Prime cleared his throat behind me.“We—uh—we don’t have to—”
Pearl waved him off.“You’re doing it.End of discussion.”
Anchor shook his head like a man defeated.“Christ.”
I stared at my hands, with my cheeks still flaming.
A movie night with Prime.Just us.
My stomach fluttered with nerves, and warmth twisted together in something soft and terrifying.
Prime shifted behind me, and his knee brushed my shoulder.
“Only if you want to,” he murmured.
I turned and met his eyes.
I did.God, I did.
“Yeah,” I whispered.“I want to.”
His lips twitched into the smallest smile.
Pearl clapped her hands once.“Perfect!Movie night it is.”
I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring or what the past would uncover next, but for tonight I wasn’t going to drown in memories or fear.
Tonight belonged to Prime and me.
And for the first time since stepping foot on this island, I was looking forward to something.
Chapter Thirteen
Prime
Shay fit against me like she’d been carved specifically for this couch, this room, this night, and for me.
The movie flickered across the dark room, throwing flashes of green and orange across her skin as a car exploded on-screen.Live Free or Die Hard.Good mix of action to distract us, humor to lighten the bullshit in our heads, and explosions to drown out any sound outside.
We were halfway through it with Bruce Willis blowing up half a city like it was just another Tuesday.Shay was curled into my side like she belonged there with her knees tucked up, head on my chest, and fingers hooked loosely in my shirt like she wasn’t even thinking about it.
I couldn’t focus on the movie.
Not when she was warm against me.Not when her hair brushed my chin every few minutes.Not when I kept catching the soft vanilla smell of her shampoo.
She didn’t know what she was doing to me.Or maybe she did.
Hard to tell with Shay.
The explosion on-screen faded into a quieter scene, and I reached for the remote to turn the volume down.
“You want popcorn?”I asked.
She tilted her head up toward me, those big green eyes widening at the question.Then she shook her head slowly.“No, I’m good.”
But there was something else in her eyes.Something that flickered and disappeared before I could reach for it.
I stared at her for a second.“You okay?”
