Page 93 of Dark Love

Vex: Don’t worry, Dahl. I’ll make it worth the effort.

What does that mean? He doesn’t plan on kissing me. He better not plan on kissing me for the first time when I feel like this. A kiss should be special. This is unacceptable.

I stomp down the stairs and swing the door open. “I’m not kissing you when I feel like this!”

“Good to know.”

Why doesn’t — “You brought me flowers.” Tears fill my eyes. “I yelled at you, and you brought me flowers.”

“Don’t cry.”

“I’ll cry when I want to.” It’s not like I can control it when my hormones are like this.

“If I hand you a box of chocolates, will I get more tears or a smile?”

I shrug. “Can’t answer that question. You’ll have to risk it.”

“Here’s the deal. If you cry, I’m taking you home with me. You never cried in my bed.”

In his bed!

“Good, a blush is better than tears. Here are your chocolates.” He hands over a giant floral cloth-covered box. The intoxicating scent of chocolate tickles my nose.

“Argh” A cramp shoots through my abdomen.

He steps forward. “Here, take this.”

An impossibly light bag lands in my arms as he lifts me up. “What are you doing?”

“You should be in bed.”

That’s where I was until you decided to spoil me. “I can walk there.”

“Not without discomfort.” He moves to the stairs.

I should protest. I should ask him to put me down. I should not cuddle in his arms. “There are a lot of stairs and I’m heavy.”

Vex raises an eyebrow at me.

Fine. Whatever. If the Bone Crusher wants to show off his massive muscles, who am I to interfere? “What’s in the bag?”

“Popcorn. I was informed that some women like sweet things and others like something salty.”

He got me popcorn. “With real butter? Well, fake butter that tastes like salt and delightful guilt.”

“No. I got you popcorn with real butter.”

“Are you going to have some with me?” Why did I ask that? Of course, he isn’t going to sit with me as I wallow in my bedroom eating all this and whining about how much it hurts.

We stop at the first-floor landing.

“Which way?”

Um. This isn’t good. “You can put me down here.”

“Dahl?” He doesn’t move to let me down.

“Up three more flights.” Why did I have to pick the top floor? Not the very top. The attic is kinda creepy. “The view is the best up there. My room has all these bay windows. It feels like I live in a castle without all the drafts and lack of plumbing.”

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