Page 213 of Shadowblood Souls
It might not be the smoothest road, but I can start that journey now. I don’t have to completely forgive him for the past to trust his devotion to me in the present.
With our next rotation, I ease half a step closer. Andreas’s head dips with a shaky exhalation, his breath tickling over my forehead.
My gaze drifts away from him for just a moment—and snags on Jacob still poised by the snacks table.
Poised is absolutely the word for it. Every muscle in his body looks coiled with tension, ready to spring—whether to tear me and Andreas apart or to climb the walls in frustration, it’s hard to tell from his taut expression.
And in that moment, taking in the chiseled planes of his face, I remember more of the conversation when I discovered Andreas’s betrayal.
With every word after I made it to their room, Jacob jabbed the knife in deeper and twisted it. Hekneweverything I only just saw in Andreas’s memory—he knew how adamantly Drey had fought for me and believed in me.
And even then, he did everything possible to convince me that the other guy was only playing at caring about me.
He’s very good at it, isn’t he? Got you to let your hair down and everything.
Then to Andreas, in front of me:You can stop now. I can’t see how you’ll get anything more out of her than you already have.
My feet stall in mid-turn. Andreas freezes, but the anger gripping my body now has nothing to do with him.
I spin toward Jacob. “Youlied to me. You knew Drey was sure I hadn’t done anything wrong, that he wasn’t trying to mess with me anymore, but you talked like he was still using me.”
How much of the pain tangled with my memories of Andreas are because of what he actually did, and how much is the wrenching sense of betrayal provoked by Jacob’s jabs?
Whatever color Jacob’s face contained drains from it. Somehow his stance goes even more rigid.
I half expect him to deny my accusation, but he squares his shoulders as if accepting a blow.
“I’m sorry,” he says in a voice as tight as his expression. “I thought—I was pissed off—it was a shitty thing to do. You can come at me too if you want to. I deserve it a hell of a lot more than Drey did.”
My fingers curl toward my palms, but from beneath the anger comes a twang of resistance.
I could yell at Jacob for the rest of the day and still not be finished letting out all my grievances. For just a little while with Andreas, I was starting to feel almost okay.
I don’t want to ruin this moment that wasn’t Jacob’s anyway, by delving into all that pain too.
“I don’t even want tothinkabout you,” I reply in a voice so flat and cold it could rival him at his worst, and turn back to Andreas.
Bobbing up on my toes, I sling my arms around Drey’s neck and tug his mouth down to meet mine.
Am I aware that this move is guaranteed to twist the knifeIjust stabbed into Jacob? Hell yes, I am.
But the longing to get close to the man my body already claimed has been coursing through my veins for days, even if my broken heart has overridden the hunger. And the second our mouths collide, my desire is the only thing that matters.
Andreas lets out a soft, choked sound and hugs me to him tightly. Our lips meld together with a familiar electric thrill.
Every cell in me sings out with joy.
I’ve missed this man, I’ve craved him, and now he’s back where he’s meant to be.
The wave of emotion isn’t as intense as the first time we collided. An ache to resolidify our connection completely forms between my legs, but I’m not going to hump the guy right here on the dance floor.
No matter what happened after the first time, his touch still makes me feel giddily alive in ways nothing else can.
But not nooneelse.
A nervous chill flickers through my nerves, and I draw back just far enough to seek out a different pair of watching eyes. I find Dominic where he’s drifted over to the far wall.
I brace myself for anger or disappointment in his expression, but the moment I catch his gaze, he smiles. A broad, open smile, as if nothing could make him happier than seeing me reestablish my bond with his friend.
