“I’m sorry.” My voice came out stilted. I had never imagined I’d be in this position, turning down a chance to be “friends” with someone like Marcus Ravelli.
When Marcus didn’t say a word, I said slowly, “I’d understand if you get mad at me because of this.”
He shook his head. “No,bambina. I don’t think I can ever be mad at you.”
Oh.
“But neither am I the type to take rejection so easily.” He faced me all of a sudden, his hand reaching for mine. I watched our fingers twine, and it was...beautiful. It was...forbidden. It was...wrong.
“Please let me go.”
“Be my friend.”
A helpless laugh escaped me. “Do you hear yourself? Can’t you see how ridiculous this is?”
“It’s not ridiculous.” His dark eyes captured mine. “Ineedyou to be my friend, Anneke. I genuinely need you to be my friend.”
Oh.
“So at least think about it?”
Four
Bruin Hemelat the crack of dawn was like a sleeping princess, with its white walls painting a gentle countenance and its bed made of faded pastel colors that streaked the cloudless sky. Its beauty was more soothing than glorious, and so was the sound of water as I did my morning laps in the pool hidden at the back of the house.
It had been three days since I last saw Marcus Ravelli, and the time spent away from him hadn’t done me any good. Every day that passed, I just had more and more questions I wanted but was too scared to ask.
What made the world a bad place for him?
Why did he need me to be his friend?
And most importantly of all – why did I even care about any of these?
I was on my third lap when a trace of footsteps drifted into my ears, and my strokes slowed. I lifted my head, thinking it was one of the young locals hired to clean the pool.
“May I join you?”