Page 64 of Lunar Crest University

I peer up at her cautiously, thinking of how I should tiptoe around this the right way. “I actually studied English in college, but I had a British Literature class I fell in love with. I switched over and eventually got my Master’s. I never did anything with it until now. I needed the money…so.”

Finley licks her lips. “You’re doing it because you need money? Not because you fell in love with it?”

“More one than the other,” I admit. “But I still love it.”

“Were you born here?”

I shake my head. “México.”

She nods before finishing off her wine, blotting at her top lip as she looks down to her barely-eaten food. “Needing money… Does that have to do with your job from before?”

“Yes.”

If she wants to say something else, she doesn’t, and the waiter comes by with the check before I can attempt to save the crumbling night. She was always going to find out the ugly bits and pieces about me the more she spent time with me. It was inevitable. But why does it bother me so much to see the evident change in expression on her face? It bothers her—the frown lines and far-away look in her eyes give it away.

It shouldn’t bother me. I don’t give a fuck. Not about this, not about her, not about…Fuck. I’m such a goddamn liar.

Neither of us says anything else as I pay for our meal. She wraps my jacket back around her as we get up to leave the restaurant, and my jaw clenches at the thought of me fucking the entire night up by ever being involved with her in the first place. I ruin everything I touch. Why am I surprised that the pattern continues? My mind spirals to dark places as I open the door for her to walk outside, but it depletes almost immediately as she pushes up on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my cheek on her way past me.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” I fight the urge to gawk at her.

“For tonight.”

It’s somehow even colder as we wait outside for our cab, and she peeks up at me expectantly from over my coat she has bundled herself in. My lips part in confusion before ultimately closing as I frown down at her.

“Thank you for taking me out,” she clarifies in a small voice. “I know it was on the itinerary, but I got to dress up and feel pretty. So, thank you.”

Had I read her wrong earlier? Was something not bothering her as I had thought? What was the strange look on her face if not distraught? I can’t fathom any reason as to why she would be perfectly fine now as she speaks to me. It’s as if she’d just come to terms with the damning realization that I’m not a good person.

“You’re always pretty,” I rasp.

“You know what I mean,” she breathes, smiling softly.

I cock my head, shaking it slightly as I search for the right words. “Finley…I don’t—I thought you… Aren’t you upset with me?”

Get it together, stuttering bitch.

“Should I be?”

Holy fuck. “Yes. I just told you I used to work with that…son of a bitch. That I can’t tell you what kind of work it was. You should be running for the fucking hills,Princesa. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why you’re okay with that.”

Her smile fades as she blinks up at me. “I guess I always knew these things deep down. Maybe I chose to ignore them? I don’t know. What I do know is that I basically interrogated you in there and you told me the truth. Sure, you didn’t tell me everything, but you didn’t lie. You were honest with me, and I…I don’t want to run away.”

I take my glasses off as I rub a palm down my face. “This is crazy, you know that? You know that, don’t you?Loca?—”

My words falter as she steps forward and places her palm against my chest, directly over my heart. It’s thudding harshly because I am in awe of her.

“Do you want me to run away?” she asks, peering up at me through dark lashes. Her green eyes observe every inch of my face.

Yes. You should. Run far away.

I don’t know what this girl is doing to me, but the ice inside my chest cracks just a little more every time I’m with her. My heart is dark and demented and has never loved anyone else in my entire life. Anyone other than my family, at least. I didn’t think I was capable. But it’s thrashing so hard, I’m convinced it’s trying to burst out of my chest just to get to her.

“Not unless you want me to chase you,amor.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

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