“It’s not wrong to mask.” Fuck knows I’ve done it plenty myself to get through awkward social interactions. “But it’s doing yourself a disservice if you hardly ever take it off.”
“I don’t really know what it’s like not to wear it.” He takes a step toward me. “Who I am without it.” Jinx shrugs, and my heart aches at the simple self-doubt in the gesture. “Maybe I shift my mask to the side sometimes, but I don’t think I’m ever really without it.”
“I know what that feels like.” Days spent suppressing my true thoughts and feelings, holding myself just so to the point that my back ached and my feet throbbed.
Nights in my bedroom staring at the wall, undecided on what to do with my time because it didn’t feel right to fully relax and leave myself vulnerable to criticism.
“But you can learn to let yourself be you,” I assure him. “It takes time, is all. It’s something you need to practice; you can’t just decide to do it on a whim.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing all these years?” He’s close enough to smell now. Leathery, like the store, but different.Warmer. More human. “Learning how to let your true face show?”
Comforting.
“I guess.” I tip my head back and dare myself to look into his eyes as I ask, “Do you still like what you see?”
The basket bumps my legs. Jinx stands close enough that his chest brushes mine with each careful breath he takes. It feels like such a risk to let him in, but at the same time, it feels as though the world doesn’t matter. As though nothing matters in the cocoon of this cramped store but our own thoughts and feelings on the matter.
And all I can think about is that misunderstood boy who’d act the fool to distract the bullies so that I could slip quietly to class.
He never spoke to me. Didn’t need to. His actions said everything I needed to know back then.
But I need those words now. I need to know this isn’t Jinx scratching an itch. Putting a ten-year question to rest.
That if I complicate my life in this way, it’ll be worth the fallout.
“Kyra girl, I’ve liked what I saw from the moment I first laid eyes on you. Not because of your mask, or even what lies below. But because all I ever needed were your eyes and the way you look at me. I don’t care what face you give the world, as long as you never stop looking at me the way you do now.”
Holy air ball.There are no words. Nothing I could say would enrich this moment any more than is needed. I set my hands on his chest, let my fingertips slide down to his belt, and hook them in, tugging him closer.
The basket knocks against the shelves beside us, yet I couldn’t care less. I’ll pay for breakages. Hell, I’d pay for the whole damn store if it just means I get to find out what Jinx plans to do next.
“Are you going to kiss me?” I tease. “Or have you had enough of seeing me happy for one day?”
A cross between a chuckle and a growl slips past his lips. “Thought you’d never ask.”
SEVENTEEN
JINX
She’sthe freedom of an open stretch of road, the promise of a storm on the horizon, and the safety of a campfire all wrapped into one complicated little bundle.
I slowly bend my knees enough to set the basket on the floor and then wrap my arm around her waist. The most adorable little breath of air sucks into her lungs when I tug her close and lift my hand to sweep her soft curls off her cheek.Fuck.Her skin is silk beneath my rough palm, warm and inviting. Kyra leans into the touch, lids heavy as she continues to hold my gaze.
She asked if I was going to kiss her.
I want to do that and then some. But all good things come to those who wait. So, a kiss is all it will have to be for now.
“Jinx.” She breathes my name, the slightest furrow to her brow as though confused why I haven’t made the move yet.
Truth is, I want this sensation to last forever. It’s relief due to her reciprocated feelings. Excitement at what this means for us. Apprehension about how the repercussions will trickle out to those around us. And sheer fucking peace. A sense of absolute rightness that I’m pretty damn sure I have never felt in my life.
“Impatient?” I grin, stroking her soft cheek with my thumb.
“Breathless.”
“Guess we’d better remedy that.”
The tiniest breath escapes her when our lips connect, as though she’s as relieved about this as I am. I palm the side of her face and trace the shape of her kiss with a gentle mouth, tasting, testing, memorizing.
