Page 56 of Crystal Iris
“I’m still engaged.”
“I figured.”
“I’m planning on… postponing my wedding… when I get back.”
“Do you mean breaking off the engagement or just… delaying?”
“Breaking off, I guess.”
“How long have you two been together?”
“My whole life, pretty much.”
“Hmm… that’s a lot of history.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you love him?” His raw question goes right through me.
“No. Not in that way.”
“So why…”
“I… he was there for me when nobody else was. It happened… naturally.”
I pull my prism out; it feels good to be able to do it in front of someone,him.I dip my hand in the water, put on the prism, and it lights up immediately.
“The day I figured out it needed water, I was caught in the rain. My dad had just told me Luke was having another episode, and he was blaming me for it. I stormed out of the house. I didn’t even notice I was soaked until I reached the barn. I rode my horse, Boone, all day.”
Hoyt leans down to the river and does the same with his prism.
“Not Blackwater?”
The indigo light from his necklace reminds me of the night sky. It’s incredible to see the brightness from a different perspective.
“I got Blackwater after my dad passed. I realized I had no idea what to do with all the money. So I bought three horses on the same day. More money than I’d ever spent at once.”
We’re both looking at each other’s light when we feel the prisms… they’re attracting each other, like two magnets. We let go of our hands and allow the prisms to get closer. And closer. Until they’re touching, the lights almost merging, and we’re standing only inches away from each other. I look into his eyes, and I almost forget I can’t touch him.
“It feels different,” he says.
“What does?”
“My body.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I’m around you, I feel… warm. Like I’m near a fireplace. But it stopped when the prisms… touched. I wonder if I can…” He’s about to touch my hand when I jump back, almost falling into the water myself.
“Don’t. Please. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m okay, Iris.”
“It’s not worth the risk.”
“I’d have to disagree.”
“I should go… change.”
