“Are you scared of me, honey?”
“I’m not scared. I’m cautious. There’s a huge difference,” shenotes while scanning everything in close proximity, no doubt thinking of ways to defend herself if need be.
“And why are you being so cautious of me now?” I take another step, but the wall behind her prevents her from retreating any further. She’ll have to get inside the bathroom to escape me.
Not that she can ever really escape me.
“You’re here for payback, isn’t that right?” Summer says, her eyes flicking between the bathroom and the front door.
“Is payback the only reason you can think of for me being here?”
I edge closer, but she doesn’t dart for the bathroom.
“I don’t know. You tell me. What other reasons might there be?”
Does she really not see the effect she has on me? How fuckin’ bewitched I am by her?
“I’ll give you two reasons. One is the fact that you asked me a question, and I’m here to answer it.”
“Two questions,” she corrects, and I stop in my tracks, going through her messages in my mind, figuring out the second one.
“Oh, yeah. I haven’t fucked any men. But I do have an overwhelming urge to find the ones who have touched you and erase them.”
I close the distance between us until I’m standing in front of her, ready to pin her against the wall.
“You asked me what my favorite color is.”
“And you came all the way here to answer that in person?”
“I came to see that color again.”
One final step, and my chest is against hers. I slide my hands to those fists she’s clenching, forcing them to loosen while placing her arms on my shoulders. Encircling her waist, I pull her closer, pressing her body against mine. She is still tangibly wary of me, and her bunny-like breathing is a telltale sign of exactly how much. That’s on me. Last time I was kind to her, seconds later, I put a belt around her neck. It’s what she expects now. But I don’t want her to be on edge with me. Not anymore.
“I never had a favorite color, but as of late, I do. It’s blue. But not the blue of the ocean or of the sky, just the one of your eyes.”
She blinks once. Slowly.
“Oh, come on!Now I’m sure I damaged your head with that hit, when your little speech broke the scale for the cheesiest thing ever said.”
Her words come as a sharp contrast to the curled corners of her lips.
“Na-a-ah! There’s nothing wrong with my head,” I say, punctuating it with a jerky, tic-like head tilt, and a sweet laugh slips past her lips.
Summer’s hands caress the back of my neck, one of them slowly creeping up on my cheek, staying there in a gentle touch while her eyes flicker between my own and my lips, unable to decide where to settle.
“We do fit together, don’t we?”
“Perfectly!”
“And you’re really not here for a payback?”
“No more paybacks. You win.”
Her hand stills, and her eyes widen.
“I do? That easy?”
“Easy? You call what you put me througheasy?” I’m sure my voice channels my surprise enough in case my face doesn’t.
