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“Really?” he quizzed, heavy with sarcasm. “I hadn’t heard.”
I swallowed back nerves as he gulped back some kind of alcohol that had been left on a nearby table for him, accompanied by a note of congratulations that he didn’t read.
He tilted the bottle to me, offering me a drink, and I declined with a headshake, continuing with the mission, Get Remi Clean, thinking I could lead him to the straight and narrow.
The admitted drug issue didn’t alter how I felt about him. All it did was make me want to drum into him that he shouldn’t be taking them. “It’s so dangerous. One bad batch could kill you, and it would devastate…”
“People who’ve never met me?” He took another drink.
His words told me they were the only people he had—no one close. No family. No friends.
Just fans.
“Me…” I trailed off, and he breathed in my omission but stayed quiet. “What about your parents?” I shouldn’t have probed.
“I don’t have parents.”
“Me, either.” My head dipped. Remi didn’t look anywhere near as close to upset as I felt. He didn’t even take another drink to mute or suppress his pain.
“Would you stop the drugs if the right person asked you to?”
Turning his body to me and propping himself in a more comfortable position, he said, “They help with my nerves.”
I didn’t know what to say. I sat silently, staring at his boot, so close to the white couch.
I clutched at straws. “What about drawing? Does that help at all?”
“I like art. It’s a good distraction, but I rarely have time to finish a piece, and once I stop, I never seem to get back to them. I just start over. It’s time-consuming, and I don’t have time, especially before shows.”
My head bobbed, trying to understand. I failed miserably, knowing he had no intention of straying from inhaling that horrible white stuff he seemed so fond of.
“Want one?” He angled the striped paper bag toward me, distracting me, and it crinkled as I selected something red and squishy that resembled a fruit.
Focusing instead on the candy and its overly chewy texture, I said, “These are bad for your teeth.”
“Oh, good God! I’m a lost cause, right?” He laughed.
I struggled to get the overly chewy gummy out of my molars. “Well…I plead the fifth.” I could have said anything else. Something sweeter and more romantic, like if he was lost, I’d find him, but I wasn’t sure what to say to Remi when I’d probably just given him nagging parent vibes, and it was still possible we were about to have sex, and I didn’t even know how to do that.
But I didn’t care.
I focused on the details of his face as he chewed. His muscles worked, a dimple popped in and out on his right cheek, and his lips looked lightly glossed. I attempted to swallow the gummy, which wasn’t as sweet as I’d have liked, and almost choked, saving myself with my tongue at the last minute.
I let the seconds pass silently.
“Where are you from?” he quizzed as he popped another gummy into his mouth.
“Here.”
“Born and raised in this park, got it. I guess that’s how you know how to defend yourself.” He winked, approving of me holding my ground with Sen. He took the bottle to his lips, pausing to add, “Like some wild raccoon.”
“No.” I laughed. “I meant San Fransisco.” I swatted his chest with the back of my hand, nowhere near as hard as Sen’s punches. “Give me another one of those.” I stole a rice paper treat from his stash of candies, popping it into my mouth and letting it dissolve on my tongue.
“That was a boring one.”
“You’ll be surprised.” He winked.
I eyed him. Pink hearts floated around his image that only I could see.
