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“I hate you,” I tell him for what must be the tenth time today.
“Keep telling yourself that, love. Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.” Simon gathers our trash and carries it over to the nearest bin. He points to the can of soda. “You done with your pop?”
“My what?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, are you done or not?”
I rise from my seat and grab thesoda. “Did you just call thispop?” I walk over to him. “Simon fucking Beckett, you did just saypop?”
“Pop, soda, whatever the fuck you want to call it, are you done?”
I laugh and shake his shoulder. “Are you from Ohio or something?”
“June, I’m going to take back my vow and murder you right here if you don’t give it up.”
His persistence only makes me laugh harder.
“This is the best day of my life.” I toss the can into the trash. “There, I’m done with mypop. Are you satisfied?”
Simon latches onto my hand and spins me toward him. “You’ll know when I’m satisfied.”
I press my palms against his chest, the warmth of him coursing through me. Jesus Christ, I cannot be this close tothisman. He’s sinful and alluring, and if I’m not careful I will get caught in his flame, burning us all to the ground.
“You have an eyelash.” Simon picks it off my cheek, his finger like cool electricity along my skin. “Make a wish.”
I purse my lips together, forming said wish in my mind, and blow gently, but enough to send the thing flying.
He swallows, and with one hand still holding me close to him, asks, “What did you wish for?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t come true.” I should move from his grasp, but instead, I stay firmly in place, a strange comfort coming over me with his nearness that I’m not ready to give up just yet.
“If you told me, maybe I could help make it come true.” Simon brings his hand toward my face, hovering it just along the edge of my skin. His green eyes dart from my eyes, to my lips, back to my eyes.
Green, an eye color to signify greed, malice, danger. Sure, they’re fucking radiant, but they’re capable of mesmerizing and distracting me from the fact that Simon is still the enemy.
Being this close to him isn’t only distracting, it’s wrong.
I wiggle out from under his hold. “That’s not how wishes work, Simon Beckett.”
It’s fun playing with fire, but soon enough, someone is going to get burnt.
"So tonight," Simon doesn't push the issue anymore and allows me to escape with my wish tucked deep inside me. "Do you have a baseball cap?"
8
SIMON
Ishould be nervous because I’m breaking the rules, but instead, I’m anxious for an entirely different reason. I pace outside her bedroom door, waiting for her to finish getting ready.
I try to think about all the ways tonight could play out, coming up with backup and escape plans, excuses and cover-ups. The guys can't find out where we went or they'll murder both of us for sure.
But they can’t continue to keep June under a rock, tucked away in some massive tower where she’s withering away from stress and neglect. It’s not in my job description to notice these things, but there’s no way I could ignore the truth of the situation.
And the longer they ignore her wants and desires, the worse things are going to get. For her, for them, for all of us.
Someone has to be the man she needs, and if they won’t do it, I will.
June steps into view—tight black pants, a matching fitted tee, her obsidian hair straight and cascading down her back. She glances over at me, and I try to pick my jaw up off of the floor.
