Page 100 of A Silence So Divine

“I don’t think you’re disgusting in the slightest.” I swallow, mulling over my words before I speak them. In the end, honesty wins over. “I think you’re beautiful.” The admission comes out like a prayer—a hushed secret, just between the two of us.

Water droplets cling to the end of her eyelashes, and pool in her cupid's bow. And it’s in this moment, that the truthsuckerpunches me. I would do anything to protect her heart. And it’s not only because she’s beautiful.

If we lived in the Maybe, she would be mine. More than that, I would be hers.

But we don’t live in the Maybe.

“You do?”She asks.

I grunt, nodding my head. “I do.”

She eyes me in speculation, and my lips quirk.

“Prove it.”

That wipes the smile right off my face.

Big eyes blink up at me, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil.

“Prove it?”

She nods.

“How?”

My shirt has been completely soaked through, but this conversation has both my body and mind on fire. The rain is the only thing that stops my combustion.

“Kiss me.”

Forty

Eden

Cecil looks like he’s seen a ghost, but I don’t regret my words. Logically, it makes sense. If he can’t kiss me, he must not think I’m as beautiful as he claims. And maybe, somewhere deep inside me, I wonder what it would be like if he did.

With each rise and fall of our chests, our bodies brush for a fraction of a second. I tremble, though I’m burning.

“Eden…” He says my name on a sigh, and I deflate a little. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

He puts some space between our bodies, and embarrassment takes his place.

“It just isn’t.”

“Sylvie is mean to you and you kiss her.”

I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but there’s a flash of shame on his face when I mention Sylvie. Then, a terrifying thought pops into my head.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

Taken aback, he scoffs out a “no”.

“Then why?”

Bringing his hands to his face, he scrubs the rain from his eyes, speaking between his fingers.

“I should hardly be your first kiss.”