact it had probably intensified considering they were both older and more experienced.
"Yea, I'm sorry. I'm a little tired." He lied, taking one quick glance over at Misty and her blond-haired date. Jealousy wasn't something Brock ever really experienced before. When he was rejected before, he laughed it off, but this was a whole new feeling for him.
"Well, we could go back to my place." Holly suggested, taking one of his hands into both of hers. "I always thought of this day as kind of our anniversary." She stood up and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck and breathing into his ear.
It had caught him off guard and his voice faltered. "Uhm, well…"
"My ex and I broke up because I refused to sleep with him on this day. I told him it was our special night and left me." She whispered sensually. "It's been so long since we've been together and no other man can fill this hunger I have inside for you."
"Holly," He nudged her off his shoulders and shook his head. "I can't. I'm here for Misty and only Misty."
"She doesn't seem to be here for you."
Of course, that's what it looked like and even he was having a hard time convincing himself that she was in love with him like he had assumed before. But seeing her leaning her head on his shoulders, staring up at the stars with this new guy made him doubt his earlier assumptions.
"She is." Brock assured her, trying to sound more confident in his answer than he actually was. "She just doesn't know it yet."
Holly looked down at feet as she sat back down in her seat at the table. "You never brought me to your special place. Your family's cabin. That's why you brought her here isn't it?"
"Yes." He responded, looking away from her. He knew he had broken her heart. Not just once, but twice. The morning after he had slept with her in that hotel room he had told her he couldn't stay with her because he was in love with someone else.
Now he was telling her she just wasn't good enough to be the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
"She's a lucky girl." Holly said with a forced smile and a blush. Her voice quivered with tears and she stood up.
"Where are you going?" He asked, not so surprised that she was leaving. He didn't blame her.
"I'm going back home. I know very clearly how you feel and I know there is no chance for us."
Brock looked up at her, she was staring down at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm-I'm sorry." He apologized hesitantly, but she just shook her head.
Without looking back at him, she walked away, disappearing into the crowds of people.
Sighing, he saw that Misty and Danny were no longer sitting in their spot. The blanket had been left, but they were gone. Worry settled over him. Neither one of them knew this guy and Misty was a beautiful girl.
Brock was a man and he knew what must have been on his mind. Misty was feeling vulnerable, her feelings were probably hurt and she was an easy target for a guy like him. He stood up from the table and pushed his way through the crowd.
He knew he had to find her, even if it took him all night.
Danny had led her away from the seemingly unbearable sight of Brock and Holly's apparent flirting. It only seemed to depress her and she went with him without hesitation. Without thinking.
Misty felt relieved. She had met a perfectly nice guy who couldn't stop smiling at her, so she tried not to care much about what Brock was doing with Holly. She knew he had been with her once before on a sleazy one-night stand and the thought of that enraged her jealousy once again.
Brock was an incredible lover. She could tell just by the way he kissed her and touched her. The way he had coaxed her body and mind into giving into him by simply touching her with those hands of his.
Now, she could only imagine what it would be like to make love to him. She yearned for it so deeply that it ached, but she refused to be his one night stand. No matter how good-looking or charming he was.
Danny, however, was being a perfect gentlemen.
She was captivated by his eyes, distracting her from her usual stargazing. More fireworks were being set off, exploding in the sky in blooms of pink, purple, blue and red. He smiled at her again, squeezing her hand and placing it to his chest.
"I think that other guy is insane if he'd rather waste this beautiful evening on her, rather than you." Danny kissed the back of it and Misty smiled, blushing quite obviously. "He doesn't know what he's got does he?"
Shaking her head, she agreed. They became awkwardly silent and Misty looked anywhere but his gaze. She pretended to pay attention to the fireworks but she could feel Danny's eyes on her, studying her every move.
Without a word, he pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers without warning.
Her eyes flew open and she didn't move. His hands captured the sides of her face and she was unable to pull away. She felt her back being pressed against the cold, rusted metal of a dumpster and panic rushed through her.
Placing her hands on his chest, she tried to push him away, but she was looking balance on her feet. Just the fight to stand upright in the muddy ground was sending pain through her sprained ankle, and fortunately he faltered to.
"Danny, stop. I don't want to kiss you…" Misty pleaded and had just a few seconds to peer over his shoulder for any sign of Brock. There was none and she became frightened.
Ignoring her pleas, Danny kissed her again, this time running his hands up her skirt. Instead of the tingling warm feeling she had gotten with Brock, she felt dirty and unclean in the wake of his touches.
Tears spilled down her cheeks and she regretted everything she had said to Brock, even feeling angry when she had seen him flirting with Holly.
Then, just as quickly as it had started, Danny pulled back. Or more like he was being pulled back by someone else.
Dazed, Misty was jarred out of her shocked state when Danny was thrown to ground after what sounded like an extremely painful impact with his jaw. Brock stood above him, fists clenched and an unbelievably angry look etched on his face.
Bleeding profusely from his nose, the blond haired man looked up at him, though his sight was blurry and he knew he couldn't hope to even stand after that. His head was still spinning.
"What was that for?"
"Does it make you feel like a man? Trying to force yourself on a woman like that?" Brock stared down at him, daring to drag himself up off the ground. Misty just stayed backed near the dumpster, despite the awful smell that radiated from it.
Danny wiped his nose and sat up, wiping the blood from his nostrils as it caked around is upper lip. "Why is it any of your business what I do with her? I thought you were with that other girl."
"I suggest you leave before I lose my temper even more and do far worse than break your nose."
Forcing himself to his feet, Danny put his hands up and stumbled backwards clumsily. Brock watched him until he was a safe distance away from Misty and before she had time to argue, he grabbed her hand and dragged her back into the festival.
"Brock, you're walking to fast…" She called out, noticing that other people were staring at them as she dragged her along. Her feet were barely able to keep up and the pain in her ankle had only worsened.
When they reached the entrance, he finally stopped and turned around to face her. Misty could tell he was angry, clearly upset at her for taking off like that without him; but something else was in his eyes.
Gratefulness.
He was grateful nothing had happened to her. It could have been far worse and he knew that. He knew she knew it and after a long moment any anger he had just faded.
"Let's call it a night." His voice was soft and inviting.
Misty agreed, wanting to get as far away from this place as possible. She knew they were in for some kind of talk, or argument once they got back to the cabin and she wondered what the night ahead had in store for her.
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