Page 55 of Phoenix Falling
ChapterTwenty-Two
RISK
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I’d see Sun if I came back to the bar. Part of me was hoping that I would. The other part of me remained conflicted, but as I sat at my usual “Rissa” table with the darkness draped around me and a rum and Coke in front of me, I wasn’t surprised to see Sun stalking across the club floor in my direction, determination and a hint of anger clear on his face.
I picked up my drink but didn’t sip; it was more that I desperately needed something to do with my hands. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Sun stopped directly across from me, and from his expression, he wasn’t amused by my opening line. “I hadn’t heard from you, so I took a chance.”
He hadn’t heard from me because I’d been avoiding him. I set my glass back on the table. “Things got busy.”
“Sudden break in your latest story?”
“You could say that.”
Sun didn’t ask, simply took the other seat. I dropped my gaze to my drink.
A long silence settled between us, broken only by the obnoxious club noise I was suddenly thankful for. Then, “I’ve missed seeing you.”
My heart turned to mush at the same time guilt surged inside me. He’d just lost his father, and I’d ghosted him. Permanently or not, I hadn’t been sure. Now, seeing him again, I knew I’d been fooling myself in thinking I could stay away. I couldn’t stop staring at him from just under my lashes, eating him up with my eyes, basking in the heat of his gaze. I felt like I hadn’t been breathing in the days we’d been apart, and now my lungs could finally fill up again.
“Don’t say you didn’t miss me too, Rissa,” Sun growled, that hint of anger returning at my lack of response, “because I know that would be a lie.”
How?
“I just know.”
I jerked my gaze up to meet his. “Are you reading my mind?”
His eyes widened the tiniest bit. Anyone else would have missed it, but I knew his expressions so well after hours of study, knew that tell-tale surprise. Whether he’d done it on purpose or not, he’d picked up my question.
So shape-shifters could read minds? But no, he couldn’t possibly. If he could, he’d know I was a fake.
So not mind-reading. But what else could it be?
“Your expression gave you away.”
That was a lie; even with Sun, I wouldn’t slip up to the extent that someone else could read me, not if I didn’t want them to. What I didn’t know was, what other options were there?
“Rissa.” Sun sighed. Planting his elbows on the table, he leaned across to get closer to me. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I honestly didn’t know if I could explain it even to myself. It seemed ridiculous. Why would I be more scared of a shape-shifter than I was of a vampire? Or was it simply that seeing Sun change had made me realize just how little I knew about him?
Or just how much I cared about losing him.
“I think I got scared.”
There, that would make sense. And I didn’t have to say what I was scared of, did I?
“Of what?”
Okay, nix that idea. “Everything. You, me…” I let that trail off.
One of Sun’s hands clasped mine where it rested on the table, scratching at the surface with my nail. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
“You say that, but…”
“But what?”
