She giggles at the sky. “So modest, but I believe you. I’m jealous, too. If it helps.”
“It helps.” I don’t believe her, but it helps.
Above us, stars glitter in a black suede dome. Our breath mingles in the crisp air, two exhales drawn together, and the scent of freshly cut grass surrounds us. Aside from a dull thrum from the hall, there’s only the sound of our breathing.
Her hair is pinned neatly above her head, a few strands escaping to frame her face. When she turns to me, her eyes are hooded… maybe she’s tipsy, too? I hope so. At least she’s having some fun.
I’m glad I didn’t press that first kiss. I don’t want our first kiss to be when we’re drunk, just after talking about Max fucking Butcher and all the other mouths and hands that have touched her.
My gaze travels over her throat and collarbone. Goosebumps race across her skin. I ache to memorize every curve and divot.
Rolling onto my side, I lift my hand to her chin, then trace a pulse in her neck down to the hollow of her collarbone, sketching her into my memory forever.
She swallows.
I want to slip my hand inside her dress, to feel her nipples tighten in my palm, but it’s too soon, for so many reasons. Erik. Max. Alcohol. Too many reasons not to, and one reason to which is that I want her so fucking bad…
I pull back, smile at her.
“Thank you,” she whispers, her voice genuinely my favourite sound. “For today. It was… perfect.”
“I want every day to be perfect for you.”
Her lips quirk. “There was one thing left on our list.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“To scream.”
I grin. “Scream?”
She tilts her chin to the moon and exhales a soft howl. And I see Liz, and my heart somehow beating inside another person’s hand, and I can’t lose her again.
She stops, panting, cheeks pink and smile wide.
My own cheeks ache from the grin that has taken over my face. “You’re so corny, Blesk.”
She curls onto her side, watching me. “Your turn.”
I throw back my head and howl at the moon, and she giggles until her shoulders shake.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
blesk
I gave him a day…
Well, and a night.
After the party last night, we fell asleep talking. Well, he talked. I listened. What would I have to say? My entire life is made up of memories with…
Something tightens in my chest.
So, Konnor told me about snowboarding at Falls Creek, about being a teenager loose in the District, about Bali, about some New Zealand guy he'd backpacked Europe with.
He told me about Cassidy and Flick, about wise Ben Slater, about what yesterday at the docks meant to him. He said making me fall in love with him is his mission. That I don't stand a chance in defending my heart. I laughed, but it didn’t feel light. It felt strangely heavy and… Just loaded.
I look down at his arm. It is still across my waist, also heavy. I keep waiting to notice something wrong, or feel that strange mix of paralysed and dread, but there is nothing. I haven’t been wary of the position of my body to his, because I haven’t felt as though I need to stay still.
