Julien: Amon requires more time after his… incident.
Sai: So… Kane doesn’t need to babysit, then our girl doesn’t need to go with Kace, right?
Julien: What are you suggesting?
Sai: Mate, you want me to describe the explicit shit I’m imagining?
Kane: No.
I swipe out of the chat and flick through our shared calendar.
Me: I’ve an idea, but Kane will need to test the waters in the morning. Who knows what we’ll be facing tomorrow.
Sai: What? You think we’ll get more pissed off, Red? Oh, sign me UP.
Kane: We’ll speak in the morning.
With a chuckle I’m glad Sai can’t hear, I set my phone on the side table and start undressing, my gaze fixed on that wall, hoping for another chance to feel her.
I thought our conversation was done, Kane usually gave the final words, but a soft vibration says otherwise. I roll my eyes, expecting Sai’s name and some explicit remark.
Jasmine: Sweet dreams, my lord.
My fingers tighten around the phone, heart pounding so fiercely that I’m certain she can hear it through those flimsy walls.
She’ll be the death of us, and we’ll go willingly. Because in that death, she will breathe new life into our weary souls, light up our shadows, steady our chaos, and bind us together in a way we’ve never known.
Sweet dreams, ana mea.
Chapter 15: Jasmine
“And then what?I can’t go to work not knowing how this ended! You can’t do this to me!” Kacey groans, following me around the kitchen. “Or, better yet—” she pulls out a stool and sits. “So, they’re all sitting, and you’re standing there looking all—” She waves a hand over me. “—terrifying, alluring, and—”
I raise a brow, which cuts her short.
“And then you say,‘If you ever lie to me again’...go on, do the rest!”
I smile into my tea, watching her eagerly await the performance I will never deliver.
“Sure,” I say, and she beams at me. “After you tell me why you aren’t seeing Amon today.”
Her smile and shoulders drop.
“Way to ruin the fun,” she mopes, picking up her mug and fiddling with the tea label hanging over the edge.
“Hey.” I place my cup down, pulling out a stool so I can sit in front of her. “I’m trying to be a good friend here, considering you were the best friend I could’ve asked for yesterday.”
That makes her look up, a soft smile returning. “Really?”
“You kiddin’?” I scoff. “The truth serum, the pep talk, searching through the huge pile of gifted clothes?” Her smile widens and her cheeks redden. “So let me return the favour. Let me try and help. What’s the problem?”
She stares down into her mug, her lips falling into a line. “It’s me. I’m the problem. I mean, like we didn’t already know that,” she grumbles—but before I can argue, she continues. “I lost control. One second, I’m fine. We were feeding the phoenixes and then we were… a lot closer and… and I didn’tmind that he was closer. So I started to wonder…” She pauses, and the blush deepens. “What he might feel like…”
I swallow, predicting what she’s about to say.
She looks at me, eyes watering with unshed tears. “I touched him. Just his arm, and…” She shakes her head. “Ilostit, J.”
A tear falls and my chest tightens.
