Page 52 of Falling Into Forever
My fists press into the flesh around my hips as I watch him. The crinkles at the corner of his eyes become more pronounced, and they damn near sparkle, or maybe twinkle. Whatever it is, they freaking shine like a disco ball.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I did,” he says calmly—too calmly. It makes me decidedly un-calm.
I stretch my eyelids wide and give him my best “and?” expression while my chest vibrates uncomfortably. That makes the corners of his lips twitch.
And he still doesn’t say anything.
“Well?” My voice is two octaves too high and a lot of decibels too loud.
“Here’s the thing. No matter what I say, you’re going to have a comeback. That’s your thing. You’re sassy when you’re uncomfortable. You retreat if it makes you feel safe. So, instead of responding to all your…” He scans the room like he’s searching for a word.
“Issues?” I offer.
“Points,” he counters. “Instead of addressing each point, I’ll say this—you are more than the sum of your parts. You have anxiety, but you also have strength. You have depression, but you also have love.”
“But Poppy. And—And Trent…”
“All points that need to be addressed. But the one I’m starting with is us.”
My grip tightens around my necklace until the cool metal bites into my hand, and then he’s there, opening my fist and gently caressing the skin of my palm with his thumbs.
I forgot how touchy-feely he is. And like when I was fifteen, I don’t hate it.
“I believe in Kate’s plan, with one minor adjustment I haven’t told you about yet.”
He starts tracing slow circles around the sensitive skin on my wrist, and it’s hard to focus on anything else.
“Hmm,” I say when he seems like he’s waiting for me to say something.
“We’ll go along with Kate’s plan. We’ll show the world who we are. And while we’re doing that, I’ll get you to fall back in love with me—for real.”
He smirks. Of course, he smirks. He doesn’t doubt that I love him. What he’s really saying is that he’s going to wear me down until we’re so entwined with each other that we don’t know where one ends and the other begins—again.
Falling back in love with him isn’t the issue here. It’s that this time when I fall, and he realizes the damage I carry is too much, there won’t be anything left of me to catch.
“Trust me, sweetheart. From this day forward, always trust me.”
CHAPTER14
DANTE
Saylor stumbles out of her room. It’s become quite the morning ritual. But today, she stalls in the doorway, so I hurry to close the laptop with Trent’s new media stunt and Malimar’s latest smear campaign. I’ve just closed out of the last webpage when a loud noise echoes in the room.
“Did…was that…?” I ask as my mouth hangs open.
She covers her mouth with both hands and shakes her head wildly. But she’s also shaking like she’s holding in laughter.
Her face turns so red I fear she’s not breathing. Finally, a laugh escapes as she breaks wind, and then it’s a symphony of laughs and farts.
Tears wet her cheeks, but she doesn’t stop laughing. “Why?” she says, doubling over and gripping her stomach. “Why do I have the humor of a ten-year-old boy? Why do farts have to be so funny?”
With no idea what to say, I shrug and laugh too. It takes her a full minute to get herself together, but when she does, her morning grouchiness falls back into place.
Maybe mornings are like hangovers to her. That’s how it looks, anyway.
She angles her face toward the floor and shakes her head. “Don’t. Say. Anything,” she grumbles. “I forgot you were here.”
