Page 97 of Reckless
“Are you going to sit or loom,” I asked.
That got me the closest thing to a real smile yet.
“Is looming an option?I always thought I sulked.”
“Probably a better word but loom makes me remember to be cautious.”
He came over then and sat on the sand a few feet from the rock, one knee bent, forearm draped over it, the ocean in front of both of us.
We stayed like that for a while.Then he said, “Why aren’t you safe in your room?”
“Because the cover is the only place in this compound that doesn’t feel like it’s watching me.”
He considered that.“My family has too much interest in us.”
I felt it all over again, the force of his attention, the way it gathered and narrowed and made my skin go aching with need.
I should have let the moment pass.
Instead I heard myself ask, “Why were you so jealous?We aren’t real.”
Then he asked, “Do you want the polite answer.”
“No.”
“Good.”He looked back toward the water.“Because I don’t think anyone should touch you.”
My pulse zipped and I stared at the side of his face.
“That is not an explanation.We don’t have a claim on each other.”
“No.”His jaw moved once.“But there was a man in front of me making it very obvious he would like the opportunity to want you out loud.”
My throat tightened.I breathed it down and looked back at the black water because if I kept looking at him while he said things like that, I wasn’t sure I’d be me after.
“So it was competition,” I blinked as my lips trembled and I needed to clear my head.
“No.”He shook his head but kept his voice low, “It bothered me because he looked easy.”
That made me look at him.Moonlight caught the side of his face.
“Easy?”I repeated.
I understood what he meant the second he said it.
“Ben is not exactly my future husband,” I said.“I never went out with him.”
“That wasn’t the point.”
“No?”
He looked at me now.“The point was that I saw what it would look like if you chose someone sensible.”
God.What was I supposed to do with that.“Xerses...”
“You deserve better than me.”
The ocean hit the shore harder this time, one wave bigger than the rest, and spray moved over the rocks in a soft mist.“Don’t.”
