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He gave a half shrug. “It just wasn’t anything worth my time.”
I looked over to him, studying the profile that I’ve come to memorize. “Areanyof the offers worth your time?”
The muscle in Caius’ jaw tensed as he glanced to me, then back to the scene in front of him. “No.”
That was one of the many things I admired about him. He was so sure of himself, of everything in his life, and he had no time for bullshit.
But he had time for me.
And he had time to sit with me on the beach.
“When’s the last time you’ve been here?” I asked, gently nudging him with my shoulder.
Caius moved his hand up to his jaw, tenderly brushing his fingers against the dark stubble. “It’s been a long time.”
“And when’s the last time you’ve seen a sunset?” I asked. “Areal,cloudless, rainless sunset?”
A long, heavy pause weighted itself between us.
“Even longer.”
Even though I knew Caius didn’t mind it, my heart cracked at the monotony of his life.
Caius glanced back over to me briefly, and I could see his eyes fall down to my exposed shoulder. I watched as his gaze traced the tan line that ran across my skin, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
My darkening skin saw the sun long enough to change its color. It was from the same sun that never showed its face in Purgatory.
Mylifesaw the sun. A life that would never see the sun if I committed myself to Purgatory.
Part of me understood where Caius was coming from. If I were in his shoes, I would understand it even more.
But that didn’t stop me from disagreeing with him and his stance on me.
We both sat in the sand, watching as the sky slowly turned from blue, to red and pink, then to a deep shade of indigo. The blood-orange sun rested just above the horizon, easing its descension into nightfall. Rippling waves washed up onto the shore, creating an echoing soundtrack in the space around us.
“I want you to know, Celeste,” Caius began, breaking the silence and keeping his gaze on the sunset. “I’ll give you everything you want. Anything, it’s yours.”
I tore my eyes away from the beautiful colors in the sky to look at him. His face was tight, his expression was stoic, and I knew he was fighting something internally.
“And what if I only want you?”
Caius didn’t answer. There were probably a thousand thoughts treading through his mind, just like mine, and the ability to organize and silence them was pointless.
I didn’t want to think about the sand that was sure to be stuck to our feet as we made our way back to the car. I didn’t want to think about the ghosts we were going to see when we made it back to Purgatory. I didn’t want to think about the paper in Caius’ office that had my name, but didn’t have my blood.
So instead of talking, instead of focusing on the things we couldn’t change, we watched as the final sliver of sun faded into the depths of twilight, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Because, in that moment, that’s all we had.
Caius drove us back up the hills to Purgatory, his hand gripping the inside of my thigh the entire way. Without even blinking, he took the fogged turns with ease, not a single bit of hesitation in his drive. He had the path memorized from top to bottom, while every time I made the drive, I was still slipping off the road once in a while.
The road was still wet from the day’s rain as we approached the gate.
Lawrence greeted us from his usual post. “Good evening, Mr. Attila, Miss Castell.”
“Hi, Lawrence!” I shouted through the driver’s window, which Caius rolled down halfway.
“Everything okay?” Caius asked.
“Everything’s as good as can be, Mr. Attila.”
