Page 115 of Darling Venom
Tate is toxic, I reminded myself, thinking of the one-eighty he’d done since I spilled my Big T to him. He will stab you in the heart, then ask you why it hurts so much.
I burst through the doors at the last second, startling the couples flanked on either side. “Sorry!”
My combat boots slammed against the platform’s granite. If I didn’t run to the library, I’d never gather the courage to go.
My lungs fought me. Sweat trailed down my temple. By the time I reached the library, my brain had become fog. Smoke where thoughts came to dissolve.
The limestone building loomed before me. I stood below the stretched awning, bracketed by thick pilasters on either side.
I’d gotten as far as the front door the day after Tate passed along the books to donate, but I never made it past the balustrade. And I hadn’t been there since, breaking my post-college attendance streak.
I took a deep breath and headed straight to the front desk before I could change my mind. The dust bag slapped against my thigh with each step.
“Charlotte! I haven’t seen you in so long. I’ve been worried.” Doris, the head librarian, smiled at me. “What can I do for you?”
I tapped my fingers against the countertop. Kellan’s books weighed down my arm. Speaking of Kellan, would he be mad about what had happened? He hated his brother.
And damn it, I needed to stop thinking about the oops-gasm.
“I have—” I hesitated, hating myself for it.
Tate’s proposition flashed in my head.
No strings attached sex.
My brain didn’t know what it wanted, but my body did.
If only you had a reason to see him again…
Doris frowned. “You have…?”
If you do this, you’ll never see Tate.
My foot slid back a step.
You’ll never get the answers you need.
Another step.
You’ll never get to confront him about Kellan.
And another.
His proposition won’t last forever…
“Never mind,” I muttered, spinning on my heels.
Doris called out for me, along with Faye, my favorite librarian here. I retreated through the front door, bursting outside with winded gasps. My palms fell on the balls of my knees.
People spilled onto the sidewalk, parting around me like the Red Sea as I tried and failed to catch my breath. To get my shit together.
I didn’t know what I was doing.
Or what I wanted.
Or where I’d go from here.
So, I walked.
