“I wasn’t going to.”
And I meant it, truth nailed between every syllable.
It’s not that I wasn’t curious, because I was. Something was broken inside of James Reyes and whispered to me to find out what it was, and that was the problem.
I didn’t want to meet his pain. I was almost too certain it would coil around mine in an embrace that would make me regret how good it felt. Our demons would braid together our shared pain until they fused into a connection I would eventually have to snip dead.
I shook my head, eyes on his while he gazed up at the stars.
“I don’t wanna know you,” I spoke softly.
James tilted his head back up off of the tree, bringing his focus to me. He stared at me like he knew what I was thinking, pointed and profound.
“That makes two of us.”
Neither of us blinked as we held our connection, understanding passing between us that neither of us wanted to touch what was right in front of us.
At least we were both on the same page about it.
“How’s your shoulder feel?” he asked, brushing fingertips over my skin.
I shivered without meaning to, that shake wracking my body in modest trembles that dipped James’ eyebrows together. He pressed the backs of his fingers against my arm, shooting me a look of stern worry as I shivered again at his invading warmth.
“You’re freezing.”
“No, you’re just freakishly warm.”
But I was cold. Without the sun or the rush of heated adrenaline, the wind chilled with a bite as severe as the one I laid on James’ shoulder earlier. My arms and legs were dressed in goosebumps that James took notice of.
He pulled his hand back to himself, stealing his warmth. “We can’t have you freezing to death out here.”
“Wouldn’t you rather I did?”
Unamused, he pursed his mouth. “You’re not funny.”
Wasn’t trying to be.
“We have to get you warm,” he thought aloud, eyes drifting away.
“Want me to take off all of my clothes and snuggle real close?”
His lips popped open, and reprimands passed behind his eyes before he shut his mouth and exhaled.
“I’m going to just pretend like you didn’t say that.”
Soft laughter pushed through my nose just before another chill shook my body. Reyes’ mouth pulled to the side as he took in my shivering, and something upsetting must have crept into his head because the backs of his jaw condensed.
“You are half right though,” he began, shifting to sit up straighter with me still straddling his waist. He gestured his head up just once. “Up.”
I felt confusion sitting in my expression. “What?”
“Stand up.”
Not sure where he was going with this, I shuffled off of him, standing on my own two feet with arms clutched around myself. James shifted back against the tree and cracked his head from side to side, then set his legs apart.
He beckoned me with a look and a head nod. “Sit.”
Hesitation parted my lips, and I backed away on wary legs. “That’s okay. I can survive a bit of cold.”