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“Think what you want,” I said on a low growl. “Tell yourself all of it was just a way to get you into my bed. Try to forget what this felt like.” I pressed her body closer to mine for emphasis. “Try to make yourself believe you wanted me to let you go. Tell yourself you didn’t lean into me when I kissed you.”
“Those kisses meant nothing.” Her voice was a whisper, but she wasn’t able to cover the tremble in her voice. “We’ll forget about them by morning and go back to not speaking next week . . . and you know it.”
Lie.
“Got it.” I released her and took a couple steps away, then stopped and looked back at her. “Truth or dare.”
She clenched her jaw and didn’t say a word.
“Truth then,” I murmured, choosing for her, and closed the distance between us again. “You want me to kiss you again.”
She didn’t answer, and she didn’t need to. The longing that flashed through her eyes was the only answer I needed.
I couldn’t have fought the smile that spread across my face if I’d tried.
I leaned close to brush my lips against her jaw. “Looking forward to chasing you, Firefly.”
I turned and followed Johnny out of the alleyway, ignoring his hardened stare.
“Libby told me about her. When were you gonna tell me you’ve been watching this girl at Brooks, and why didn’t you point her out before?” When I didn’t respond, he said, “I don’t like that she’s always there on Mondays. There’s something about her, Dare. I don’t trust he—”
“I don’t care,” I said firmly. “What’s going on?”
He blew out a harsh breath and ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, his words nearly lost in the noises from the street fair. “Lily O’Sullivan.”
Just hearing her name made me see red. Made my entire world go dark again. Nothing but ice-cold rage roared through my veins, so different from the heated moments before.
But I’d already known that was why Johnny pulled me away. What I needed to know was what new leads we had in regards to this supposedly dead princess. “Right, what do we have?”
“Got someone waiting for you who has information—says he has a recent picture.”
I stopped dead in my tracks for all of two seconds before I began walking toward where we’d left the cars, this time faster than before. “Libby stays with the twins . . . Einstein comes with us. If there is a picture, it goes to her so she can make sure it’s legit and test it against other pictures of Lily. If this bitch is still alive, her breaths are numbered.”
Once I’d gotten away from the busy streets of town, the weight on my chest began easing. My feet started slowing until I was walking at a normal pace, and then strolling.
I’d been in a rush to get home so I’d taken shortcuts to make sure I got back before Conor. But with Holloway now just minutes away, I would’ve given anything to stop time and live in that moment.
Some part of me knew once I returned to Holloway, what happened between Dare and me would fade away as that invisible barrier formed between us again. Until he was nothing but a memory I confused as a dream. Until the idea of even speaking to him was nothing more than a fantasy.
It had to.
And I wanted to live in a world where that barrier didn’t exist for a little longer, where the possibility of touching him and kissing him was as real as every breath pushing from my lungs.
His words that I so badly wanted to believe were sincere. His hold that had been possessive and gentle. His kisses that were both demanding and pleading. The way his eyes had begged and danced. Most importantly, the way he’d tried to save me . . . and had let me go.
“After tonight, I know I would chase you, just for you to keep slipping away week after week. But I also know I would willingly do it just to keep seeing you light up the dark.”
My chest warmed at the memory of his deep, gravelly words. My heart thudded so hard it hurt.
But I welcomed it. I welcomed the hurt because it was such a sweet reminder that I was alive. That he’d set something inside me free.
The warmth fled my body, leaving a sickening chill when I glanced to the side as I started to cut across another street. I came to a stop in the middle of the road, and stared at the cemetery down the road.
I hadn’t been there for years—long before Aric had been murdered. And I’d ached to visit his grave. To say goodbye. To say I was sorry.
Kieran had always stopped me from going.
No matter how many times I’d told him I’d needed it to grieve the other brother I’d lost, he’d stopped me.
