Page 196 of Darling Venom
She didn’t realize his departure would mean hers, too.
In the end, it’d been for nothing. I couldn’t save Kellan.
But Charlie…
She knew.
And damn it, I couldn’t get over it.
I realized I’d gotten up sometime in the past ten minutes and made it to the corner store two blocks away. The street buzzed with traffic. I could hail a cab and change at the clinic, but Charlie…
I turned.
The walk back passed at turtle speeds. Heavy pellets of water struck every inch of me. There was nothing dry by the time I reached the steps of my home.
I sat down, gathering myself before I entered and… I don’t know… apologized for being an ass?
It was a start on a long list of sins I needed to atone for.
Behind me, the door cracked open. As if she’d been waiting for me.
The rain had picked up speed in the past twenty minutes. I couldn’t see through the curtain of water weighing down my lashes.
The onslaught over me ceasefired. I looked up to find Charlie on the step above. She held a polka dot umbrella over my head. It covered all of me and half of her, leaving her matching dress at the mercy of Mother Nature.
The fabric turned translucent in a second. Water doused the thin cotton. It hugged her curves, exposing everything, including her bare breasts. I swallowed and nudged her hand until the umbrella protected all of her.
She shoved it back over me. “Your hands are freezing. Come inside.”
“Pass.”
I deserved the cold.
I deserved worse.
“Come on.” Her hand reached for my arm, startling at the touch. “Jesus, Tate. You’re gonna get sick.”
I said nothing. Didn’t care to.
Why did I come back?
When it became clear I had no intention of moving, she kneeled and rubbed my arm with her free hand to warm me up. She invaded my senses.
Sugar, cookies, cypress.
Charlie.
I backed away from her like she was venom, and I didn’t have an antidote.
She’s Kel’s.
Kellan’s, Kellan’s, Kellan’s.
If I said it enough, would it stop this craving?
I doubted it.
But it took a special piece of shit to fail his brother, then steal something he loved when he wasn’t around to enjoy it.
