chocolate, I wanted to taste a piece.
Just imagining the moment our lips would touch made me light-headed. There was no denying how strongly I’d wanted this. An energy buzz overtook all my logic, all my pain. Overwhelmed by it, I gave in.
I softened.
Briny air swirled across the veranda, mixing with Liam’s musky cologne. The scent swept over me, and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. But then something inside me turned over. It smelled like the same cologne my dad used to wear.
A deep pit formed in my stomach as I remembered him walking out the garage door for the last time. I didn’t know then he would be ambushed and blown to pieces. I didn’t know then that I would never see him again.
“I gotta go.” I opened my eyes and started to get up. But Liam stopped me, reaching for my wrist. Instinctively, I rotated my hand clockwise and thrust it down with the full weight of my body to break his grip.
“Jeez!” He jumped up and grabbed at his wrist in pain. “What the—?”
“Don’t grab at me then if you don’t want to get hurt!” I moved behind the couch, to put some space, and furniture, between us.
“I wasn’t grabbing at you,” he said with a grimace. “I was just trying to stop you from running away from me again .”
“First of all, you did grab me, and second…” I didn’t really have a second. “Look, I’m way too messed up for you to bother with.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab ,” he said, moving toward me slowly, like I was a bomb in need of dismantling. “And just so you know, it’s OK to be a little messed up.”
“I don’t know what you want from me.” I backed up. “Or why you’re acting so interested in me all of a sudden. Is it the fame thing? Do you want to see yourself in the newspaper next to Bleeding Ruby Rose again? Or did one of your football buddies bet you that you couldn’t get laid by the most dangerous girl in school?”
Not likely. My virginity wasn’t exactly a secret. One of those trashy magazines had even broadcast it in an article called “Ruby Rose: The Virgin Vigilante.”
He stopped and looked at me with the mug of a kicked puppy. “Wow.”
“Wow, what?” They were simple questions.
“I had no idea that’s what you thought of me,” he said, lowering his head to stare at the red marks developing on his wrist.
“Well, I told you,” I said, a little less abrasively. “I don’t know what to think. Things are complicated for me, and I don’t know what your intentions are.”
“My intentions?” he asked, as if he didn’t readily know the answer. “I just wanted to help. That guy—he used me, too, you know.”
“What? What do you mean he used you?”
“He pretended to be me when he sent you that text, remember? My name was in the police report. That Detective Martinez guy came to my house and interviewed me. And when it went public, reporters tried to talk to me. My friends never leave me alone about it. So, yeah, I feel a little involved , OK?”
“OK,” I said, taken aback. I felt horrible that my stupid life had already affected him, and like the biggest B-word for giving him such a hard time. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”
“Plus, I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.” He paused and did that self-conscious ear-touching thing. Again, I wondered what could have possibly happened to him. “It’s a lonely place to be, and I can see how talented you are at pushing people away. Or maybe I should say karate chopping people away.” A sliver of a smile formed in the crease of his eyes.
Oh, no. I was softening under his charm again. “But you’re still not answering my question, Liam. Why do you want to help me? Are you upset that you’re involved?”
He rubbed his forehead. “C’mon, isn’t it obvious?”
“If it were obvious, I wouldn’t need to ask.”
“I like you, all right?” He was red in the face and clearly frazzled. “I’ve liked you for a long time, but you haven’t given
Just imagining the moment our lips would touch made me light-headed. There was no denying how strongly I’d wanted this. An energy buzz overtook all my logic, all my pain. Overwhelmed by it, I gave in.
I softened.
Briny air swirled across the veranda, mixing with Liam’s musky cologne. The scent swept over me, and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. But then something inside me turned over. It smelled like the same cologne my dad used to wear.
A deep pit formed in my stomach as I remembered him walking out the garage door for the last time. I didn’t know then he would be ambushed and blown to pieces. I didn’t know then that I would never see him again.
“I gotta go.” I opened my eyes and started to get up. But Liam stopped me, reaching for my wrist. Instinctively, I rotated my hand clockwise and thrust it down with the full weight of my body to break his grip.
“Jeez!” He jumped up and grabbed at his wrist in pain. “What the—?”
“Don’t grab at me then if you don’t want to get hurt!” I moved behind the couch, to put some space, and furniture, between us.
“I wasn’t grabbing at you,” he said with a grimace. “I was just trying to stop you from running away from me again .”
“First of all, you did grab me, and second…” I didn’t really have a second. “Look, I’m way too messed up for you to bother with.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab ,” he said, moving toward me slowly, like I was a bomb in need of dismantling. “And just so you know, it’s OK to be a little messed up.”
“I don’t know what you want from me.” I backed up. “Or why you’re acting so interested in me all of a sudden. Is it the fame thing? Do you want to see yourself in the newspaper next to Bleeding Ruby Rose again? Or did one of your football buddies bet you that you couldn’t get laid by the most dangerous girl in school?”
Not likely. My virginity wasn’t exactly a secret. One of those trashy magazines had even broadcast it in an article called “Ruby Rose: The Virgin Vigilante.”
He stopped and looked at me with the mug of a kicked puppy. “Wow.”
“Wow, what?” They were simple questions.
“I had no idea that’s what you thought of me,” he said, lowering his head to stare at the red marks developing on his wrist.
“Well, I told you,” I said, a little less abrasively. “I don’t know what to think. Things are complicated for me, and I don’t know what your intentions are.”
“My intentions?” he asked, as if he didn’t readily know the answer. “I just wanted to help. That guy—he used me, too, you know.”
“What? What do you mean he used you?”
“He pretended to be me when he sent you that text, remember? My name was in the police report. That Detective Martinez guy came to my house and interviewed me. And when it went public, reporters tried to talk to me. My friends never leave me alone about it. So, yeah, I feel a little involved , OK?”
“OK,” I said, taken aback. I felt horrible that my stupid life had already affected him, and like the biggest B-word for giving him such a hard time. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”
“Plus, I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.” He paused and did that self-conscious ear-touching thing. Again, I wondered what could have possibly happened to him. “It’s a lonely place to be, and I can see how talented you are at pushing people away. Or maybe I should say karate chopping people away.” A sliver of a smile formed in the crease of his eyes.
Oh, no. I was softening under his charm again. “But you’re still not answering my question, Liam. Why do you want to help me? Are you upset that you’re involved?”
He rubbed his forehead. “C’mon, isn’t it obvious?”
“If it were obvious, I wouldn’t need to ask.”
“I like you, all right?” He was red in the face and clearly frazzled. “I’ve liked you for a long time, but you haven’t given
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