Page 128 of Deviant

Harper’s cheerful smile turns serious as her gaze bounces from Abbie and then onto Chris, David, and Big Mike, who are still huddled up together just a few feet away from her.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. We shouldn’t leave little Abbie on her own too much if we can prevent it. Too many predators out here as it is.”

The off-color remark leaves me confused, but Harper doesn’t linger for long to explain it to me either.

I walk over to Abbie and help her with her backpack before putting mine on. Once everyone has their gear on, we’re off, with Andy and Harper in front and Elias trailing behind us in the back.

Though it’s a bit colder today, it’s a cloudless day with sun shining brightly above as our watches continue to show us the way to parts unknown. Andy and Harper snicker away at each other while Abbie and I remain silent, keeping our focus on clearing our path. But with every step I take, I can feel Elias’s eyes burning a hole in my back. And after almost ten hours of this… of feeling his glare at my back, without him so much as talking to me, I decide I’ve had just about enough. One of us has to bend. Might as well be me.

“Abbie, do you mind if I gave Elias a quick word?”

“Of course not. Go right on ahead.” She grins widely at me.

“Thanks. I promise I’ll be right back.”

“No worries.”

And before I chicken out, I stop in my tracks, forcing Elias to stop in his.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not mad,” we both say in unison.

“You’re not?”

“I’m trying to apologize,” we say in tandem again, provoking a little grin to curl up at the corner of his lips.

“How about I shut up and you talk,” he suggests, but now that I have his undivided attention, I’m not sure what to say. So instead of telling him the real reason why I went quiet on him, I decide to ask him something else, that is around the same ballpark as the truth.

“Why don’t you ever kiss me?”

His eyes widen in surprise, as if that was the last thing he’d ever expect I would ask.

“Is that why you got upset with me? Because I haven’t kissed you?”

I hate that there isn’t a yet attached to the end of his question.

“I’m just confused. You seem pretty happy doing everything else with me, but kissing seems to be off the table for you. I just want to know why?”

“First of all, we’ve barely touched the surface of things I can do to you, and secondly…” he starts but then goes quiet, staring deep into my eyes with a look I’ve never once seen on his face before, as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I guess I haven’t kissed you yet… because you haven’t asked me to.”

My throat goes instantly dry at the way his dark blue eyes shine down on me.

“So if I asked…” I say, eating the small distance between us, “you’d kiss me?”

“If you ask,” he whispers softly, taking a step closer to me until our chests are pressed up against each other’s, “then yes, I will kiss you.”

I lick my lips, his gaze darting straight to my tongue.

“Then kiss me.”

My order comes out barely above a whisper, yet Elias hears it just the same. He softly grazes his palm over my cheek before sliding it to the nape of my neck, while his other plants itself on the low of my back. My skin is buzzing with electricity as I lose myself in his tender gaze, needing his lips on mine more than I need air to breathe. When he leans his head down, his lips mere inches away from where I need them most, my heartbeat accelerates at rapid speed.

“Guys! Hurry! You need to see this!” Andy screams out, officially ending the spell we were both under.

“I’m going to kill that kid,” Elias groans, taking a step back.

I’ll help you.

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