Page 21 of Dirty Tricks

“How did you do it?”

My throat is glue and chalk and sawdust. Even once I clear it, I have to strain to get the words out. “Do what?”

And her breath teases my ear, blowing against the soft hairs near my cheek. “How did you get out of my dreams?”

CHAPTERSIX

LEXA

The man is completely stillunder my wandering hands. I can only get the vaguest shape in my head, even with the eager exploration of my fingers.

“I’m not…”

My cheeks heat in the dark room and I back up a step, embarrassed, feeling foolish. What on earth am I talking about? This boy, this man must think I’m stark raving mad.

Then I reach for his hand, take it in mine. It’s miles away from the smooth pampered palm of Finn’s hand. Hands that have never performed a hard day’s manual labour.

This skin is rough, hard callouses along his fingers, spread in bands across his palm. So large that when he returns my grip, it’s like my hand is swallowed whole, spreading a delicious heat.

Not Finn. No more than it was Finn letting me take all the cocktails instead of picking one without caring if it was a flavour I’d like.

Not Finn who happily let me gossip and make guesses about everyone’s costume, joining in on the fun, adding little pops of humour to the conversation until I convulsed with laughter.

Not Finn who swung me around the dance floor, not caring if his moves were rusty or awkward, just losing himself in the beat of the music and the touch of his body against mine.

Part of me regrets speaking.

I could have braced myself on the wooden bench, let his exploration set me on fire with every touch. I can already feel how his consideration would extend to my body. There’d be no pressure to hurry and arrive at the destination—I can’t imagine him leaving me behind.

But I have to know. This ghost of a man has haunted my dreams since my first night at Kingswood. He’s the reason I’m always happy to go to bed early, why I can’t wait to fall asleep.

I open my mouth to apologise, to say I don’t know what I was thinking. But instead, what comes out is one of the first things my sleeping buddy ever said to me. “I’m the man from your dreams, angel, here to keep you safe.”

He shivers, his arms going around me, holding me close. When I bury my nose in his chest, the skin is raised in bumps, a patchwork of goosebumps.

“What’s happening?” I ask, content but confused. The rich scent of his body fills my world, and my mind finds another label for this deceitful stranger. The boy from the cafeteria.

“How do you remember that?” he whispers. “You were sound asleep.”

A name pops out of the ether; from a school assembly where the head droned on forever, introducing the auxiliary staff in an avalanche of job titles and faux applause.

“Xander?”

His arms cling tighter to me, a gasp catching in his throat. “You know my name?”

For the first time, I recognise he’s more fearful than I am. I don’t want this lovely man to go away, to distort back into Finn, a change that would instantly destroy my evening.

And as much as I’m scared to lose him, this boy trembles at being exposed. He shivers at me knowing his identity.

Imeansomething to him. He’s treating me like I’mimportant.Even before I tell him how much he means to me.

The realisation fills me with joy.

“Can I see you? Without the mask?”

But that request has him pulling away, scared at more than his identity being exposed. I think I know the reason. When my fingers explored him, they felt the twisted knots of deep scars.

And instead of his face, he offers me an apology. “I’m sorry I tricked you.”

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