Page 5 of Unhinged Magic
My heart pounded in my chest, my stomach twisting into a knot. The girl who broke my heart in every way possible was back.
I bundled my hands into the pockets of my jeans, hiding the tremor in my fists. Moving over to the wall, I leaned against it, trying to remain casual. Like her being here didn’t meaneverythingto me.
“Are we not going to talk about this?” I asked.
She fidgeted with a ring on her thumb. “Talk about...” She left her sentence unfinished, causing the muscles in my neck to tighten.
I shrugged, trying to act like my sensors weren’t about to implode every cell inside me. “Well, there’s no ignoring it,” I countered.
Again, rude as fuck.
A hurricane formed in her irises. “Ignoring it?” she hissed. “How could I?”
Keeping my voice low, I squared her with a hard look. “Deny it as much as you want, but you can’t run fromthis.”
She threw an arm in the air. “Do you see me running?” She screwed up her nose. “Who even are you now?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to know,” I retorted sharply.
She stared at me but said nothing.
I waited expectantly for her to speak. To sayanything.
“Cat got your tongue?” I pushed.
Because she owed me more than silence. She needed to explain why she left. Then we needed to talk aboutthis.
There was no way she could deny the mate bond. A fated attraction was like a blood oath, and unless you really fucking hated the person and rejected them, only death could break it. The moon goddess herself had decided our fate. Gifted us thisbond. This was a win-win situation because I could think of no reason for her to hate me. Eventually we would work through this, but, right now, pain smothered my words.
When she still didn’t speak, I let out an exasperated breath. “Great attitude, Skye. Welcome back.” I pushed off the wall, about to head inside. This was going nowhere.
“I’m not the one with the attitude here.”
I turned to face her again.
She continued. “You act like you’re some gift from above with your brooding eyes and…” She swirled her fingers in the air in a way that meanteverything.Which meant she liked what she saw.All of it.
I almost chuckled at her boldness. Her confidence, like kryptonite. It suited her. I chanced a cocky remark, because the alternative was getting us nowhere. “Obviously you like what you see.” I mimicked her swirling finger over myself. “So what’s the problem, Skip?”
She narrowed her glare at the use of the nickname I had called her in our youth, because she had skipped everywhere on our adventures together.
“Don’t call me that,” she seethed, her chest rising and falling repeatedly.
She had always hated the name. I’d called her it anyway. I sighed. “Then tell me,Skye. Why are your panties in a twist?”
I chanced a step in her direction, our connection never wavering as I moved closer, until only three feet separated us. Enough to feel the air between us thin, but far enough to look like a friendly chat to whoever caught sight of our interaction. Like her brother.
I fought the urge to reach out, to caress her cheek to cool her fiery demeanor.
She let out a giant huff, charging past me to the wall, slumping against it. Her irises flared ice blue. Her fire element. Damn,it was hot knowing I could cause such a reaction in her. She dodged my gaze, as if she were thinking the same.
I let my gaze travel over her figure where her petite frame curved in more places than I remembered. The apples of her cheeks were more prominent now that her face had thinned. But those eyes.
She looked at me again, and I forced myself not to break the connection. Stepping closer, the intensity between us caused a tremor inside me. Annoyance flooded my bloodstream, my head and my heart wanting different things.
My insides were on their knees, my senses awash with her. But my head was a fucking mess.
Her irises darted around us, checking we were still alone. “Do you think this is some sort of game?” she demanded.
