He kisses me again, and that pretty glass heart of mine throbs painfully in my chest.
Parrish pulls back, that aristocratic face of his carved up into a thousand different emotions.
“I thought about all the things that I’d say to you in the morning, all the places I’d touch you, the ways I’d kiss you. And I practiced my speech for Tess.” He puts a hand on his chest. “Because I meant what I said: I’m going to tell her everything.”
Fear skitters across my skin, but at the same time, it’s accompanied by a surge of affection for this boy. He was so worth it. Every terrible moment. Every sickening second of angst. So fucking worth it. I’d do it all over again. And I will, if I have to, in order to save my sister.
Maxine, please be safe, I think, reminding myself that Justin won’t hurt her because it will ruin his ultimate plans. That is, to have me in his life. It makes no sense and, as psychotic as he can be at times, he’s a very careful, very meticulous monster.
“We’ll give her … a week or so to get used to me being back.” Parrish glances to the side again before turning back to me. “I’m not sure if I can keep my hands off of you any longer than that. If we don’t tell her, she’ll figure it out just by watching me.”
“Tess was destroyed without you,” I admit, and he shudders. “She barely ate, barely slept. She alternated between being cold and distant and emotionally destroyed. Are you sure you want to do this? We can keep it a secret if you want.”
“I’m sick of secrets,” he admits, gritting his teeth. I can’t say I disagree with that.
“I’ll leave you alone so you can shower,” I tell him, and he gives me a look.
“No, you won’t.” Parrish steps back from me and then pauses, as if he’s just thought of something. “Wait here.”
He scoots me away from the door and opens it, walking out to stare Chasm in the eyes.
I’ve never seen the other boy look so … well, not like a black knight riding into battle with full armor. He looks like an unsure seventeen-year-old for the first time in his life, amber eyes flicking back to catch on mine.
“Can we just pretend that it never happened?” Parrish asks, and Chasm goes completely still. Maxx, he pauses with one hand inside GG’s cage, glancing back to stare at us. He doesn’t look any happier than Chas does. “Dakota and … the two of you. I appreciate everything you guys did for me, I really do. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt. I just want to forget about it.”
I step up beside him, but I’m not sure what to say.
What’s the right move here? Do I speak up for Chasm and Maxx? Do I side with Parrish for now, seeing as we just got him back? Do I tell them that my feelings for the three of them are more confusing than anything I’ve ever experienced before?
I hate Justin, don’t get me wrong. And the situation with him is intense. But it isn’t confusing. I know exactly where I stand on those matters. This, on the other hand, is not so easy to parcel out.
“Is that what you want, Kota?” Maxx asks softly. Parrish curls his hands into fists, but he doesn’t say anything, doesn’t move. Chasm is still staring at me.
“I care about all three of you,” I admit, even though the words grate past my lips, scraping them like sandpaper, making them bleed. Parrish glances my way and then back over at Chasm, at Maxx.
“Is that … not an option?” Parrish asks, his voice tight and unreadable. He spreads his hands. “Is it over for me? Have I been gone too long to make this work?” He looks back at me with a crestfallen expression that cuts me to the bone.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you I could forget about the things that happened with Maxx and Chasm while you were missing. But I’d also be lying if I said I wanted things to change between us.” I stand there, unsure of what I’m even asking. If it’s even fair for me to ask anything of him at all.
Maxx hands over a carrot to GG and then carefully steps back, closing the cage door before turning around. Chasm slides his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket, frowns, and then withdraws a tiny square of paper.
It’s the item that Lumen slipped me at the party. As if he’s looking for a distraction—any distraction at all—Chasm unfolds it and reads the message before offering it up to me. I step forward and take it, ignoring the surge of fire in my hand when our fingers brush together.
