Page 68 of The High Priestess

I nod and walk with him to the car.

“Everything good?” Miller asks.

“Yes. We’re heading to a motel. Knight will call when everyone else has arrived.”

I watch as the men pile into the car, and when they drive off, I lift my hands and scrub my palms over my face before glancing at the other houses farther up the street.

Christ, what a fucking day.

I suppose it could’ve gone worse.

I remain standing outside while I think about everything that’s happened.

Up until now, I didn’t have to explain myself or how I choose to live my life to anyone, because I avoided Davies and the guys. Santiago just goes with my mood swings, but then again, he’s the one who found me in that room, holding Ronnie’s body.

It feels like Pandora's box is being pried open in my chest. Fuck knows what kind of shit will be unleashed, but I feel a weird sense of hopefulness that everything might turn out for the good…as long as I stay by Cassia’s side.

My thoughts turn to the argument we had and the kiss.

Fuck. The kiss.

No woman kisses a man the way she kissed me if there’s no attraction, so that answers that question for me.

She’s a virgin, though.

I assume.

She’s said she’s never been in a relationship, and I was the first man to see her naked, but you can have sex with clothes on.

A disgruntled sound rumbles from my chest, but then I remember she said our kiss was her first, so I seriously doubt she’s had sex.

My thoughts keep racing, and I’m not really looking at anything as it sinks in that I gave Cassia her first kiss.

How does she feel about that?

How do I feel?

Where I usually avoid it at all costs, I take a closer look at my emotions. There’s satisfaction that I got to be her first and an overwhelming sense of need to be her other firsts as well.

But there’s also fear. What if I can’t keep her alive? What if I let myself fall in love and I end up losing her?

I let out a heavy sigh as I stare at a random patch of sand.

It’s now too late to think about all the what-ifs.

Christ, it’s way too late.

The obsessive feeling I have for her has only been amplified by the kiss. Good or bad, there’s no stopping what’s happening between Cassia and me.

Yeah, but what if you’re the only one who falls in love?

I let out a snort. “Then I’m fucked.”

I hear Cassia coming up behind me, then her hand settles on my back and she asks, “Are you okay?”

I nod, and letting out a sigh, I turn around. “Let’s go inside.” I can feel her glancing up at me as we walk back to the house, so I reassure her, “I’m good. Don’t worry.”

Before we reach the front door, she takes hold of my hand and pulls me to a stop. Lifting her other hand to my face, she brushes the pad of her finger over the broken skin on my lip.

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