Page 142 of The Addict

“Will you come to the party as my date, Delane?”

Chapter thirty-nine

Split

NOAH

In my mind, Delane and I danced.

I was twirling her around, her smile growing brighter and brighter with each spin. I clutched her close to me, admiring her beauty, her red hair twisting around my fingers. I loved the fact that I was so close to her. I wondered, did she like to dance? Her aura radiated joy.

“Where are you, Noah?” she asked sweetly, eyeing me with a degree of worry.

“Right here,” I assured her.

“Noah?” She asked again, and the whole daydream began to melt. The green eyes turned blinding grey. I was with Silas, I remembered. Our late nights had become pretty regular in terms of meeting up. Reaching him was challenging enough, but the thrill and fulfillment of our time together more than made up for the effort of getting there.

Silas stared at me quizzically, his wayward eyes penetrating my view.

“Where did you go?” Silas asked, a fixed smile resting on his lips.

I blinked, closing my eyes to escape his conviction. “I haven’t moved.”

Silas chuckled. “You’re an idiot. I meant your thoughts. You were daydreaming.”

“I was not.”

I opened my eyes to peer at him. He was ready to challenge that. “Oh, really now? Then what were we just talking about?”

I struggled to think back. “Well…” I cleared my throat. “We were talking about–”

“No, Noah,” Silas said with a smirk. “We weren’t talking about anything.” He pressed his mouth against mine roughly, but before I could return the gesture, swiftly pulled back. “We were making out, and you just,” he licked his lips sensually. “Vanished on me.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I was unaware of how consumed I had become by my own rambling thoughts.

Silas shrugged. “I guess I forgive you.”

“You guess?”

Silas said nothing, only stared at me. I started to learn that his silence was a window into understanding his emotions. When something bothered him, he would withdraw away from the world. Being suspended between the uncertainty of what to say, do, or how to resolve the situation really irritated me. I wasn’t sure exactly how to approach it, but I knew that if I didn’t figure it out, Silas would fester.

“What is it, Silas?” I wanted to know.

“I want us to go somewhere tomorrow.” He spoke suddenly, brushing his hand against mine.

I was taken aback by the abrupt change of topic. My brain whirled. “What do you mean?”

Silas frowned, and I watched the gears turning in his head as he contemplated his next words. “What I mean is…I want to take you out somewhere.”

I snorted. “You sound like you’re asking me out on a date.”

There was a long pause of silence. Too long for my liking. “Are you asking me on a date?” I asked, bewildered.

Silas looked to the side. Was he nervous?

“We don’t have to call it—” he hesitated, and his shaky breath made my heart pound. “Well, yeah, I guess I am asking you on a date.” He dipped his head slightly, returning his concentration to me, to my eyes that were probably as wide as saucers. “How about…dinner?”

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. It took me at least a minute to assure myself that I hadn’t actually fallen asleep and was dreaming of this conversation. Silas Thorne, taking me on a dinner date? Impossible. “You know we couldn’t do that, Silas.”