“Your stuttering and quick reply don’t play in your favor.”
She pushes against my chest, a futile attempt to make me let her go, but I only tighten my hold on her hair.
“And now what?” she asks with a tinge of annoyance. Which means she’s at least in her right state of mind.
“Now, I ask you questions and you answer them.”
“Can’t we do that while I’m sitting on an actual chair?”
“What’s wrong with my lap?”
“I can feel your…uh, you know.”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you name it?”
She fixates me with a deadly glare but says nothing and quits fighting.
Cecily might be infuriatingly rebellious, but she knows how and when to pick her battles. With my fist in her hair, she’s well aware this isn’t a battle that she can possibly win.
“Why are you interested in me, Jeremy?” Her voice echoes in the silence with resignation.
“What makes you think I am?”
“The fact that you were stalking me.”
“I was keeping an eye on you.”
“Why?” The molten green of her eyes fires up. “Why me?”
“Because you had the audacity to capture my attention.”
“Can I un-capture it?”
“That’s not even a word. And the answer is no. You can’t make me do anything, Cecily. All my decisions are taken inward. Your actions, or the lack thereof, have no influence whatsoever, so don’t act stupid or desperate in order to drive me away. That will only make me retaliate and you’ll be collateral damage.”
A slow fire hums beneath the surface and her temperature rises. “So I’m supposed to take everything you dish out and remain put? That’s not who I am.”
“I don’t give a fuck. Moving on to a more important topic, do you remember what just happened?” I ask with enough nonchalance that it surprises me.
Cecily’s eyes widen and they fall on where she vomited earlier, then back to the painting she watched Landon through.
“You’re sick,” she tells me, lips trembling.
“For showing you Landon’s true nature?”
“For showing me sex.” Her throat works up with a swallow, and she looks nauseated again. “I don’t like looking at it.”
“Is that why you vomited?”
She nods once. “I know. I’m a prude. Ava and Remi tell me that all the time. No need to remind me.”
“You’re not a prude if you like being chased in dark places.”
Her body freezes and that red hue covers her cheeks again. Like the spilling of blood on the ground, her skin flares and heats at an enthralling speed. And then she strokes the side of her nose. “Can you not bring that up?”
“Why not? Are you ashamed of it?”
Her lips part before she seals them shut again and stares sideways.