Page 56 of Thorn Kiss
I hadn’t realized how every word sounded more and more panicked until his broad hand settled on my shoulder gently, the warmth stilling me.
“I know you can’t right now,” he whispered. “But we need to. We can’t keep dancing around this.”
“Aroundwhatexactly? Around the fact that it ruined our friendship? That things haven’t been the same since?”
Dallas pressed his lips together, a crease forming between his thick brows. “You keep pushing me away.”
“Why wouldn’t I push you away?” I hissed. “We can’t do this. You’ve never felt anything for me.”
“That’s not true.” Dallas met me with a pained stare. “I don’t know why you won’t let me love you.”
I stepped back from him like I’d been burned. “There’s nothing to love.”
His mouth dropped in horror. “You’re?—”
The sound of a couch creaking interrupted him. His expression fell as we looked over and Laura sat up, her hair a wild mess. Her eyes lit up as she looked over at us, realizing not only did we have company, but we also had food.
“Did you bring us lunch?” she asked.
“Yep. I got your peach cobbler,” Dallas called.
“Yay!”
His posture softened as Laura joined us in the kitchen and held up her wrapped mitten-like hand. He grinned at her.
“You look like a superhero.”
“I look stupid,” she said. “It’s so bad.”
“How does your hand feel?” he asked.
“It’s okay,” she sighed. “Stitches hurt, but I did good.”
“You did great,” I praised.
Dallas pulled out a stool for her and patted it. “I’ll make you up a plate.”
Her shoulder bumped me as she slid into it and wiggled her brows.
Demon. A demon sent to torture me. A demon who was far too intuitive for her age.
“Silly goose,” I mumbled.
“What?” she protested. “I’m not a gooseorsilly.”
“I am,” Dallas announced.
Then he started honking.
My mouth fell open as Laura collapsed into a fit of giggles. Dallas, a grown man with a beard and muscles for days, honked like a goose until she joined him.
This was the part of him that always surprised me. The silly, goofy, unreasonably nerdy part that came out in ways that were devastating because it made me want him more. Before the kiss, it would have been so easy to laugh with them.
They both looked at me expectantly, the corner of his mouth tipped in a smirk.
“Come on,” he said as he slid a bowl of peach cobbler over to me. “Are you not a silly goose, junebug?”
Laura made her best goose honking noise again, alternating with Dallas until I finally gave in and joined them. Our laughter chased away the unanswered questions, and even with the weight of the world on my shoulders—it all felt a little better when Dallas was around.
