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A skitter of nerves rushed over her, along with relief. So they were never a thing? Gwen couldn’t help the little smirk of satisfaction that spread over her lips at how definitively he’d said it. Like the very idea of it was unpleasant.
Her smile evaporated the moment she realized how pathetic she was being. Just because Sirus wasn’t into Abigail didn’t mean he was into her. In fact, Gwen was entirely positive his only interest was getting her out of his hair. Flustered and a little embarrassed, she wandered further into the twisting shrubs. “Well, she clearly had a thing for you,” she added, apparently not able to let it drop.
Sirus entered the maze casually with his hands clasped at his back. “Does her interest bother you?” he asked blandly.
Gwen flushed. “No,” she lied, trying to sound as cool as a cucumber. She hit a dead end in the maze and turned back around. “I was just surprised when she said it. It was weird, the idea of you two—you know—together.” Why was she still talking about this?
He continued to move lazily through the maze, while Gwen, in her distraction, got tripped up and had to turn back around again. “Weird in what way?” he asked coolly, only a hedge away from her now.
Ruffled, she pressed along in the opposite direction from him. “It just is,” she huffed nervously. “Abigail is nice and all, but she’s—a lot. More than a lot. I just couldn’t see it—you and her.” Damn. She hit another dead end and turned.
“Is that so? And what type of woman could you see me with, exactly?”
Had he seriously just asked her that? Gwen was pretty sure that even if a blizzard started to dump snow over her head she would be burning up. “I-I don’t know,” she stammered. She did know. Her. That’s who. She cursed at herself; her breaths were coming shallower now. This was ridiculous. Stupid. “It’s none of my business,” she added harshly.
Gwen’s heart was slamming in her chest when she hit another dead end and spun around to find the way out. Sirus was standing only a few feet behind her, blocking her path, looking right at her. All dark and ominous and maddeningly attractive. Her knees wobbled.
“You’re anxious,” he pointed out once more, a touch of something dark in his tone. Gwen couldn’t help but feel like a cornered rabbit. A rabbit now trapped by a hungry wolf. She swallowed, and he tilted his head in that animal way of his.
Failing. She was failing at her plan. Miserably failing. An F wasn’t far enough down the alphabet for the level of failure she was. “It’s this stupid maze,” she half lied. Her nerves ratcheted so far up, she felt like her skin was going to burst.
Sirus’s eyes shimmered silver in the ray of moonlight that fell over his face. The way he watched her seemed to suck the air out of the space between them—which was ridiculous since they were literally standing outside. A soft breeze rustled his dark hair and the soft curls around his ears. Gwen bit her lip and fidgeted, not sure if she wanted him to move away or come closer.
Closer. Definitely closer.
Hell.
The muscle in his neck tensed before he looked to his left, toward a tall line of hedges in the distance. The moment he did, she let out a breath she’d not realized she’d been holding. “There’s a large fountain in the center of the garden,” he said, thankfully changing topics. “Would you like to see it?”
Yes. Anything to get out of this damned maze. “Fine.”
Sirus turned and made his way easily through the maze and out onto the main path. Gwen followed with embarrassed frustration, trailing several feet behind him, her cheeks burning, grumbling curses under her breath. They walked along in silence again until Gwen’s skin began to cool and her nerves began to settle back down. She hated that she got so worked up around him. She was embarrassed that she’d sounded so childish talking about Abigail. She really was pathetic. This crush was pathetic. Gwen never felt this way about guys. She hadn’t even really been super into Nathan when he’d asked her out. Though to be fair, Sirus wasn’t a normal guy. And, weirdly, he’d probably paid her more compliments, as strange as they were, than any guy she’d actually dated.
Gwen followed behind him, watching him as he walked. He was a weirdo, sure, but at least he didn’t make her feel like crap about herself. Actually, Sirus made her feel almost…good. Or at least less like she was drowning. He didn’t say things just to try and make her feel better like Barith and Levian did; he said things because he meant them. With a soft sigh, she shuffled a little closer to him. It wasn’t his fault she thought he was hot. It wasn’t his fault she kept reading into everything he said. In truth, Gwen thought he was trying to be nice to her in his own dark, vampiric way, and she appreciated it.
“So, I take it Abigail used to throw some wild parties,” she said, trying to force some kind of casual conversation.
“She did,” he confirmed.
“Did you ever go to them?”
“I did.”
Gwen slowed. “Really?”
He looked at her over his shoulder. “When it was necessary. Abigail likes to barter attendance for favors.”
So he went because he’d been forced. That made a little more sense, she guessed. “It’s a little hard to imagine—you at some wild party,” she confessed.
“Is it?”
She let out a tiny, sarcastic laugh. “Well—yeah.”
“Do you enjoy them?”
Gwen squinted at his back. “Parties?”
He nodded.
