Page 138 of The Compass Series

STELLA

T he night of the double date, I packed with nerves. Jeff wasn’t making it any easier for me, either, when he arrived at the property.

“Where did you get that car?” I blurted out as Jeff stepped out of a decked-out, extremely out-of-budget BMW. My jaw was pretty much sitting on the sidewalk as I walked over to him and the vehicle that was clearly not his fourteen-year-old Honda.

“I got an upgrade,” he said, tossing his hands in the air in bliss. “Tell me this isn’t dope, and I’ll call you a liar.”

I narrowed my eyes. “But… how? You don’t have money for this kind of thing. And your new DJing equipment…” My mind was spiraling as Damian and Kelsey were inside, finishing up their glasses of wine before heading out to dinner. The two appeared to be getting along so well.

Why did it bother me that they were getting along so well?

I cleared my throat and my mind and focused back on Jeff. “Is that a designer suit, Jeff?”

“I think what you mean is ‘you look ridiculously striking, Jeff,’” he stated, walking over to me. He glanced toward the house and then leaned in and kissed me. Hard. For a freakishly long time.

“What’s gotten into you?” I said, pulling away. He glanced back at the house, and I turned to see Damian looking out the window at us. Damian disappeared, and Jeff shook off his shoulders.

“Nothing, just marking my territory,” he said with a smug look.

“I’m not a tree, and you’re not a dog pissing on me,” I remarked. “Besides, it seems like things are going well between Damian and Kelsey.”

“No shit? Really? She likes him?”

“You seem surprised.”

“I just didn’t know if she was into that kind of guy.”

I laughed. “You said any woman would be into him.”

“Right. Of course, I just mean, from what you’ve told me, he’s a bit cold.”

“He is, but…he can be warm, too, once he gets comfortable. Besides, you’re the one who wanted this to be a double date. Back to the real issue. Where did you get all of this stuff?”

Jeff popped a few mints into his mouth. “I took out a few loans.”

“What?! Jeff, we don’t have the income to pay back loans at this time.”

“Yet,” he added. “I mean, honestly, we’re pretty much already multimillionaires, baby. We might as well start acting like it.”

“That’s a bit premature. Besides, I don’t want the money to change us with materialistic things.”

“Don’t do this, Stella,” he said, lowering his voice.

“Do what?”

“Be a wet blanket. Honestly, we have a lot to celebrate. I’ve been getting more gigs.

You’ve been getting more money. We are on the up and up!

And nothing and nobody is going to dampen our moods—including you.

” He kissed me again, hard and long, which made it clear that Damian must’ve been watching once more.

Jeff wasn’t truly one for kissing often.

He was more reserved in that way than I was.

I was the lovey-dovey one out of the two of us.

“You look cute,” he mentioned.

Cute like a puppy, not mesmerizing like the sea.

Stop comparing them, Stella.

To my surprise, dinner went well. Damian communicated a lot more than I thought he would, and he engaged with Kelsey and Jeff on a remarkable level.

He even laughed a few times, too, which shocked me.

He wasn’t one to release chuckles at all, so when he did, the sound vibrated within my system.

I liked his laugh. I wished he’d done it more.

During the meal, my phone dinged, and I picked it up to turn off the sound but gasped when I saw what was written on the screen. “Oh my goodness!” I screeched, opening the email quickly. “I got in!” I exclaimed, shocked as ever. “I got in!” I said again.

“In what?” Kelsey asked.

“The art show at Mateo’s Gallery. They had a last-minute person drop out, and I was on their waiting list to be a featured artist. Oh my goodness!

” I was freaking out. I couldn’t believe that a dream of mine was coming true.

I was going to have my artwork, my passion, showcased in a gallery in front of hundreds of people.

How did I become so lucky?

“Holy crap, I never thought you’d actually get into one of those,” Jeff said. “Congrats, babe! This is huge!”

I caught a shift in Damian’s expression as he looked at Jeff, then he turned to me, and gentleness returned to his expression. “Well deserved, congratulations, Stella.”

What was that look?

“Thank you. You all must come! I mean, if you want. It’s on a Thursday night, and well, if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to but?—”

“I’ll be there,” Damian and Jeff said in sync.

