“You did nothing wrong, my sweet Rami. It is I. I cannot bear to be touched,” my voice trails off and I mentally scold myself.
Remnants of a tortured past flit across my mind, and I physically recoil from the reminder.
“Why not?”
From one blink to the next, the distance between us lessens, though I don’t remember moving. My eyes bounce around his face that’s twisted in concern. I open and close my mouth, trying to utter the words I am trapped by. Though nothing emerges until the fourth try. Unfortunately, it’s not coherent.
“I am cur-cur-cur–,” I finally manage to whisper and cringe. I sound like an imbecile. “Cur–” I try again and give up.
“Cur–” Rami’s voice trails off and I can nearly hear the wheels of thought turning. “Curved?” he tries first, and I shake my head. “Curious?” Another shake. “Cursive? Curtained? Curfew?” More shakes. “Cursed?” he finally shouts, eyes widening with excitement.
“Yes,” I answer shamefully. My head lowers, avoiding his look of derision or pity. I am too old for either.
Chapter 13
Rami's POV
Cursed.
I’d been trying to pass off the electric buzz through my fingers as a simple static shock. But, nope. He’scursed.
I swallow loudly, Adriel’s mesmerizing amber eyes tracking the movement and making my mouth dry up like the freakin’ Sahara. He’s so close, I can feel the heat radiating off his body. Granted, this proximity is all my fault since I’m the one who moved closer to him. Drawn to him like a gravitational force I can’t fight—don’twantto fight. It does things to my body—swoopy feelings in my tummy.
Making the urge to close the distance and press my lips to his unrelenting. Though after watching his reaction to our fingers barely touching, I’d hate to see how much pain a kiss will cause him. And that’s not something I’d ever do to him willingly.
I cannot bear to be touched.
His words repeat in my head and I want to console him but I don’t know how. Would he even appreciate the effort? Well, this relationship just got a million times more complicated. If a relationship is what I can call this.
But when I meet those piercing eyes, I know that’s what I’m hoping for. Not even a romantic one, but another friend would be nice. I’m certain Abraham wouldn’t mind sharing the burden that is me. That’s if Abraham and I are even still friends after we left things in sort of a precarious position.
Taking a deep breath, I steel my nerves to at least try to play nonchalance. “Wh-who cursed you?” My eyes widen as the words emerge past my lips.Shit, is that rude to ask?
Adriel sighs loudly and stands up, putting his back to me. “The who is unimportant.” Something tells me that is not true and that he’s hiding something from me. Not that I have any right to be surprised by his mistrust; we don’t know each other.
My eyes still refuse to look away from the mesmerizing man before me. His back is covered in even more markings and sigils I don’t recognize aside from the phases of the moon down his spine. He stands there for several breaths before walking away and returning to his flowers.
Dread fills me, watching him pull even further away from me. Not even giving us a chance to know each other. Honestly, what should be even more disconcerting to me is that I care. But I can’t deny the sharp agony in my chest as he forces distance between us.
“Wait!” I shout, leaving my fate in his hands.
I leap off the chair and regret it as my ankle screams out in pain, nearly forcing me to crumble. Managing to catch myself before I eat dirt, I limp after him.
It takes me a little longer than normal as I navigate his flowers with my injury. I definitely don’t want to topple over, let alone fall and damage his plants. Based on the level of care he paysthem, they must be special to him. By the time I catch up with him, he’s already on his knees and yanking out weeds again.
“It’s important because if it’s a curse, then there has to be a way to break it. Right?” My voice is gentle, yet probing. I want to learn more, but I don’t want to keep pushing him away.
He sits back on his heels with an exasperated look, glaring directly at me. “Did you read that in a book somewhere?” he snaps.
My jaw drops open and I step back as if he struck me. “That was uncalled for,” I mumble. I have to quietly clear my throat so he doesn’t hear the sheer amount of emotion his words have caused.
The grimace that’s curled up his features relaxes and his cheeks darken with blush. At least he has the decency to look sorry, even if he doesn’t say as much. “I only told you so you’d know there can be no future here. So you should return to your life and leave me in peace.” His tone is soft, yet commanding.
Let’s ignore the fact that he didn’t actuallytellme anything. I had to guess.
But if I focus more on his hunched shoulders and the muscles twitching in his cheeks than his words, I can see the mountain of burden weighing him down. And, once again, I find myself needing to console him with zero clue how to do it.
He returns to his task of gardening, further proving this conversation is over. At least it may be in his mind. And his blatant dismissal raises the hackles along the back of my neck.
