“How can I be my true self with you, Raven? Tell me… How?”
It’s my turn to tilt my head back and look at him. His eyes glint with a secret thought.
“You want to know the truth?” he murmurs, his eyes diving into mine. “I wish I could be in a room with you right now. Us. Alone. Only the two of us. Perhaps for the last time… I don’t know.”
He jokes, but not quite.
“We can’t do it, can we?” he continues. “And maybe we shouldn’t do it. But that’s the truth, and that’s what I want.”
“Is that why you weren’t yourself this evening?”
“Among other things… Yes.”
“You’re not angry with them?”
“No, I’m not angry. I’ve never been angry with anyone. It’s just that I really enjoyed the time that we had, and I never thought I’d feel that good with a woman and another man.”
“You can’t tell me it’s never happened before.”
A smile tilts his lips.
“It’s never happened like this… No.”
It takes him some time to bring his eyes to me.
He shakes his head.
“We’ve never done this,” he says. “I don’t know what Kai told you, but getting involved with a woman has never happened like this. I don’t think any of us have had flings that long, let alone getting to close to someone.”
“Uh… What did you expect?”
The tune ends, and luckily, another slow melody follows, so we continue twirling slowly.
“In this case?” he asks, flashing a grin.
“Uh-huh.”
“Frankly, I didn’t think we would cross that line and find ourselves in different territory. And personally, I didn’t think I’d have such chemistry with someone who wasn't even mine. And then…”
He pauses, smiling, amused.
“I couldn’t envision someone like you.”
“Like me?”
“Yeah. Like you.”
“What did you expect?”
“Someone who was, uh… more awkward.”
I laugh.
“I am awkward.”
“No. You’re unpredictable and funny. That’s different. I thought you’d be scared, intimidated. Not knowing what to do.”
“Intimidated by you? Or the three of you?”