“El…” He takes me in his arms, his heart beating in my ear. “No one is. Coming here was my bad, alright? We don’t have to go back if you don’t want to.”
“Can we just stay here for a minute?”
“Of course.” His voice mumbles at the crown of my head. He drops a kiss on my part, then leads me to a fallen tree so I can sit.
“The worst part is, I thought I’d be able to feel her presence lingering, but she’s not here. She must have taken it with her when she left.”
Troy cocks his head. “Who?”
“My mother.” I use the hem of my shirt to wipe my face, then meet his gaze. “She grew up in Hell's Bend. She’s one ofthem.” I say it as if the taste of the word is bitter on my tongue.
He blanches. “Seriously?”
“I just wanted to learn where she came from, but this place …”
Another round of emotion gets lodged in my throat. Troy touches my face, thumbing away my pain as it falls. Far from the clearing, the sounds of the party give way to the trilling of insects. Moonlight shines down on Troy’s sandy hair and picks up the color in his eyes, darkening it to a mossy green. He lowers his head and finds my lips.
A sharp breath hits my lungs. His tongue slides over my teeth, looking for entry between them as his gentle hold slides to the back of my head.
A small moan breaks from my chest, but it doesn’t feel right. A first kiss is magical. It’s supposed to light you up with dancing fireflies behind your closed lids, but Troy’s sweet assault on my mouth is nothing like that. It’s a good kiss, yet it doesn’t set my heart ablaze the way I’d hoped.
When his hands dip below my shirt, I push them off, but he doesn’t take the hint. He comes at me harder, pressing into me with his heavy weight, the remaining tree branches poking into my back.
The remains of the beer still flood my system. I claw at his back, but he seems to misunderstand my actions for want. He doesn’t let up. His hands roam my body in places I’m not ready to be touched.
I slip my arms between our bodies and push. He flies backward as if I’m the star of a ninja movie. Confusion sets in, but as I collect my senses, I realize it wasn’t me that pushed him off at all.
Troy lies in the leaves as a dark figure hovers over him, his massive chest expanding. “Jace?”
His name flutters off my tongue and gets caught in my belly, a ramble of wings beating about. He turns toward the sound, his eyes shining like diamonds in the night. “Are you a fucking dumbass?” He swings around and takes a step in my direction,his fists balling at his sides and his expression twisted with ire. “You tryin’ to get fuckin’ raped out here? No nevermind. If you’re stupid enough to come out here by yourself, then you get what you deserve.”
For the first time, I notice the girl huddling in the background. He snatches her by the hand, stares down at Troy, and gives him a solid kick to the ribs before stomping off into the blackened woods.
I push from the trunk and cross my arms over my chest. “I want to go home.”
Troy offers an incredulous look before rising to his feet. “That’s all you have to say about what just happened?”
I jerk my head back. “What am I supposed to say?”
A trickle of blood leaks from his lip. He swipes it away with the back of his hand. “Your boy Jace swoops in like a goddamn werewolf, then screams in your face, and you have nothing to say?”
I narrow my gaze. “First of all, Jace isnotmy boy. Second, he’s not wrong. You were pushing me too hard.”
A dark cloud passes over his face. He stomps toward me. “Pushing you too hard? Have I made a single move on you before now?”
My stomach flips. I swallow the saliva building on my tongue. “No, but…”
“But what?” he snaps. “You wanna take things slow. I’ve respected that, have I not?”
The fight drains out of me. “Yes.”
He lowers his tone and takes me by the arms. The sweet Troy I’ve gotten to know returns before my eyes. “I’m sorry if you found me aggressive. You make it really hard to hold back.”
Guilt clogs my throat. He’s taken me out, showered me with gifts, and never expected anything in return. Most guys would have dropped me after day three — trust me, I speak fromexperience — but Troy has been patient and kind. I don’t want to fight with him.
“I’m sorry, too.”
When he pulls me in, I sag against his chest, but it offers little comfort. Tonight was a disaster on so many levels, and it’s not over yet. It’s time for Jace and me to have a little chat.