Page 85 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“Come on,” Miles said, rubbing circles over my back. My nose was running, and I was sure I was crying. It must have been a terrible sight. But Miles didn’t seem to care.
“You’ll be okay,” he said, his voice clipped.
There was something different in his tone—in the way he touched me—that made the stone in my stomach settle further.
He was angry.
Once I could breathe normally again and my coughing subsided, he sat me up. His fingers shook as he gripped my shoulders.
“What were youthinking?” His eyes were piercing as he peered into my face. Water dripped from my hair, falling off mychin, and he lifted his hands to cup my cheeks. “Why would you do that?”
“Um…” My pulse stuttered and my mouth went dry. “I—” I began. I’d never seen this more aggressive side of him—except for maybe that time he was beating up his teammate. But not toward me. “You wanted the flower—”
“I don’t give afuckabout the flower,” he replied, mouth thinning. “Not if it meant anything happening to you. You could havedied.”
“I… I thought I could reach,” I admitted, and my skin flushed. I lowered my gaze, licking my lips, before I whispered, “I thought you might stay if you had it.”
There was a short pause, a hesitant motion of his thumbs over my cheekbone, before he finally let out a shuddering breath.
“Never, ever, do that again,” he said. He held his hand against the back of my neck as he pressed his forehead against mine.
My neck still felt hot with a radiating heat that moved to my eyes. “I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry too.” Miles sighed. “I never should have given you reason to worry. We both can take the blame for this one.”
“O-okay.” It wasn’t true, but if that’s what he wanted to think—sure.
“We’ll never find our way back tonight,” he added. His touch moved to my hips as he leaned back and looked toward the pink-red sky. “We’ve gone too far.”
“How—” I began, shivering. My clothes were damp and cold against my skin; with the lowering temperatures, we were sure to freeze. “How far do you think we’ve gone?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. He frowned, looking upstream, as he began to rub his hands down my arms. “We were washed downstream for a while—and might have fallen down a waterfall. Or something like that.”
I curled my fingers in my lap. “Something like that?”
I felt him nod against me. “And then we were dragged for a while before I could finally pull us out of the water.”
I blinked and looked around, properly taking in our surroundings for the first time.
The waters were calm, so any waterfall we’d fallen off was already far away. Our surroundings were peaceful. If we weren’t in mortal peril and hopelessly lost, it might actually be a pleasant location.
“It shouldn’t be too dark tonight,” Miles said, still holding me against him. “We’re three days from the full moon, and the moonrise is soon after dark. But we need to make a plan and get warm.”
“A plan…” This pulled at my attention, and I put my hand over his chest, pushing back until I could meet his eyes.
He looked terrible, although his hair still seemed to be in that controlled, messy style he usually wore. I was beginning to suspect that the entire look wasau naturel. But it was his eyes and his face that got to me.
There was a gash over his chin, curving upward and to the right over his dimple until it stopped in the middle of his cheek, and his left jaw was already turning a nasty purple. I lightly traced my fingers over the unmarred edge of the wound, and he flinched.
“Bianca?” he asked, covering my hand with his.
“You might scar,” I whispered. My shirt was already torn, and I moved to my knees and pulled off a piece of the cloth before holding the fabric to his face. My own body ached, but it was nothing in comparison.
“I don’t care.” He moved his hands down my arms. His worried gaze passed over me. “Areyouokay?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, trying not to give in to my guilt. This was all my fault. How could he be so worried about me at a time like this?
I reached for him, an indescribable urge washing over me, needing to check him for further injuries—nothing else, other than Miles being okay, would be able to settle the knots twisting in my stomach—but he released me then, moving to his feet with a stiff slowness.
