With you.
This time, when his jaw tics, the bruise on the side of his mouth pulses as well.
And despite knowing better — so,somuch better — my eyes fall to his lips and a breath escapes me.
A heated breath.
A breath that somehow smells like watermelons and lemonade.
In fact the very air smells of watermelons and lemonade. My tongue comes alive with the taste of them.
The taste of his kiss…
God, please. Not now.
Not when he’s right here.
When Lucas is here too, only a short distance away.
I look away from his mouth then, shuddering.
I notice him shuddering too, his chest moving on a wave.
And I think I catch the tail end of his gaze moving away from my mouth as well. But I may be imagining things because his features are still tight and blank and I continue, “Lucas is the love of my life. Nothing will change that. Not the fact that I made a mistake,twovery big mistakes, that night. Or that he’s lashing out because of them. I will always love him.”
“Always, huh,” he murmurs.
I nod. “It’s like you and me.”
“What’s like you and me?”
“This. My love for Lucas.” I take in a deep breath. “I will always love him like I will always hate you.”
Always. Always.Always.
I let that word chant in my head as I stare up at him.
Into his reddish-brown eyes. His now spiky hair. That bruised jaw.
And he stares down at me, at my flushed cheeks and my spilled hair. As if absorbing what I just said. My words. My hatred for him.
Then, stepping back from me, he goes, “Tomorrow.”
“What?”
“You wanna talk to him. I’ll make sure you get to.”
“Y-you will?”
“I’ll make sure that he’s in a position to listen to you.”
“I… You… How? I don’t —”
“And then we fix it.”
“We?”
“You and I.”