Page 38 of Ravaged From Fate

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, freaking no.

“I’m so sorry,” I stammer to Caspian, shaking my head furiously. I take a step back from him, feeling his eyes on mine and wishing so desperately to simply… disappear. “I don’t know why I did that. I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry.”

But that is a lie. I know exactly what came over me. I so liked the way Caspian was standing there, looking at me, telling me I’m beautiful, that I simply couldn’t help myself.

I simply could not help myself…

The way he’s been talking on our walk. How open. How vulnerable. How hard it must’ve been for him to be like that with me. That bareness of his soul and the way he showed it to me made my heart yearn for him. Him talking about his mother… his passion for drumming… Is that all it takes for a man to be before I’m trying to suck his face off?

I better get a grip on myself.

“It’s fine,” Caspian says to my ramblings. Yet again, he is unreadable. He’s either deeply insulted that I just tried to kiss him or he’s willing and eager for round two. I literally don’t know.

He did just tell me he finds me beautiful, that counts for something…

But, oh my God, the cringe of what I just did makes me want to run away and hide in a hole in the ground for a hundred years. The audacity of my boldness to assume I could kiss him.

“Please let’s forget about it,” I beg.

“If that’s what you want.”

“Please.”

Caspian laughs. A big hearty laugh. He’s finding this… funny?

His laugh is infectious, and soon I find myself laughing along.

It’s been a long time since I’ve kissed a man. Caspian’s lips were softer than I thought he’d be.

“I should take you home,” Caspian says.

“I think you’re right.”

We turn from the impressive view and begin our long journey back down the main road into East Springs.

“How about you tell me about your life,” Caspian suggests. “Seeing as I’ve told you mine.”

“I have a slight feeling that you haven’t told me much at all,” I reply.

“We all have our past, and I don’t usually tell others about what happened to me,” he says. Yeah, understatement of the year right there. “What I’ve just told you is nearly more than I’ve told anyone else.”

“It is?”

“How about you tell me your past, Elsa?”

I shrug. “I’ve lived in East Springs all my life.”

“You haven’t left? Even for university?”

“I was able to do it remotely from the clinic,” I explain. “I can’t leave because of how many people depend on me, including the doctor. In fact, I’ve never even left the state.”

“That’s crazy,” Caspian says. “So, your family is still in town?”

“Yes. It’s a funny thing, that. Family. I’m actually adopted.”

Caspian raises his eyebrows. “You are?”

“Yeah. It’s weird saying that to someone. Everyone in East Springs knows each other’s life stories, so I’ve never really had to tell that to someone before. It’s something I don’t think about much.”