Page 143 of Burning Daylight
The words catch in the air and ricochet into my sternum. I press my lips together.
“Don’t say that,” she whispers. “She’s still there, Roman.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “I’ve said that a thousand times.It’s not her, it’s the drugs.But I don’t know, sometimes life doesn’t give us happy endings, you know? Sometimes the bad thing wins.”
“Well.” She lifts a shoulder and gives me a soft smile. “Then I’ll have the faith for both of us.”
And I know it right then, surer and steadier than I’ve ever known anything.
I love her.
“Will you come with me somewhere?” I ask suddenly, desperate to show her every piece of me.
She lifts a brow, looking around. “Are we not somewhere right now?”
I smirk. “Cute. But I mean somewhere else.”
A softness enters her gaze and she bites on her lower lip. “Yeah, Trouble. I’ll go anywhere with you.”
36
JULIETTE
We’re two towns away and I’ve never done anything like this.
When I agreed to let him take me somewhere, I never imagined it would be us sneaking out of Rosebrook Falls altogether and riding the train to get ushere.
My heart is racing, adrenaline surging through my body as I let him lead me down a street in an industrial area. Our hands are tangled together, and it reminds me of back in Cali, before we knew who we were to each other…or before I knew whohewas tome.
Things were simple then.
Now it all feels like an impossible mess. One that I’ll only get out of if I decide to grow a backbone and stand up to my parents. The thought makes me want to puke.
“Where are we going?” I ask, my eyes flicking to where we’re touching.
This is fine.
Actually, I’m totally cool with it.
It means nothing to me that his hand—the same one that was inside my vagina a couple of hours ago—is now entwined with mine perfectly.
“Hello?” I try again, my legs working hard to keep up with him. “Is anyone home?”
He still doesn’t answer.
“Roman,” I snap.
That gets his attention.
His gaze floats to mine, and he tightens his grip, bringing my knuckles up to brush a chaste kiss against them. “I still like the way you say my name, Little Rose.”
My heart flips and I give him a soft smile. “Do you really plan on calling me that god-awful nickname the rest of your life?”
“That depends.” His eyes darken. “Do you plan on being around for the rest of my life?”
I snap my mouth shut, something hot and sharp growing like a weed cracking through pavement. Because I can see it, our future together.
Mornings tangled in too-warm sheets. Him mumbling about my alarm going off and me pretending I didn’t set three backups just to be sure. Coffee cups lined up on the counter and breakfast forgotten on the stove because when he laid me out on the kitchen table, he decided to eatmeinstead.
