AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He makes a rumbling sound in the back of his throat and I realize I’ve been staring at his body for too long. But I can’t help it. His tight black tee strains against his chest with every irritated breath and my stomach dips.
I swallow thickly, clutching the book like a lifeline as I watch his sharp jaw tick in time with my racing heart. His black hair is still as unruly as it was when I met him, but now it’s pushed back, showing off his brutally handsome face. His thick brows are bunched, and his hazel eyes that flit from gold to green to brown are pinched tight as he glowers at me.
With high cheekbones, a slightly dimpled chin, and angles that could cut glass, Roman truly looks like the God he claims to hate. But to me, he’s always been more akin to an angel.
A fallen one, like Lucifer, but an angel just the same.
“Eve,” he grits out, finally speaking for the first time in…
How long have we been staring at each other? Crap.
“Why do you have that?” His voice is guttural, pained. It wrecks me and glues me back together all at once.
I don’t understand it.
Barely able to catch my breath from the sheer intensity of his overwhelming presence, I slowly push to my feet, remembering why he’s actually here. It’s not to check out his weird little stepsister, I know that, but sometimes I can’t help but imagine what that would feel like. We’re older now, at fifteen and seventeen, and lately, our age difference doesn’t feel so big. Especially at times like this.
Stepping forward, I push my shoulders back, forcing myself to stand strong before him. I had a reason for taking his cherished possession and over the weekend, I learned something about Roman.
We aren’t all that different.
And the insight, the thought provoking comments he made inside of The Brothers Karamazov, they were—incredible.
He’s brilliant and I don't think he has any idea.
Smiling up at him, I press the book to his chest. “I just had to know,” I say, proud when my voice doesn’t come out as a creepy, breathy whisper like it does in my head.
His eyes, so beautiful and different than any I’ve seen before, flit between mine as though he’s searching for something. His Adam's apple bobs and the tension straining his every muscle slowly begins to bleed out, spilling into me, infecting me like a disease, a sickness.
I want more.
“Know what?” he rumbles, his brows dropping even more in confusion.
This time, my smile, nor my confidence, is fake. I press the book harder into his unrelenting body, willing him to take it before I snatch it back. Slowly, his hands lift and his gaze drops.
As he cracks the book open, taking in my various pink notes, ones I was careful to make on stickies or in pencil, his fingers tighten.
“For years I’ve wondered what goes on inside your head,” I murmur, not wanting to scare him away. Roman is like a terrified deer in headlights, liable to spook at any sound or movement. “You’re so quiet, so content to be alone.”
“I’m not alone,” he chokes out, his grip practically tearing the book in half. “You ruined it.”
Ignoring the second part of his statement, I step closer, bringing our bodies mere inches apart. “Even in a room full of people, you’re alone,” I whisper. He flinches, slamming the book shut and snapping his eyes to mine. I swallow thickly. “You think no one notices, but I do. I see you.”
“Shut up,” he hisses.
Shaking my head, I press to my toes, reaching for his ear as though I have a secret, but really, I just need him to hear me—really hear me. “I see you, Ro. I’ve always seen you. But no matter how closely I looked, I could never figure out your secrets.” I blindly tap the book, squeezing my eyes shut. “I see them now.”
He practically chokes in response.
“I just wanted to feel close to you.” The words are barely a breath but as he sways into my body, I know he’s heard me.
With a sharp exhale, I step back. One step, two, until my legs are touching my bed. The distance kills me, but he needs it.
“It was amazing, by the way.” I point to the book and smile. “But there was a lot I didn’t understand. I left my questions on the notes and my ideas in the margins.”
“Why would you—” He breaks off, shaking his head. “Wait, you read the entire thing? In three days?”
Smiling widely, I drop onto my bed and scoot back, my phone already in my hand. “What, like it was hard?” Giggling, I respond to a text Oli sent, knowing I can’t push him too hard. Ro has to be the one to make the next move. “Let me know what you think of my notes. Especially the one on page two-eighty-six.”
