Page 64 of Darling Venom
I tsked, slanting my head sideways. “It was a yes or no question, Lottie.”
She flinched, clearly not a fan of the nickname. I didn’t know why I called her by it, instead of Charlie, but it threw her off-balance.
“How do you know that nickname?”
“Kellan’s eighth-grade yearbook.”
Yes, I checked.
And yes, I hate myself for admitting it.
“Don’t call me that. It’s my sister’s name for me.” She jerked her wrist back. The flames in her jade eyes turned to cinder. She was back to hating me, and she was in good company, because I hated myself, too. “And no. I told you, we weren’t dating.”
“Fucking and dating are two different activities.”
I’m living proof.
She raised an eyebrow. “Should you be wondering about my sex life when I was underage?”
Touché.
“He didn’t come home that night.”
That made her mouth slide open in shock.
She had a great mouth. Her body was curvy and full and very close to perfect. It enraged me that I noticed those things. She was too young, too complicated, too Kellan’s for me to notice.
“He didn’t?”
I bit my inner cheek. “He slept on the streets.”
Her face twisted. A wall of tears covered her eyeballs.
“God.” She cupped her mouth. “Kellan, no.”
“So, you can see why I’m a little hesitant to take your word for it. Especially since you were perfectly content not coming forward and sharing any info about him for four fucking years. So, Charlie? What did you do to him?”
Wrong choice.
I knew that as soon as the words left my mouth.
There were a million different ways to present the question. What happened that night? Was he upset? Can you tell me what he was going through?
But no, I’d chosen to pin the blame on her.
I didn’t even know why. He’d been pissed at me when he left. Him not returning home that night could have been solely my doing.
She slung her bag over her shoulder. “You know, the other day, when we got to talking, I actually felt bad for you. I thought about you after I went back home. Wondered how you were doing. I even had to stop myself from shooting you an email a few times just to make sure you were okay. But every time I start feeling sympathy for you, you go and prove that you are just as infuriating as Kellan said.”
With that, she pushed the door to the smoothie bar open and ran outside. The rain pounded the concrete like bullets, coming in thick white sheets. Pitch-black darkness swallowed Charlie, and I couldn’t see if she’d taken a left or a right.
I sat back in my seat, my stomach hollow with annoyance, and sucked on the paper straw of my smoothie when something to my right caught my eye. I turned to it fully. She’d forgotten her coat.
As much as I wanted to be that asshole—and I did, I truly, honestly wanted to hurt her for a reason unknown to me right now—I could not have pneumonia on my conscience. I grabbed the coat and dashed out of the smoothie place, leaving my drink behind.
I looked around, but all I could see were the curtains of rain I blasted through. I got soaked in seconds. The streets had emptied, but I spotted a figure running toward the subway.
I stalked after it.
