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“I got in a fight,” I say, lifting my tee to show her the bruises.
“Jesus!” She reaches out to touch but stops herself. “Do you get in many fights?”
I pause, wondering if she’s judging me or genuinely concerned. “I don’t seek them out if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m not,” she rushes out. “This just looks more like—” Buttercup pauses, cutting herself off, but I can finish for her.Abuse. It looks like I was beat up. And she’s not wrong.
Our eyes lock and whatever she sees in mine has her expression turning to anger. “Who?” she snaps, like she’s protecting me, making me swallow back a laugh.
I shake my head without answering and her eyes flash to Tate, the glare she gives him highlighting her thoughts.
“It’s not him,” I say, but it’s obvious she doesn’t believe me, so for some stupid reason, I decide to be honest. “He’s been there too,” I say, referring to Tate. Although, he found a way to avoid it.
Buttercup frowns. “And you said he’s your foster brother?”
“I did.”
Her eyes widen as a gasp escapes her, easily forming the correct conclusion.My foster dad. Not that “Dad” is the right word for him.
“Have you told anyone?”
“There’s no point. They always put it back on the kids. It’s happened to me before, and if they move me somewhere else, it could happen again.”
At this point, I’m just accepting it in the hope that he messes up in another way, so Tate and I get moved. But I can't see that happening anytime soon. I think the little luck I had has run dry.
“God, I feel like such a bitch foreverthinking I had a bad home life,” Buttercup says as her eyes flash with guilt. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Don’t. Don’t do that. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad. In fact, I don’t even know why I told you.” Except that I get this feeling we’re the same. That deep down, we’re both just trying to make it through this life as we wait for the next one. I’ve seen it in her eyes. The longing. The sadness.
Buttercup smiles as she takes a step closer, her hand brushing against mine. “Maybe you trust me,” she says with a slight lift of her shoulders. “Or maybe you feel the same connection I do?” The slightest pink tinge flushes across her cheeks, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
“Or maybe it’s both,” I rasp, hesitantly connecting our fingers without drawing attention to it.
Yes, we’ve been talking since she arrived on the mountain, and it feels like we know each other, but this is still only the first time we’ve had a conversation. Though, there’s no denying the connection. I’ve felt it since the first time I saw her.
“Robin…” she whispers, trailing off, making me once again regret playing the fake name game. I want to hear her call me Jesse. I want to hear my name whispered from her lips as I make her mine.
“Buttercup—”
“I think you should kiss me,” she rushes out and I freeze. Fuck, I want that. But—
“Don’t think about the reasons you shouldn’t… and just do it,” she adds, cutting me off.
Well, okay then.
Leaning forward, I brush my lips slowly against hers, testing it out a couple of times, before deciding not to waste what will likely be my one shot. When she figures out that my life is so much worse than I admitted, she’s going to run for the hills. Or down them in this case.
Pulling her close, I sink my free hand into her hair and angle her face toward me, staring into her striking green eyes as I ignore the images that try to push themselves into my mind.
I’ve just leaned in to kiss her again when we hear raised voices from behind us and spring apart.
“Fuck, are they arguing?” Buttercup asks, her eyes flashing toward Tate and Lily. I haven’t been able to focus on anything other than Buttercup since she walked into the clearing, so I have no idea what’s happening between them.
But when I look over and see Tate pocket something, I internally cringe. Motherfucker. I know exactly what he’s doing.
“It definitely looks heated. But—”
“We’re leaving!” Lily yells as she marches toward us, aggressively grabbing Buttercup’s wrist to pull her away.
