Page 59 of Twisted Ties
I kick at a pair of balled of socks Pip must have snuffled from the wardrobe. “I’m in a bad mood, okay?”
“Because?”
I glare at her.
“Why don’t you call him? Tell him to come over.”
I consider insisting that the man in black is not the cause of my foul mood. But who am I kidding? And the incident with Tristan in the meadow has made everything worse. I don’t know what any of that meant.
And what I think it does mean can’t be right. It just can’t be. It is another case of me misunderstanding. Of not knowing what I should know.
However, what I do know for sure is that the pull of my bond in my gut is driving me half mad.
“Firstly, I’m pretty sure he isn’t allowed to ‘just come over’,” I say with even more irritation. “Secondly, it would start every tongue in this school wagging. Thirdly …” I throw my hands up in the air.
“Tongues are already wagging. And since when did you care?”
I shrug. “I don’t want to get him into trouble.”
Winnie snorts. “I don’t think the man in black worries about things like that. If you want him here, I’m pretty sure he’d break every rule and every door to get here.”
I bite my lip. The idea of that making my insides turn hot.
Can he feel that through the bond too?
Oh jeez.
“You know,” Winnie says, letting Pip climb onto her lap, “it’s like this at the start regardless of whether there is a bond involved.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when you’re first with someone – first in love–”
“I’m not in love.”
Winnie gives me a cynical look. “When you’re at the start like this, you’re so hot for one another you can’t stop thinking about each other, can’t keep your hands off each other. It’s kind of addictive.”
“Is it like that between you and Trent?”
“Rhi,” Winnie says with a coy smile, “did you really think I needed that bathroom break in the last period?”
I stare at her. “Oh my god, Winnie, you are way more devious than I imagined.”
“I can’t help it,” she says, sighing. “Like I said. It’s addictive.”
“It is,” I say. Then I glance at my friend. “But …”
“But?” she says, making kissy faces at Pip.
“Does it … do you …”
“You know you can ask me anything here, Rhi. I’m pretty sure I’m beyond shockable now.”
“You’re in love with Trent, right? And really hot for him?”
“Yeah.”
I decide to just come out with it. “Doyoustillfeelhotforotherguystoo?”
