Page 35 of Cursed
“Big deal.” Tara rested her chin in a hand. “Who cares if you know how to dance? And why not go with Brian? Just because y’all aren’t together anymore doesn’t mean you can’t still be friends, right?”
“Um.” Cringing, I dragged my gaze to hers. “I don’t think so.”
How much should I reveal about last night?
“Brian paid me a visit last night after work.” I scribbled into a notebook, not meeting her eyes. “And then he kissed me so hard he cut my lip.”
“What?” Her green eyes widened, and her tone flattened.
“He scared me.” I lifted the pencil to my mouth and chewed on the eraser, relieved I could confide in Tara and explain how I’d felt last night. “He’s never been violent before, and this time, he wouldn’t listen.”
“Was the bastard drunk?”
“He’d been drinking, but I don’t think he was as wasted as usual.” I shrugged.
“Oh my God.” She stretched out her hand and grasped my fingers. “Are you okay? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I didn’t have time. All I wanted to do was get as far away from him as possible. He pretended he’d wanted to take me to the masquerade, but I knew better.” I set down the pencil and sorted through last week’s notes. Even with my laptop, I still enjoyed handwriting class tidbits. It helped me recall what I learned.
“How’d you get away from him?” She squeezed my hand, forcing my attention back to her concerned face. “If he was being aggressive, I can’t imagine him willingly letting you go.”
Inside, I hesitated. I should’ve known her keen intuition wouldn’t miss a beat.
I dropped my gaze to stare at my writing, not really seeing what I’d written as I thought about how the short, dark stubble on Cain’s jawline seemed to sharpen its square shape. “There was this guy...”How do I tell her the whole story without sounding crazy? Especially if she finds out about how we met in the first place.
“Yes?” Her eyebrows lifted, and she pursed her lips. “Go on.”
“He sort of helped me.” A piece of hair fell into my face, and I swiped it from my forehead, taking extra time to shove it behind my ear.
She leaned into her chair and tilted her head to the side, her emerald eyes searching mine. “Some dude came out of nowhere and saved you from Brian’s drunk ass like a hero?”
“The hero part might be a bit much.” Thinking about Cain’s dark presence, how I could have sworn black, wispy fingers of power pulsed from his body, I snickered, then traced an infinity symbol in the column of my notes. “He didn’t even break a sweat.”
Even though Cain had shown his criminal tendencies by stealing my necklace, he’d turned it around andhadbecome an unlikely hero. On one hand, I wanted to throttle the man by the throat, even though I barely knew him, and on the other, an urge to kiss his face overcame me.
And then there’s this feeling of déjà vu when I’m near him, as if we’ve met before.
My friend’s silence dragged me from my internal musings, and I glanced toward her.
“So, that’s it. The end of the story? He came out of nowhere, saved you, and disappeared again?” With narrowed eyes, she scoured my face, pouting her bottom lip.
“Pretty much.”You don’t know how close you are to the truth with your speculation,I thought. “Stop looking at me like that.” I wadded a piece of paper and threw it toward her chest.
“Like what?” She flicked the paper off the table, then unscrewed the cap on a bottled water. After gulping half the contents in five seconds, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and resealed the container.
“Like you always do when you think I’m hiding something.”
“Areyou?” she asked innocently.
“No.” I pulled out the syllabus for American History and pretended to scan the schedule for the week.
From behind me, several students arrived and pulled out chairs, the legs screeching across the wooden floor.
“Mmhmm.” She twisted a finger into her hair. “So, was this mysterious savior ripped and hot?”
“What?” Her question flustered me because Cainwasripped and hot, in a harsh, dark sort of way. But even through all the darkness, something deep inside of him seemed to scream, begging me to find the light in him and draw it out.
She chuckled then shook her head and stacked loose papers together. “Don’t play dumb with me. Your neck turned red and your cheeks caught on fire when you mentioned this guy.”
