Page 66 of Misery and Ecstasy

My entire body hums as relief washes over me. Pressing my lips to hers, I get lost in our kiss. When we break apart again, I look into her eyes.

“I’m sorry you’ve been in fear of us—of me—for so long.”

“I’m actually the least scared of you. Well, in regard to my survival anyway. Myrelationshipfears still all belong to you.”

When I gape at her in mock offense, she laughs.

“I think it’s because out of everyone, we’ve spent the most time together. I mean, I found you annoying when you would poke fun at me but not scary.”

“I’m glad.” I twirl a strand of her silky hair around my finger. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me. And I only made fun of you because I think you’re sexy when you’re angry.”

Scooting off of her, I rest at her side, both of us staring at the ceiling. We’re quiet, but our thoughts are equally loud. I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but it’s a good sign that she hasn’t gotten out of bed yet. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to convince myself that she doesn’t see me as a horrible person.

“Are we crazy for attempting this?” She breaks through the silence in the room.

There it is.Her uncertainty pierces me like a blade, but I remain quiet. Maybe she just needs to talk it through and get it out of her system. Turning onto my side again, I face her.

“Seriously, no matter how many ways I try to cut it, there’s no way we can ever have a normal relationship. How is this supposed to work, Draven? I can’t picture family dinners where I invite my—ohgod, my mother…”

Her fingers fly to her temples, and she begins rubbing them in a circular motion.

“There’s no fucking way…” She says it like she’s talking to someone else in the room again.

“I think…” I pause, searching for the right words. “That if something is important enough to you, you find a way to adapt and make it work in whatever way you can.”

“Well, then you can never meet my mother. Period.”

Remembering how she reacted the last time I tried to defend her mother, I keep quiet this time.

“My friends already think I’m certifiable for even seeing you as a patient. They nearly committed me when I told them I’d slept with you.”

My heart beats a little harder, knowing she’s talked to her friends about me.

“Is that what you were talking about when I saw you at Bastien’s yesterday?” I don’t bother trying to hide the cocky smile from my face.

“I knew you saw me sitting out there. I could feel your stare on me through the blacked-out windows of your car.”

“You know, that should be enough of a sign that we should do whatever it takes to give this a fair and decent try. You couldn’t see my eyes, but you felt how badly I was burning for you anyway.”

I love the feel of her muscles twitching beneath my touch as I run the pads of my fingers over her stomach.

“I say we cross every bridge as we come to it. Some will be easier than others to pass, but if we can learn to work through the obstacles together, I see no reason why this can’t work.”

“You’d make an incredible therapist, you know that?” My skin tingles where she runs her thumb over my eyebrows and down the side of my face. “You’re making me look bad.”

I shrug. “Yeah, maybe in another life.”

“Thank you for letting me have this time to freak out a little. You’ll quickly find, unfortunately, that I’m a bit neurotic.”

“You’re not neurotic; you’re perfectly normal, displaying a normal amount of anxiety.”

“I had to make a mental flow chart of how to handle tonight, depending on whether or not you showed up.”

“That’s … adorable.” The corner of my mouth twitches into a smile.

Tearing her gaze from me, she zeroes in on the ceiling again. I have a feeling she lies awake a lot here, confessing all of her thoughts and fears to the walls and the spirits of those who worried here before her.

“When you didn’t call or text me, I thought you were mad because I left the other night.”

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