Page 25 of Finding Delaware

His chest moves slightly, curls tickling my skin. “I think my type is you, Taylor.”

“M-me?” My voice comes out embarrassingly high, but I’m too shocked by what he just said to care.

“Yeah,” he nods, searching my gaze with his own. “Is that okay?”

No. This is wrong. Boys shouldn’t like boys. My dad is going to kill me.

But my mouth isn’t connecting with my brain. “Yeah…that’s okay.”

His face lights up, and it hits me how close we are. His body warms mine as we clasp our hands tightly. From this distance, I notice how soft his lips look, all puffy and pink. I picked up on it before but always shoved the thought aside because it felt wrong to think something like that about another dude.

But something must be wrong with me because no matter how much I try to tell my limbs to stay still, they don’t listen. Instead, my free hand raises to tangle in those curls I’ve been dying to touch, a hum leaving me when I find them as soft as they look. Huck’s breath catches as he cups the back of my neck.

Alarm bells are blaring, warning of danger, but I’m too distracted to listen.

Instead, I pull his head down and press my lips to his.

A notification snaps me out of the memory, but it’s just a message from Christian. Checking my thread with Huck, I see he’s read my text but hasn’t responded, which means he’s awake and ignoring me. So I throw on some clothes and leave my room, taking a deep breath before knocking on his door.

“Huck? It’s me. Taylor.”

Duh, dumbass.Pretty sure he knows.

“Look, can we talk?”

Seconds go by, and there’s no answer. But somehow, I can sense him on the other side of the door, listening.

“Okay, you don’t want to talk. I get it. You don’t have to, but please open up.”

His muffled voice reaches me through the wood. “What do you want, Taylor?”

I open my mouth, then shut it. Because what do I want? His forgiveness? No, I don’t deserve that. To explain? I can’t, not really. Not without telling him about my father.

Would it be the end of the world if he knew?

No, I shut that thought down. The last thing I need is Dad in prison, and my sponsorship lost. It’s my only hope of leaving this place behind.

So I clear my throat and say, “I want to see you.”

Fuck, that sounds gay as hell and clingy and so damn stupid, but it’s the truth, so I just roll with it. A full minute passes without a response, and the wordpleaseleaves my lips softly, almost like a whisper.

Finally, the door opens.

My breath catches at the wary, guarded expression that meets me on the other side.

“What?” He spits the question flatly, so void of emotion that I cringe.

“I just...” My voice trails off as a slight shock rolls through me, the look in his eyes unnerving my system. Their depths are empty and lifeless as they bore into mine. I’ve never seen him look so cold before.

His jaw tightens the longer I stare until he starts to swing the door closed. “Leave me the fuck alone, Taylor.”

Shooting out a hand, I prevent it from closing at the last minute, and Huck visibly tenses. His pupils dilate, an emotion finally flashing in his irises, but I feel like I’ve been gutted when I realize it’s fear. He’s standing there staring at me as if I’m a wild animal poised to strike, and that’s when I know that he thinks I’m going to start a fight.

He’s fuckingafraidof me.

That has my heart dropping like a stone. I never wanted him to fear me.

“Taylor?” A frown pulls at his full lips, and before I can stop myself, I find my hand reaching out to him slowly. Ever, ever so slowly, until my palm slides against his, fingers tangling together.

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