Page 55 of The Prospect

I swallow hard as he releases his grasp. “I’m good.”

The air around us is cold, so cold that I can see my breath as I exhale, but regardless of the dropping temperatures, somehow I feel settled—warm.

Perhaps it’s the lingering heat from all of the running or maybe, it's the result of mine and Green’s thighs pressing against each other.

I don’t need to wonder which is the truth, I know the answer as I adjust myself away from him, creating a small gap. He picks up on it, instantly filling it in response as he tucks me into his side and peers down at me with a somber look.

“What?” I question as his arm gravitates behind me, resting along the brick but secured in a way so that I won’t fall back. “Is there something on my face?” I joke

He smiles faintly and shakes his head. “There’s nothing on your face, Hazel. I’m just…” He exhales a breath. “I’m sorry, that’s all.”

“‘Sorry’?” I repeat. “What are you sorry for?”

“For being moody earlier.” It’s not his words that catch me off guard this time, it’s the way he places a careful hand on my thigh in the process. “I’m not sure what got into me today. I think I’m still just trying to get used to this whole plan. I don’t know, it’s been…different than I had anticipated.”

I try my absolute best to suppress the aching desire that his touch shoots throughout my core and respond. “It’s okay,” I tell him with full certainty. “This thing…it’s new for both of us, Green. We didn’t know how it would pan out or what emotions would come with it. So don’t apologize, it’s fine.Really.”

“So you’re okay then?” he urges.

I raise a brow. “Okay? Why would I not be?” I wonder.

“Well, it’s just when I told my mum and dad about this whole plan, they were worried that you’d be upset that I chose Amira.”

My heart rate suddenly escalates much more than when we were running. It causes me to stumble over my words. “Upset that you chose Amira?” I scoff, trying to undermine how I really feel. “Don’t be so ridiculous, Green. Amira’s great.” I shift beneath myself—I deserve a bloody Oscar right now. “Why wouldn’t you want to be with her? I mean, it’s a no-brainer.”

“That’s exactly what I said!” Green’s enthusiastic agreeability kills me softly without even realizing it. “But the two of themseem to think that if things don’t work out between us, then it's going to affectourfriendship. I told them that that would never happen, but I don’t know, I think they’re just worried.”

“Worried about what?”

He frowns. “That I might lose you.” He reaches out to touch my face in a controlled motion. “I guess that’s why I was acting the way I was earlier, Haze. I just…” He goes to say something else but seems to talk himself out of it. “You promise that I’ll never lose you, right?”

I have to blink a few times to try and comprehend not only his question but how within a split second we’ve managed to get this close to one another.

We haven’t been this close in a long time and frankly, his presence is making it impossible for me to think, let alone breathe. It’s like I’m inhaling his air—his oxygen—and if I’m being honest, I don’t mind it. I don’t mind it one bit.

“Hazel?” Green snaps me out of my daze as I come back to my senses. “Did you hear what I asked?”

“Yes, sorry,” I tell him, shaking my head ever so softly before looking square in his eyes. “You’ll never lose me,” I whisper. “I promise that that will never happen, Greenie.I promise.”

He stares back at me, and for a while we sit in this comfortable silence as his hand gently brushes back and forth along my cheek. It’s everything I’ve ever wished for until he pulls back.

It doesn’t seem to matter though, for I can still feel his lingering touch, just like how almost a decade later, I can still feel his lips pressed against mine. I don’t know how, but Green has that ability. His touch is like a tattoo, a permanent reminder of a place it was once.

“So…” I break the silence in order to stop my mind from spiraling completely out of control. “Have you and Amira kissed yet?” I blurt out.

My obscure question doesn’t come completely out of nowhere. I know why I’ve asked it. Deep down, asking Green that question only helps to remind me that no matter what false reality I create in my mind, the truth remains the same:

Green’s with Amira,not me.

And I’m with Hart,not him.

“Not yet.” Green shakes his head absentmindedly, and I hate the way that I feel a subliminal sense of relief by those two words.

“No?” I refuse to let up. “Thought maybe you two would’ve at the end of your date the other night? Amira told me you guys went to her favorite place.”

“Not by choice.” Green rolls his eyes. “Besides, Amira had to rush off in a hurry and a forced goodbye kiss was the last thing I would’ve wanted.Why?” He flashes me an intentful stare. “Have you and Hart kissed already?”

I don’t know what to say—a part of me wants to read into this inquisitive look in his eyes, toy with him a little. What would he say if I told him we had?

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