Page 91 of Goodbye Note

“Not without warning me. I thought you abandoned me for Hael.”

I bit his shoulder. “Fuck you for that.”

He groaned, and it made me feel some sort of way. “Are you a biter now?”

“I have to set you straight somehow.”

“If that’s my punishment, I’ll have to fuck up more often.”

I bit him again. “You into that?”

He didn’t answer right away. “I told you before I was into marks. But honestly, who isn’t?”

“Plenty of people. I dated one. No biting whatsoever. She didn’t even enjoy kissing me.”

“What? How do you not like kissing the person you’re sleeping with?”

I shrugged, then realized he couldn’t see me. “Let’s smoke and change and get in bed.”

“Don’t beg me off. I want to understand it.” He put his hand over mine, sparking warmth through my fingers.

“I’m not. I’ll explain once we are alone.” I didn’t want to talk to Kiernan again. Or anyone else, for that matter. I wanted to be alone with him.

He narrowed his eyes but nodded, tugging his shirt off right there.

I swallowed, trying to forget how his chest felt pressed into mine. What was wrong with my fucking head?

I bent to grab a sleep shirt and tossed one to him. I turned my back almost instinctively to change, pulling on sweats in the hall. With anyone else, this wouldn’t be a big deal. We lived on a bus, for fuck’s sake, so changing in front of each other was a given, but something had shifted. Why was the ground always moving?

I turned around, and he stood there, tee still clutched in his hands but sans pants. He lifted his chin but didn’t speak.

My mouth went dry, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “Let me get you sweats.”

He grabbed my arm before I could turn. “It’s hot. Are you really going to wear all that?”

My brain short-circuited. “Er…”

A smile stretched across his face. “Is there a problem?”

I shook my head, dropping my attention down to his chest and immediately kicking myself for it. “No.”

“You really going to wear all of that?” Varian repeated and tugged my shirt.

“I’m not too warm,” I managed, tearing my gaze away from his chest to look into his eyes. “Want me to see if there are any new DVDs in the lounge?”

“You can just throw on Pool Hall Junkies again or whatever.” Varian didn’t drop his hand. I stared at our joined fingers, laced, focusing on the connection and the sparks it sent through my veins.

My pulse picked up, and I felt myself nod, but I felt disconnected from my body. “Sure.”

“You getting in?” he asked when I didn’t move.

“Right.” I pulled my hand out of his, needing both to vault myself into the bunk.

I felt his gaze burning into my back as I slid into the cubby. Why did this feel monumental? Like everything was about to shift.

He moved in behind me and quickly pulled the curtain closed, reminding me why I wanted to be out of view. We each laid back on our pillow, staring at each other in the low light.

“I need a couple of hits or I won’t sleep.” I had the half joint I’d left there this morning between my lips before he said anything. I dug into the side cubby for my lighter.

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