“This would go so much faster if I did it on my own.” I argue.
He grabs my cheeks with one hand and puts the other around my waist and pulls me closer.
“Don’t fucking say that. We’re doing this together. Now, behave,” he answers, and then he releases me.
My body freezes.
“Come on, it won’t go any faster if you’re just going to stand there and look like a living question mark.” He adds.
I don’t have any choice. I can’t lose track of him, I don’t know the right way to go and I do not know this city. I have to follow him.
I was dumb for speaking those words, saying I would rather do it on my own without him, eager to get my sister back. It’s not true. I would be terrified if I had to go on my own.
“Ector, can we please just fly together?”
“No, this was the deal and you agreed to it.”
“But...”
“Stop it.”
I let out a loud sigh. I could swear that he’s irritating me on purpose because he thinks it’s funny.
I’m doing this for Esme, I keep reminding myself.
“How was your childhood?” I ask, needing to talk about something deep, to get to know him.
“Good.” He says with a low voice.
I recognize how his body stiffens, and he doesn’t say more than that, he doesn’t continue the conversation.
”Who is your mother and father? Maybe I know them?”
“No you don’t know them. Now, be quiet.”
“Okay, my apologies, I didn’t mean to upset you.” I only wanted to have a genuine conversation with him for once.
“I know, it’s okay. I’m sorry too, for lashing out on you. It’s just hard for me to talk about.”
“Okay.” I don’t pressure him to talk more about it or explain himself, I know it can be hard to discuss specific topics. I’m just confused why he reacted like this when he just said that his childhood was good.
I truly hope he knows that my intention was never to argue.
Chapter 14
Ector
This is not what I wanted. I didn’t desire a love story, but that’s exactly what this is starting to feel like. And even though it makes me feel excited, I know that it’s something I can’t have. I do like Genevieve, and I’ve had an eye on her for a long time but that doesn’t change anything.
It doesn’t change how I’ve felt for my entire life. Like a failure. I didn't save my mother, so I couldn’t trust myself to be in someone else’s presence. What if something happened to them and I failed to protect them as well?
How am I supposed to protect Genevieve when she chooses to have me by her side? Getting too close to me will put her in danger, almost like someone placed a curse on me the moment I was born. Always making sure that something goes wrong.
But I admire her.
When she wants to have those deep conversations, it forces me to confront everything that I’ve been trying to push down for years. She makes every single memory bubble up to the surface and it deeply terrifies me.
I want her to know everything about me, but what if it ends up scaring her away. What if she doesn’t feel safe with me once I tell her?
