Totally insane.
Biting down on my lower lip, I tried to stop the grin from racing across my face so I didn’t look crazy. I lost that battle as I started toward him, wanting to hug him—okay, I actually wanted to kiss him again. And I could do that, right? He’d kissed me and, well, he’d done more than that earlier, and—
“Do we have a moment?” he asked, and my smile slowly slipped from my face as I stopped. There was something… off about his tone. Empty. Cold? And his expression was utterly blank.
The sense of dread from the car ride rose as I swallowed. “Yeah, we have a couple of minutes.”
His gaze flickered over my face before settling on the window. “I just wanted… to make sure we have an understanding between us.”
“An understanding about what?” The dread gave way to a strange buzzing in my ears, adding a surreal element to all of this.
“About us.”
I started to sit down, but found I couldn’t move. “About us?” I repeated dumbly.
Still not looking at me, he nodded. “I know we have shared… intimacies, mostly under extreme circumstances, and we share this attraction.”
Incapable of moving, all I could do was stand there as what felt like a fist reached into my chest and squeezed. That was how I knew what he was about to say. My heart already knew.
“I think you’re incredibly brave, foolishly so at times,” he continued, and a rush of prickly heat crept up the back of my neck. “You’re intelligent and kind, and your beauty rivals that of the sun.”
I sucked in a shaky breath. All of that sounded… sounded wonderful and beautiful and something I felt like I’d been waiting my whole life to hear, but…
I knew where this was going.
“Stop,” I whispered, voice embarrassingly hoarse. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do,” he said, and I closed my eyes against the sudden, unwanted burn. “You are a treasure, Brighton.”
“Okay,” I laughed, the sound coarse to my own ears. “I’m a treasure?”
“You are.” His voice softened.
I opened my eyes and I hated that. Hated how his expression wasn’t void of emotion anymore. It was strained and tense and his gaze was conflicted.
Pressing my lips together, I dragged my hand through my hair as the wind seemed to whoosh out of my lungs.
“I don’t want things to be awkward between us,” he said, and another laugh crawled up my throat.
I turned back to him. “Why would it be awkward,Caden?”
He flinched at the sound of his name. “Because what we had, whatever that was, it wasn’t real. It was an act that… that got out of hand.”
There it was.
He wasn’t beating around the bush anymore, but I didn’t understand. I knew what he was saying, but it didn’t make sense.
“You told me it was real.” I managed to keep my voice steady. “You even called me out when I lied about how I felt. You said you wanted me. You just kissed me. You said you—”
“The physical part was real. How could it not be? You’re beautiful and I’m—”
“And you’re a man, and that’s just how it goes? Really?” My eyes widened. “That’s how you’re going to play this? There was just a physical attraction and that’s all?”
“I’m not playing anything. It’s just the way it is.” Caden turned from me, shoving a hand over his head, through his hair. “It’s the way it needs to be. You’re human and I’m—”
“I know what you are.” My heart pounded in my chest as I folded my arms across my stomach. “I’ve always known what you are.”
“Then you should know,” he said.
