Chapter Six

“Wait, you know Aycin?” Deagan frowned when she acknowledged his brother by name, sipping on her lemonade she nodded. 

“Yeah, I’m his attorney… Or, was.” she frowned, remembering their last encounter months back

“What does that mean?” he pushed, recalling a conversation he had with his brother about having to find a new lawyer because of an incompetency issue.

“Exactly what I said, we didn’t quite see eye to eye on some things.” His eyes narrowed at her sudden dismissal but chose to let it go, knowing better than to jump to the defence when neither her nor his brother gave him more than a few words on the matter.

“Anyway, my sister Amaya is studying to be a choreographer at the Washington Art Academy. Madelyn, my cousin, was just signed to T.H.E Modelling Agency; she’s looking to become a Victoria Secret Angel .” He spoke of them with so much pride; it became increasingly obvious that he adored each one of his younger siblings.

“That’s wonderful; it’s obvious how proud you are of them.” I noticed and he smiled once again, munching on his fries.

“They’re amazing. What about you, I can’t imagine not having siblings.” His eyebrows furrowed in concern which made her chuckle.

“I’m used to it; my parents never wanted more children so I didn’t have much of a choice. I did have a few good friends growing up, mostly family friends, but that changed as I got older and gained some independence. Believe it or not, I was a rebellious teenager. My parents were the clean-cut, uptight types, while I liked street racing.” His eyebrows shot up in surprise at the mention of her favourite pastime. 

“Wow, who would have thought that one of the best lawyers in the city was once on the wrong side of the law?” he smirked at the irony.

“That’s actually what sparked the thought of becoming a lawyer in the first place.” She chuckled, remembering the days she talked her way out of getting arrested. “I was fifteen the first time I snuck out to a street race meet-up and was instantly enchanted. I mean, I’d been around cars pretty much all my life, since my grandfather was a car lover, but that race meet just sealed my fate. When I got my license a few months later, my parents bought me a car which I modified using my own savings. I wanted to race, but the guys weren’t very welcoming to newcomers, especially girls. One night after getting into a big argument with the best racer on the circuit some cops showed up. They would have been arrested, had I not intervened and convinced them that no races had taken place and that they had no grounds to arrest the guys. After that, they let me on the circuit. I dominated the street circuit from that day, till I moved away for college. My street name was ‘Advocate’ and I guess it stuck long enough to become permanent.” she shrugged; a reminiscent smile on her face. 

“That explains a lot. They never found out about it though?” he frowned skeptically.

“Nope! My mother would have had a heart attack; I’d be locked in an abandoned castle tower for eternity.” Her exaggerated eyes amused him.

“Okay, Rapunzel.” He teased, sending her a heated smirk, “Who knew that my girlfriend was a bad girl, that’s sexy.” He rasped huskily and she returned his heated look with one of her own.

“Really? I’d love to meet her sometime.” She challenged.

“So would I.” He countered, catching on to her train of thought, so she smirked and leaned back in her seat, but before she could speak, his large hand engulfed her own and gave it a light squeeze.

“I want to show you something.” He quickly stood from his seat and pulled her up with him, she barely had time to grab her purse before he was dragging her towards the exit.

“Deagan, the cheque!” he waved her off, sending a loud goodbye to the burly man at the counter wearing an off-white apron. 

“Come back soon!” he smiled enthusiastically, waving at them without a hint of reserve.

Deagan pulled open the passenger door for her and ushered her in before rushing to his side. If it weren’t for the vibrant smile on his face, she would have sworn he was running from the cops. She didn’t say a word though, somewhat excited to see his surprise, but she was confused when he pulled up in front of a quaint little hardware store only minutes from the diner.

“Okay, what are we doing here?” she questioned perplexed and as per usual, he responded cryptically.

“Settling an old score.” He winked and she rolled her eyes knowing that it was all she’d get out of him. His stubbornness was one of his finest features. 

The bell above the door tinged as they stepped in, Deagan navigated the store easily making it obvious that he’d been there many times before. Her curiosity only grew when he stopped in front of the spray paint shelf.

“I just want to make you aware, I will not bail you out of jail.” He sent her a mock hurt look, but the mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips told her that there was a lot more to this muscled bodyguard than she knew and she was about to get a live preview.

“Come on bad girl.” He grasped her hand once more, pulling her to the counter, holding an arm full of spray paint. 

Deagan deposited the cans on the counter and reached to pull out his wallet, oblivious to the jaw-dropped teenage girl who was staring at him like he was God’s gift to mankind. Aria could barely hold back her laugh when Deagan frowned at the girl for not charging the purchases, causing her to fumble.

“You’re so mean.” Aria giggled when they exited the store.

“What? She was taking her sweet time.” He shrugged, unconcerned by the discomfort he caused the poor girl. Looking slightly incredulous she slid back into the car and they took off to a destination unknown to Aria.

###

“Woah…” was her first thought as she stared at the massive building, covered from ground to roof in graffiti. “Who did all of this?” she asked in awe as she ran her palms over the faded paint. The artwork looked weathered and seemed to have been done years ago, but the picture was still somewhat visible and from what she could see, it was beautiful. 

“Look over there.” He pointed to the greying strip at the bottom that was littered with mud and debris, as she looked harder she made out initials and after a few moments of searching, her eyes landed on two familiar ones “D.L; A.L”.

“You and Aycin?” she questioned and he nodded.

“It was an old planetarium that closed down many years ago, the building can be seen throughout town, but it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school, that we started this.” He gestured to the array of pictures and phrases that littered brick.

“How did you manage to not get caught, especially since you guys bought paint from the hardware in town?” he chuckled lightly at her rationalism.

“You’re such a lawyer.” He teased, pinching her nose affectionately, much to her annoyance.

“Back then there was an old man running the shop, by the time it reached midday, he was on his second nap so we’d run in, get the paint and leave the money on the counter for him to find. They didn’t see it till almost a year later; we were careful and never painted the face of the building which can be seen from town.” He looked so proud of his endeavours that she couldn’t help, but smile.

“Okay, mind telling me what we’re doing here?” his only reply was to pull out a canister and send her a cryptic look before he started spraying a piece of naked brick. 

Conversation flowed freely as he worked, after a few minutes of trying hard to decipher what he was drawing, she gave up and instead focussed on how his muscles moved and the stories he told.  

It didn’t take long before he turned and held out a canister towards her, it was then that she realised what he was painting; a gasp escaped her when she registered the words.

“Aria… Be mine?”