“I guess that’s a yes.”
I hurry to catch up, but Ziggy doesn’t slow until he reaches the road out the front. It’s the only paved road in and out of Wilde’s End and leads to a dirt one that runs through the trees to … who the fuck knows where. I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t explored anywhere outside of the one-street town, eventhough our land extends for miles. Land that Ziggy, Wilde, and who the hell else live on.
“Can you show me around?” I call after him.
He tilts his head, chunks of longish black hair slipping from his headband to fall over his sweet face. He’s pale, with big eyes and the prettiest pink lips I’ve ever seen. Underneath the bottom one, he has snakebite piercings, which are two of the six facial piercings he has. I’ve counted them a few times just to make sure I’m remembering correctly, and I know why Hart’s curious about him.
Because Ziggy makes me so, so curious as well.
I wish I could break him open and sift through everything about him, but I have to trust that if he ever wants to share with me, he will.
For an oversharer like me, patience makes me want to scratch off my skin.
Ziggy leaves me to walk along the side of the house, and when he’s back a moment later, he’s no longer carrying his toolbox. He motions for me to follow him.
“This is cool,” I say, adding extra excitement into my voice so he knows I mean it. “I love exploring, and I’ve wanted to do this for a while now, but I had no idea where to start. At least if I’m with you, I won’t get lost.”
He gives me a sly smile from the corner of his eye.
“Ooh, that looked evil. Don’t you dare run off and leave me.”
His shrug doesn’t fill me with confidence.
“I’m serious!”
He actually laughs, and the sound sweeps over me and strikes me dumb. Just like every time I hear his voice, it’s like I’ve witnessed something special.
And I use every moment I have to try and make it happen again.
CHAPTER
FIVE
ZIGGY
Leave him out here? That would require me not being obsessively addicted to his company. He might as well tell me to stop breathing.
Luckily for Kennedy, Wilde’s End isn’t a hard place to get around, once you know where everything is. We stick to the dirt road as we walk, and while I’m listening to him excitedly point out birds or trees, or whatever else he’s rambling about, I keep sneaking glances his way.
So Kennedy is giving up dating, is he?
Figures that the second my interest in love rattles to consciousness, the person giving it a jump start takes himself off the market indefinitely. It’s one thing to think you don’t have a chance with someone; it’s another to have it confirmed.
I desperately want to ask why. To find out how the man Wilde told me is a romantic has gone from all things hearts and rainbows to swearing off relationships. Only while he’s here, of course. It’s like the universe is really slamming home the reminder that I have no chance with him.
Which brings me to the only conclusion I can draw from that: the universe is an asshole.
I don’t have experience with men, have never been with one, but Kennedy makes me want to try. I’m inhumanly attracted to him, and it’s hard to determine whether it’s his physical features, who he is inside, or a combination of both.
Maybe … just maybe … if I can convince him that I’m worth breaking his no-dating rule for, then?—
Sure. And maybe aliens will show up and take me away.
Proving that I’m worth him starts withactuallybeing worthy of him.
“So where are you taking me?” he asks suddenly. And for someone so in tune with my moods and the way I don’t like to talk, the question surprises me. Until he adds, “To see your freaky doctor?”
It’s the usual yes/no question most people stick to around me. It helps because I don’t have to think about talking, but it occurs to me that it means I never really get the chance.
