“I could never bring myself to take it off after she… after the accident,” he rephrases.
Nora Richards’s tragic death crosses my mind, and I feel awful for twisting the knife into a wound that will never heal.
“Anyway, you ready to go?” Xav dangles the keys to his truck.
“You bet.” I nod.
Xav gestures for me to lead the way, which I do without a second thought. I’m halfway to the front door when my heart slams the brakes. I stop dead in my tracks, the maddening voice in my head daring me to take one more chance.
One last chance.
It’s been bothering me since this morning. The way he says something, then does the opposite. His cryptic confession in the book, his convenient fight with Axel the day after he bullied me in the cafeteria. Don’t even get me started on his hero moment last night and how nice he was this morning.
It just doesn’t seem right. I might make a fool of myself, he might laugh in my face, but I have to try. My pulse throbbing in my throat, I make a beeline for him. I stop a little too close, but he doesn’t back away, or warn me to keep my distance.
Instead… he moves closer.
I don’t think he meant to do it. In fact, I don’t even think he’s aware that he did it, but his responsiveness sets my heart on fire. I clutch his face with both hands, crane my neck to let our eyes meet, and deep dive into his Caribbean Sea colored gaze in search for an answer.
A weak link.
Any sign of the boy I fell in love with.
“What are you doing?” he says bluntly.
“Testing a theory,” I whisper.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I move closer, shifting my hips into his and slinging my arms around his neck. Our bodies are one now, but it’s not enough. Determined to see him break, I push to the tips of my toes, aiming for his mouth.
Only, I don’t kiss him.
Not yet.
I just hover near his mouth, dangling the possibility of a kiss in his face, praying that he’ll take the bait.
His throat bobs.
I smile.
Score.
“Look, Vee…” he warns. “What happened last night doesn’t change shit, I still don’t want you.”
His lies fail to pierce through my armor. I don’t feel the burn, the sting of his rejection. But what I do feel… is his length digging into my stomach.
“Really?” I whisper an inch away from his lips, my fingers crawling up his chest slowly. I lay a hand flat against his pec, refusing to break the eye contact.
I can feel his heart pounding under my palm.
Rattling his rib cage like a machine gun.
“Then why is your heart beating so fast?” I call his bluff, keeping my hand fixed to his chest. He doesn’t answer, but I catch his eyes gravitating to my lips.
“You’re confusing your dreams with reality, Harper.” He clenches his jaw. I almost give up right then, but a force inside of me wills me to keep fighting.
Just a little longer.