Page 259 of Fangs
“That was fuckin’ amazing,” he finally murmured.
“That piercing is…real nice,” I grinned.
He finally grinned back, a little bit of the smug cockiness returning. “I know.”
I rolled my eyes, but I huffed a laugh.
“Gods, your smile,” he said, brushing my wild hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear, “might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
I felt my cheeks warm, and he cradled my face with his hand. His eyes were soft, but there was still pain lingering there, and I couldn’t figure out why.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“No,” he said seriously, and my stomach dropped, “I’ve been fuckin’ devastated by my best friend’s little sister.”
“Don’t do that!” I smacked his shoulder as he laughed silently. “You scared me.”
He pulled me tight against his chest again, and I melted into him. His fingers traced gentle circles on my back, carefully going around my scars.
“You remember how Sable said massaging these scars might help?” he asked quietly.
I nodded, my stomach clenching at the memory—the horror in my brother’s face.
“I’d be more than willin’ to do that for you.”
I hesitated, insecurity raising its ugly head. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“It’s just…I know they’re…” I paused, remembering Trey’s words with a stab of pain. “… not pretty,” I finished lamely.
“They’re just scars, Freckles.”
I tilted my head up to see him frowning at me.
“I’m not put off by your scars if that’s what you’re asking,” he added, a corner of his lip twitching up. “Thought that was pretty clear.”
I huffed. “My shirt stayed on.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, so your bandage didn’t get fucked up.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,oh.” His face was a mask of disapproval.
I wrinkled my nose at his glare and started over. “That’d be nice…if you wanted to do that.”
“I’ll wait until the burn heals. Just in case massaging the scars makes them sore.”
“Ok,” I whispered.
My definition of “casual” was getting harder and harder to hold on to, but I pushed that thought away. We lay in silence for a long while, his fingers continuing to move across my back. My eyelids began to droop.
“Can you stay?” I mumbled, half asleep.
“I can’t stay the whole night,” he answered regretfully. “Too risky.”
I frowned, my arms tightening around him.
