Did he really love me that much that he’d suck my own period blood off his fingers when he couldn’t pass a day without showering at least twice?
I couldn’t stop thinking about last night, yet neither of us said a word about it in the morning or all the way to school. I was afraid to ruin one of the most intense yet sweet moments of our relationship. At the same time, I wished he’d have expressed how he felt in his own way with words. Tirone’s silence always worried me.
As I hopped off the back of his bike, I smiled at him, hoping he’d break the silence. He took off his helmet and shades and gazed at me. The beauty of his eyes distracted me for a moment. He opened his mouth, and my heart raced with anticipation.
“See you in class, Ms. Lazzarini.” That was all he volunteered.
I blinked once and waited, most likely for something he’d never say, but I did anyway. A few heartbeats later, I decided I was making a fool of myself by standing there, overthinking for no reason. He was just caught in the moment or he read about it in one of my books and thought to try it. Or even better, therapy was working after all.
With a curt nod, I twisted to leave. Suddenly, out in the open, his hand caught mine and squeezed. My eyes darted around to see if anyone on campus was paying attention.
“It’s taking all my willpower not to kiss you right now,” he whispered, slipping a piece of paper in my hand. Then, without another word, he took off to his parking spot.
Adrenaline spiked through me. I hurried inside the building, my cheeks burning, a myriad of emotions and questions chasing after each other in me. I swallowed as I slid into the elevator. My colleagues threw their greetings in passing. I only nodded with formal smiles. I was itching to open the note.
When I reached the teacher’s room floor, I went straight to the bathroom and locked the stall. Then I smiled to myself, heart still racing, as I folded open the piece of paper.
No demon, obsession or sickness is bigger than you, for you are the queen of them all, their tamer, their conqueror and the cure.
Emotion flooded from my eyes as a huge smile stretched over my face. I held the note to my heart as if I was holding him. My first love, my owner and dream catcher, the boy who turned me into a woman.
There was beauty in Tirone that no one understood but me. I wished the whole world could see him the way I did, love him the way I did. He was a flower in which lay both medicine and thorns, beauty and poison, sweet and toxic. And I, willing and desperate, loved him in the light, and I died for him in his dark.
I peered at the note again and found another line written down.Go to your desk. There’s a box waiting for you. Open it as soon as you find it.
A surge of happiness engulfed me. I practically ran to the teacher’s room. Inside, they were staring at me longer than usual, shit-eating grins on their faces. I ignored them as usual, too happy to even think twice. Then, as I reached my desk, I halted in place, the mystery behind their welcoming gone.
A huge box wrapped in a bow stood tall on my desk, swallowing it. My heart skittered. I was so excited to open it and see what was inside, but at the same time wondered if I should open it in private. They were all looking, and knowing Ty, it could be something intimate…or scary…or both.
He told you to open it. He won’t embarrass you in public.I was too excited to care. I wanted to know what he got me. Quickly, I tore down the bow and opened the box.
A gasp escaped me. “Oh. My. God. Oh my God!” My fingers dove inside the box, grabbing each book of what seemed like at least fifty, feeling the covers and touching the paper. Laughing under my breath, I sifted through the stacks. These were books from the signing event.
Ty, you beautiful soul.He must have known I didn’t get to buy anything at the event. But how did he know these were exactly what I wanted to get? Only five times more what I’d planned to get. I squealed another laugh as I found one more note.
Every book you touched now is yours. Like I am, yours.
I put my hand over my mouth, happy tears misting my eyes. First, what happened last night and now this? How did he know? I didn’t see him at the event at all. He must have been following me, watching carefully as always.I love you, Ty. I love you.
P.S. lunch together at the lake. Bring a book or two.
“He got her books,” someone murmured in the background.
“Does he even know how to read?” another snickered.
They were talking about Laius. My biker ol’man. The thug that terrified them. They didn’t know the truth. They didn’t know anything. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t tolerate a bad word about my husband.
I put the note inside and covered the box before I turned and looked at the nosy teachers scattered around me as they pretended to mind their own business. “We all judge a book by its cover, but only a few dare take a leap of faith and dive in a story blind. Even fewer get to find hidden gems in the rough pages. Those are the lucky ones. I know I am, because in my story, he takes her to buy all the books she wants, reads her favorite scenes with her and reenacts them with his pierced ten-inches.”And make that two-fold.
Gasps and glares and coughs shot at me as I carried my box and myself proudly out of the room.
CHAPTER 12
Jo
We rode to the woods by the lake for lunch. His favorite spot. We went there a lot, but he gave me another surprise when I found a picnic all set, waiting for us. He was spoiling me. All this because of the reading funk and the nightmare?
He gestured at the blanket sprawled under the tree. Then he took my hand and kissed it. “My lady.”
