That stupid, stupid vision has ruined me. I really won’t be able to enjoy kissing someone for fun, not knowing there’s another someone out there who will make me feel the way I do in that vision by something as simple as holding my hand.
Rafael’s lips are soft and warm and perfectly pleasant, though, so when he pulls back after a few seconds I try to smile. I’m sure it looks more goofy than alluring, because that’s how I feel. I wish that kiss had been more than just two lips connecting. I could use a little magic in my life right now.
He laughs, a silent, soft exhalation. “You Rosen sisters. So beautiful and strange. I wish I could collect a dozen of you.”
I slap his shoulder. “That is not a compliment.”
He strokes my cheek again, leaving his fingers a few seconds longer than strictly necessary as someone else comes into the room.
“Your car is here,” Cole growls.
“Focus on your sister,” Rafael says. “And call me as soon as you see anything else.” His cologne lingers in his wake and I sit on a bar stool, bemused and unsure what to make of this development. If it even was a development. He’s Italian. Maybe they kiss a lot. It wasn’t terrible. It was nice. But I don’t think I’ll care if it never happens again with him.
Huh. Kind of anticlimactic for having waited nineteen years.
“Are you okay?” Cole asks.
“Hmm? Oh, I’m fine.”
I can feel him pacing in front of me. “Are you and Rafael—”
“Did you see that?” My cheeks burn.
“I—no, I mean, it’s none of my business, but—be careful, okay? You’re too honest for him.”
“I’m too honest? What does that mean?”
“You have no guile. Everything you feel is written on your face.” He sits on a stool next to me, drumming his fingers on the counter. “Like smiling. People smile all the time when they don’t mean it. If they’re nervous, if they’re lying, if they don’t know how to react to something. You never smile unless you mean it.”
“Your laugh is the same way.” I bite my lip, embarrassed at having admitted I notice things about him. There’s a line there that feels too weird to cross. “Besides, I wasn’t aware my smile made me unqualified to date Rafael.”
He lets out an exasperated breath. “That’s not what I mean.”
I elbow his side, flashing a smile that is apparently more honest than most. “I’m kidding. I’ll be careful. We’re not—I’m not dating him or anything.” The silence between us now feels heavy, laden with the awkwardness of Cole giving me romantic advice. Subject change. “Did you see Sarah?”
“Yes.”
“I’m worried about her.”
“She should be here with us. I don’t like it.”
“I wish I could see something that would help us, help her.” I scowl, kicking my toes against the floor in frustration. “Maybe if I took a lower dosage.”
“That’s a stupid idea.”
“Don’t call me stupid!”
“I didn’t call you stupid, I called the idea stupid. Quit trying to mess up your brain. If you really want to see more, you should take better care of it, not worse.”
“What would you know about it?”
“Apparently more than you or Sarah!” He paces back and forth in front of me,
footsteps louder than normal. “This is all pointless.”
“Look, obviously you’re miserable, so why don’t you leave? Find something more important to do than babysitting stupid, pathetic me!”
He stops. “Annie, that’s not—”