Ugh! More of this?I need to break through his defenses. I’m down here on the street screaming up at him like he’s…
Wait a minute…
“Did you ever think you’d be the Juliet?”
His mouth falls open, a clicking sound coming from his throat. Torren shakes his head and asks, “What?”
“Look at you,” I motion up to him. “Here I am, down here, and you’re up there talking to me from your balcony. Did you ever peg yourself for the Juliet type?”
“Felix—“
“Wherefore art thou Felix?” I rest my hand on my head, a look of despondency on my face.
“Felix, what is happening right now?”
“You’d make a stellar Juliet. You’re just like her; a young, naive virgin.”
His laugh bounces off the warehouse across the street, and he pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Nobody’s ever described me like that before,” he drawls while trying to hide his smile.
“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is a shirtless Torren!”
Torren laughs, his body relaxing as he leans on his arms resting over the windowsill.
I cock my head to the side, smiling at how handsome he looks when he’s relaxed.
He smiles back, and the two of us stare at each other.
“Why can’t you be this agreeable at the diner?” he asks.
“I’m only responding to what you give me. When you let me in, I’m actually quite charming. You are, too, for that matter. You’re the only person who makes me feel bold enough to act like a fool on the streets.”
He stares at me, his resolve disintegrating. Torren’s eyes are heartbreaking. He looks at me with pure longing. His chest heaves, and his lips part, like he wants to speak but can’t get the words out.
“Felix, you’re better than me. You can get some banker bro or someone like that.”
I stick my finger in my mouth and gag. “Ugh, I’d rather eat glass than talk to those people! They’d never think I was funny. They don’t have souls. You do.”
Shock washes over his features, and his mouth falls open. “I—”
He tries to speak but stops. His gaze turns to the sky, the moon painting his face in a pale, blue light. Something fractures in his expression.
“I’m not charming, Felix. I’m not any of the things you want me to be. I’m me, and we can’t work.”
“Torren, don’t do that.”
“Felix. Go home.” His tone is harsh, and he grips the windowsill as he speaks. “You don’t know me, and you don’t want to. We can’t be together.”
He slams the window shut, and my heart drops.
“Torren!”
I pick up a few more pebbles and start tossing them at the window.
After about five or six pebbles, his light goes out.
I was so close.
