I’m genuinely concerned about burning him. He has to feel the physical heat radiating off me, yet he’s obliviously superglued to my back. A slight temperature rise I could excuse away easily enough. Some people just run hot. Not this level, though. This is the kind of hot that has you reflexively dropping whatever you’re holding. Only, Derry is blissfully unaware of the danger.

Regardless of his weirdly industrial-strength oven gloves, I don’t want to keep lying to him. I can’t. How will I tell him the truth? How can he understand when I barely can?

Bright side: Tally does what she excels at and brings everyone’s attention back to her. She looks confident and composed. Still, I sense her internal struggle for how to manage the situation in a way that leaves her status intact. She doesn’t want to be rejected in front of her minions, and she doesn’t realize Barry is waiting to be claimed by her.

“He’s obviously not available,” I answer for her.

While it’s somewhat amusing to see her squirm, I don’t have it in me to obliterate the pedestal she’s placed herself on. I might amuse myself by humiliating her in private, but I wouldn’t do it in front of anyone outside the Keane house. That’s a joy not meant to be shared.

Look at you, Superego coos. You’re a decent human being. You know that, right?

“He looks available to me,” she argues with a pinch more salt than I’m used to directly ingesting. It gets my hackles up. Am I twitchy on Tally’s behalf or my own?

“Clearly, perception isn’t one of your finer qualities, Caitlyn,” I school her. “Are you really that dense? How could you miss the drool trailing down his chin?” To be fair, it’s hard to pay attention to anything except his dancing pecs.

She frowns and looks to Tally for confirmation. “Is he your boyfriend or something?”

For added measure, I use some of the restless fire inside me to strip Tally’s inhibitions. She jerks her head my way for a moment, surprised I’ve interceded, before whipping it back around to address Caitlyn, “For today.”

Caitlyn backs off, placing her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Come on, Caitlyn.” Cassie tugs on her sleeve. “Let’s go find Luke.”

“I do enjoy surfing a white horse wave,” Caitlyn grins. “It was nice to meet you, Barry.”

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“Sorry, Tally,” Cassie says sheepishly. “We didn’t know.”

Tally simply nods as they shove back into the crowd to entertain new ventures.

Barry elbows Tally playfully. “For today, huh?”

She stink-eyes him. “If you want to see tomorrow, make it worth my while.”

Again, Derry laughs, the movement causing the heat to build. I need some fresh air, or I won’t make it to the opening act. Usually, my fire spark takes a restful nap when he’s around. Tonight, that isn’t the case. His proximity is frying my wires. My robot must be temporarily out of order.

“I’ll make it worthwhile,” Barry promises, slapping her soundly on the backside.

She gasps, her eyes widening in feigned shock.

He cocks his head to the side. “Want to help me man my post?”

She lifts a brow. “You need help manning your post?”

“It’s a two-person job.” His pecs nod in agreement. “Can you handle all this action? It’ll probably get crazy. Little thing like you, I don’t want you to break.”

My cheeks heat over the innuendoes, and Derry wraps me tighter in his arms, his chin still pressed into my shoulder.

“I’ll manage.” She flutters her lashes. “It’s you that should be worried.”

He cracks his fist on his rock-solid chest. “Unbreakable.”

“We’ll see.” Tally slides an exploratory hand across his flexed muscles. “The bigger they are, the harder...how does that go again?”

Barry laughs, pulling her to the side of the stage.

I’m left feeling awkward, having witnessed the whole unwholesome display.

You could’ve looked away, Superego tuts unhelpfully.

Guess I’m a creepy peeper now.

Derry spins me around to face him. When the lighting catches his honey-hued eyes just right, they glow gold. He’s glorious. I stand trapped in his hypnotic gaze, forgetting anyone else exists. He hammers my tinder heart in time with the crowd, who are getting impatient for the show to start.

He takes a step forward, and I instinctively tighten my grip on the sleeves of his shirt. He continues at a painfully slow pace until his lips are hovering over mine. Maybe the fire will burn him. Maybe he won’t feel it. Maybe he’ll like it. None of that matters when he bridges our gap. The only thing I feel, the only thing I can focus on, is how his kiss is a healing balm for the burn inside me. He may stoke my fire, but with Derry, I don’t need to contain it. If he’s manning the controls, I’m happy to hand over my shut-off switch.

I’ll tell him the truth. About everything. But first, before I get into the grandiose details of my elemental energy, I need to be honest about something more human. He needs to meet my mother.

The stage lights flash briefly, and two stars appear through a cloud of machine-created smoke. The crowd roars as Kiley grabs the microphone in her tiny hand. Declan has his electric guitar hung ornamentally from his neck. He rolls his shoulders in preparation.

“If I knew we’d draw such a crowd,” Kiley addresses her fans, “I’d have charged admission.”

Their laughter is curbed by the sound of the show starting.

Derry slides in behind me again, and I sigh contentedly. Despite Tally’s warnings not to put all my eggs in one basket, I’ve found my match. It’s come in the way of my seriously hot boyfriend, who effectively tamed my spark with a searing kiss in the crowded Rec Room. A spark stoker, yes, but more importantly, a spark suppressor, so I’m content to let him feed my fire. It is hungry, after all.