“But, Char—”
“Go, Fi, we don’t have a lot of time.” He turns to leave.
“What did you mean when you said that you love me?” The words pour out of me before I have time to think them through. But they’re out there now. I can’t take them back, and neither can he.
He stops dead in his tracks, but he doesn’t turn around. “You know what I meant.” His voice is steady. Calm. Almost too calm.
“I don’t, though.” I want to tell him to look at me, to face me. But I can’t.
Instead, I sway my foot back and forth, brushing the dust-covered ground, and wait for him to respond.
Suddenly, he spins. His gaze connects with mine then drops to my mouth.
“Yes, you do.”
He takes two long strides, and then he’s kissing me.
Lips that have always looked warm and soft, feel cold and hard. I freeze, and he pulls away, putting a small amount of space between us.
His eyes bounce between mine, and then he kisses me again.
I’ve been kissed before. Once, when I was eighteen and had just survived the second trial. Those of us who made it through lost ourselves in celebration, myself included. I watched Char sneak off with a beautiful blonde, and I had no intention of spending the night alone.
So I found a boy I had talked to a handful of times, and I kissed him.
I don’t remember much about that night, only that I fumbled my way through it, passing out from too much drink not long after the kissing began.
Char found me the next morning, still tangled in the other boy’s arms, leading him to make all sorts of assumptions, assumptions I refused to correct because the hypocrisy made me see red.
He was furious, which only made me furious, especially since I knew his night had not been so innocent.
Now, every time I see that boy, he darts in a different direction.
Char’s sharp teeth press down on my bottom lip, the sensation bringing me back to the present.
I open my mouth on a silent breath, and his tongue slides in with a greedy moan.
Tastingme.
Exploringme.
But then, he pulls away again.
His face is still close, his eyes penetrating as he sucks in a shaky breath.
“I’ll meet you at the bridge. Midnight. Don’t be late.”
And then he’s gone.
Chapter 4
Serafina
I have to move. I know I do. But I can’t.
Char kissed me. He loves me. Char, my best friend,kissedme.
I touch my lips with my fingers.
