His thumb runs gently along the back of my hand and unhelpful shivers travel down my spine.
With more earnestness than my currently hormone riddled self probably deserves, he adds, “I’m sorry for how I did things.” He pauses, picking his words carefully, then continues, “If you don’t want me as your mate…we’ll find a way to sever your bond to me. But I…if you can stand it, please…let me keep mine with you.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” I say sadly, retrieving my hand from his grip. “You’ve only known me a couple of months. You might change your mind.”
“I won’t,” he states with far too much certainty for my poor, battered heart.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I nod, unsure how else to reply. Before I escape down the hall, I hazard one last painful question. “Are you sure it’snotbecause of the Call?”
“This isn’t the Call,” he promises, longing already weighing on him with the hint of my departure.
“How do you know?” I whisper, aware that my own fears are on open display for him. The fear that none of this is real, that his love is a fluke, and something outside himself is forcing him to care for me.
“Just do,” he answers unhelpfully, then plants a soft kiss against my lips, and reluctantly closes the door.
I could be making out with Connor right now. An extremely attractive guy that makes my heart flutter in erratic beats and my body hum with a single smile. Instead, I chose to be alone to maturely process my feelings before diving into a relationship with him.
My fingers touch my mouth, as if I can keep his kiss from escaping. Memories of our night together play along my skin so viscerally, I can still feel the heat of his breath as his kisses trailed up my stomach.
I’m an idiot.
Flustered and grumpy, I wander into the main room of the penthouse where Kaleb and Felix are sitting on the couch watching a movie.
Kaleb takes one look at me and leaps to my side, wrapping an arm around my waist to lead me to the couch. “Callie, are you alright?”
“Yup, uh-huh,” I croak, with awareness still tingling along my body, which leaning into Kaleb’s heavily muscled form is really not helping. “It’s just, um, a little warm. It’s warm, right?”
“Not particularly,” he replies, then places his hand to my forehead. “But you’re burning up. Sit down. I’ll get you some water.”
“You don’t have to…” I trail off as he hurries over to the kitchenette.
When I flop onto the weird, S-like couch, Felix gives me his sweet smile that makes me wish he was flesh and blood. A strong part of me wants to curl up in his arms like we have in my dreams.
“Are you okay, pretty girl?” he murmurs, his fingers sliding over until they’re an inch or so away from mine.
“Not even remotely,” I lament, releasing a laugh that only continues to confirm how nuts I am.
“Sorry, dumb question,” he mutters, and without thinking, I reach for him when he tries to pull away.
It lasts for only a moment. Not even a full breath. But for that single second, my hand catches around his wrist, holding him in place.
“Holy shit,” Felix hisses, staring with wide eyes where my hand is now going through his. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I stutter, snapping back my hand that now feels like I’ve dropped it in ice water. “You were…I didn’t want you to go.”
Felix ducks his head, rubbing at the back of his neck, and gives me another flash of that smile that seems to make the whole world okay. He shifts closer to me, his hazel eyes searching mine, and my stomach does a low flip. Which is really my problem. How do I say yes to one of them, when all of the guys can have this affect over me?
“Do you think you could do it again?” he whispers hopefully.
I shrug helplessly and answer, “I don’t know. I’m not exactly sure how I did it the first time.”
“We could practice,” Felix suggests, then noticing Kaleb’s imminent return, adds, “Later.”
Kaleb gives us both curious glances before handing me a glass of water and settling down on the couch beside me.
“How are you feeling?” he inquires gently, because normal people would be curled up in the fetal position after the day I’ve had. They certainly wouldn’t be contemplating their love lives, and how for a split second they could touch a ghost. Well, okay, normal people may still focus on the second one.
After I take a sip of water, I question, “Is it okay to say I have no idea?”
