She leaned back. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”
I looked into those beautiful eyes, remembering how spellbound I was when she first opened them. “Yes, Blue.” She was four when I told her why I called her Blue and everyone else called her Skye. For the next couple of days, she’d strutted around like a peacock, proudly telling anyone she met, why I called her that special name. The memory made me smile.
“Really?” Her laugh was light. “Have you ever fallen in love with someone at first sight.”
“Yes,” my answer was immediate.
“Oh, my God, with who?”
You, sat on the tip of my tongue. “Someone I can’t have,” I said instead, my heart deflating, my grip tightening around her waist.
She frowned. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes we can’t always have what we want.”
“So true.” Her eyes dropped to my lips then back up to mine. “What’s she like? This girl you can’t have. What made you fall in love with her at first sight?”
I look at you and imagine you are mine tonight. Ironically, Eric Carmen sang similar words to what I just thought right now.
“She’s real.”
Skye rolled her eyes in that impatient way she always did when I was being evasive or didn’t give her the time she wanted. “Real? What does that even mean? I’m real,” she scoffed.
I laughed. “Yes, you are.” I tapped a finger to her nose. “The first time I saw her, I didn’t know she’d steal my heart someday and when it happened, it knocked the breath out of me.” I stopped moving for a second trying to pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with this girl. Honestly, I had no fucking clue.
“And what makes her real,” Skye asked, her tone tinged with a sadness I didn’t think she was aware of. I knew though, because I was in tune with every single emotion she displayed.
I swayed us again. “She eats what she wants, not worrying about her weight. Dresses how she wants, not interested in the latest fashion trend. Has an awful singing voice but doesn’t let it faze her when her favorite song comes on, she’ll sing to it. There’s a lot going on inside her head, she’s always asking questions.” I stopped talking, aware I’d said too much.
Skye bit her lip for moment, her brow creased. “Hey, that sounds a lot like me.”
“Might be.” My laugh this time was more to cover my slip up. Thankfully, a sudden burst of thunder rattled the windows and Skye shrieked. She buried her face in my chest, gripping my t-shirt tightly. She hated thunderstorms. “I’m here, Blue,” I kissed the top of her head as the music changed to ‘Right Here Waiting For You’by Richard Marx. I almost scoffed at the irony. Some part of me knew I needed to get us out of this situation, or I was likely to do something I might regret. “Seventeen and still a scaredy cat, aren’t you.” I teased, hoping it would lighten the mood.
She leaned back. “You’re so funny.” She smacked my chest and I winced. Immediately, her smirk morphed into concern. “What’s wrong?”
We stopped moving. “Nothing.”
“Shay?” Her hand followed her gaze to my chest before she gasped. “You’re hurt, aren’t you?” Before I could stop her, she lifted my t-shirt. Her hands flew to her mouth, dropping the t-shirt as she stepped back, her gaze riveted on my chest. “What happened?” she choked out. Glazed eyes lifted to mine. She stepped closer, lifted my t-shirt again and looked at the wound before gently placing her hand over it.
I hissed in a breath, not from pain but the softness of her touch, the tremble of fear coursing through her, the indescribable agony on her face. “Bullet wound,” I replied when her questioning eyes met mine again.
“Oh, God...you...you could’ve died,” her words broke on a sob, her lids closing on falling tears.
“Hey.” I placed a hand over hers covering my chest and cupped her chin with the other until her eyes opened. “I’m still here, Blue.”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “You could have died,” she repeated, her tone undisguised panic. She released my t-shirt and lifted that hand to palm my cheek. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I lost you.”
Abruptly my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, my heart jackknifing in my chest. For the first time in my life, those blue orbs, dark with something I didn’t recognize, stole my words, latched onto the air I needed to breathe, pulling me into a dangerous chasm I knew I should resist. But I couldn’t help myself.
“Blue,” I whispered raggedly and cupped her cheeks, causing both her hands to fall to my waist. “I promised I’d never leave you. You’re my strength, baby. You brought me back.” I sighed, my eyes dropping to her lips.
Just one taste.
It was all I wanted, all I needed, to satisfy this fucked up craving I still couldn’t understand. Unconsciously, I inched closer, her warm breaths mingling with mine. My heart felt like it was traversing into cardiac arrest, thrashing in my chest so hard I was sure it was the insistent boom I heard in my ears.
“Shay,” she murmured, her eyes blazing with something I shouldn’t hope for.
There was not one single emotion she could hide from me, yet that expression of raw desire was one I’d never witnessed before, and it scared the fuck out of me because I was leading her down a path of no return. Usurped by a burning fusion of frustration and longing I couldn’t even begin to douse, my self-control hung by a thread, a moment from snapping. I sucked in a harsh breath.