They shot one another a look.

I doubted the two would become the best of friends in the future based on the night’s tension.

Kelsey joined in afterward, agreeing to come, too.

“Maybe I can be your date, Damian?” Kelsey asked.

Jeff’s brows lowered, but he didn’t say a word. Damian’s lips grimaced, but he agreed with Kelsey.

“Great,” she said, clapping her hands together before resting a hand against Damian’s thigh. That seemed a bit much for a first meeting. Did she really have to put her paws on him?

Stop it, Stella. Look away.

“We need a round of shots to celebrate this!” Jeff said, waving down the server. “My treat.”

“Jeff, no, it’s fine. Honestly.” I grimaced a little, thinking that he’d had one too many drinks already. Plus, he was spending money like it was a free-for-all, which was beyond concerning. “We don’t need more drinks.”

“What’s your problem, huh? I’m trying to celebrate you!” he snapped.

“Then how about you do not speak to her as if she’s a burden,” Damian shot out. His eyes were filled with annoyance at Jeff, and a pit of discomfort hit my stomach. “Besides, you drove here. You probably shouldn’t drink more.”

“Excuse me?” Jeff asked, turning his stare to Damian. “How about you back off? I can speak to my girlfriend however I choose.”

“True. I just don’t see why you’d choose to speak to her in that manner,” Damian said, sitting up straighter. The two men were puffing out their chests as if they were about to go to war for some reason, and thankfully Kelsey stopped it before it could get too intense.

“Let’s raise a glass in the air for Stella and her first art showcase!” she said, holding her wineglass in the air. “May this be the first of many!” she exclaimed.

The men pulled themselves together and un-puffed their chests. They held their glasses up and cheered to me.

Thankfully the moment of uncomfortableness disappeared as we finished our meals with no bloodshed. We drove back to the property, and Kelsey went on her way after exchanging numbers with Damian.

Really? He gave her his number? That was good, I guessed. Right. It was. That was what I wanted to happen. Sure. Of course.

Since it was a Wednesday, I already had my overnight bag packed to go back with Jeff.

“I’ll go inside and grab my bag, then we can go,” I told Jeff.

“Yup, I’ll be here waiting.”

I dashed inside to grab my things and then looked over at Damian, who was standing in the kitchen getting a glass of water.

“Thanks again for coming tonight. It seemed that you and Kelsey were hitting it off. And it seemed that you and Jeff got along for the most part, minus the awkward moments and?—”

“Why are you with him?”

“What?”

“Jeff. Why are you with him? He’s a complete dick for brains, and his ability to give a damn about anyone else outside of himself is ridiculous.”

“That’s not true…”

“It is, and I know you’re smart enough to know it’s true. Does he do that often?” Damian asked.

“Do what?”

“Undermine you and your dreams?”

“Oh. No. I mean, you probably just took his reaction to the news about the showcase the wrong way. Jeff is a realist. He knows that my art isn’t good enough to make a living from, and I can be a bit floaty, and my dream-like mind takes on its own road.

I envision a crazy life where I make my living on my artwork alone, and well, that’s just ridiculous. ”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not good enough.”

“Who told you that you weren’t good enough?”

Where do I start?

I pushed out a smile. “It’s okay, Damian. Not all dreamers get their dreams to come true. Some are sent back to reality.”

He grimaced and returned to filling up his glass of water.

“Okay, well, you have a good night. Thanks again for coming tonight. I know it wasn’t the most comfortable situation.” I began turning to leave yet paused as I heard him begin to speak.

“What if it was Maple?” he asked.

“What?”

“What if Jeff told Maple that her dreams were too unrealistic and she wasn’t talented enough to achieve them? How would that make you feel?”

“I’d be enraged.”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “So do that.”

“Do what?”

“Give yourself the same level of love and protection that you give to people you love. For the record, I’ve seen your artwork.” He walked over to me, standing inches away from my face, and lowered his voice. “You’re more than good enough.”

Words…

They were just simple words, but every time Damian offered them to me, I secretly wanted him to give me more.

He left me standing there stunned, leaving chills racing over my body as my heart tried to calm down from the way Damian made it beat uncontrollably.