This boundless energy inside me won’t be contained much longer. I’ll start bouncing off the walls any second now. I feel like a completely different person. As if I’ve walked around in a fog for the last twenty-seven years and I’m finally awake for the first time. The colors are more vibrant, the scents more aromatic, and the sounds are clear as a bell.
Of course, it could also have everything to do with all the nerve endings in my body firing simultaneously when Hot Rod and I took an impromptu dip in the water under the cascading falls. The way his hands slid across my wet skin. His lips on mine. How he stared at me when he didn’t know I’d seen him from the corner of my eye.
How we were on the verge of tearing off our clothes and going at it right there on the slick rocks, but a tour group interrupted us a split second before the full moon came out. I’m glad they showed up when they did and brought me out of my Rod-induced haze. I never allow passion to carry me too far away from logic, but in that moment, I was a goner. Tracy would’ve been happy, had I gone through with it, but I know myself better than that—I would’ve walked away with an enormous amount of guilt.
Staying true to myself is painful sometimes.
“Are you going to the costume party tonight?” I can’t help but bounce on the balls of my feet to expend the bundle of energy in my chest.
“Um, yeah, sure. I’ll be there. Are you going?” His expression immediately changes from playful and happy to doubtful.
“Yes, I wouldn’t miss it. The last one was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see all the costumes at the party tonight. The club is so much fun. You already know I love to dance, and that DJ plays the best music. It’ll be a long night, but it’ll be worth it.”
“Maybe I’ll see you up there then. Just so you know, I’m not going to the formal dining room, but I’ll find you in the club later. What are you wearing?” He folds his arms across his body and doesn’t smile.
Complete change in his demeanor. He went from red hot to ice cold in less than a second.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be a genie tonight.” I turn and watch him step out of the elevator, waiting for him to confirm his costume.
“Okay, I’ll see you later then.” The doors close and he’s gone. He’s not even walking me to my room this time. He always makes sure I get there safely and no one is hiding inside.
At first, I’m hurt and insulted by his sudden personality change, but then it dawns on me. I lean back against the wall and smile to myself. He doesn’t realize I know, and have known the entire time, that he is Captain America. He was fine until I mentioned the costumes, then he became sullen. He thinks I’m going up there to meet some other guy, and he doesn’t like it.
I can’t simply sit on this information.
This is too good not to use against him in every way imaginable.
He hasn’t been Mr. Forthcoming himself, hiding behind his mask and pretending to be someone else while he danced with me and kissed my cheek. Tonight, I’ll push that fact as far as I can before he snaps and rips that helmet off his head. Then I’ll smile to let him know I have played the player. I’m amused that he thought I wouldn’t recognize him by sight or sensation. There’s no way I could mistake him. My heart does that little pitter-patter only when he’s around.
He asked for a first impression do over, but I refused to allow it. His overt attempts to talk to me as someone else were endearing. For whatever reason, he cared enough to want to change my perception of his character, and I couldn’t resist his earnest attempt. I questioned if he was channeling the persona for the first few minutes, but I quickly realized his true mask was the one he wore every day. The helmet that covered part of his face allowed him to be his genuine self, without fear of judgment or rejection.
I played along, giving him the space he clearly needed. But tonight, we’re not playing games in the dark. We’ll see where we stand in the light when I call him out on the truth.
The elevator door opens on my floor and I stroll to my room, taking my time and letting daydreams about night things flow through my mind. When I open the door, the phone in my room is ringing. I snatch the handset off the cradle just in time before it rolls over to voicemail.
“Hello?”
“I’m so sorry, Daisy. I wasn’t thinking straight. Now that you’ve made it into your room, can you check all the hiding places while I’m on the line so I know you’re safe?” He sounds tortured. He’s beating himself up over nothing.
I suppress a pleased chuckle because this is important to him. “Yes, I can do that. Hold on a minute.”
With the handset lying on the table, I move around the room, call out where I am at each stop, and relay there’s no one there except me. “Everything’s okay. I’m here all alone. No monsters hiding in the closets or behind the doors.”
“That’s a relief. I was about to call the hotel’s security officers to meet you at your door.”
“I think that would’ve scared me more than helped me, Rod. I’m perfectly safe. No need to worry. I’m already aware of my surroundings at all times, even without you here as my private security detail.”
“It just helps me to know for sure. I’m jumping in the shower now, but I’ll see you soon.”
We disconnect, and I nab the shower for myself while Tracy is still out with
