Page 50 of Chalk Outline
Can’t.
Let.
It.
Go.
Breathless, I pull back slightly. “What about my grandma?”
“I’ll take my chances,” he pants and does that thing with his mouth, which drives me crazy—the corners tug into a smile that gradually turns into a bite on the lip.
“Is this real?” I ask in disbelief.
He lets out a low chuckle that steals my soul. “You tell me.” His hands press against my hips before he lifts me with ease, as if I weigh nothing. “Let’s dance.”
“Here?” I blink up at him in surprise as my legs touch the ground. He tucks me into his chest and places my hands around his neck.
“Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?” His eyes hypnotize me as he guides my hips with a gentle touch, and I slow dance against him.
“Is that a quote from your comic books?”
The raindrops dance around us as well.
“It’s an indirect quote from a movie.” He grins and twirls me. “We can watch it when we get back.”
“I would love that.”
Lightheaded, I focus on the ground. My boots are caked with mud. Violent shivers attack me. My thoughts spin out of control, but I find my center when I hear Jason’s voice again.
“Breathe for me,” he instructs.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
“In and out.”
With another inhale, I regain my composure and focus on him.
“How can you hold back the love within you when all it wants is to be set free? I’m forced to live without him, and I don’t want to.”
“I get it. It’s like coloring outside the lines of an image on purpose because everyone sees that image, yet you see something else. Possibilities. Another form of art. An answer no one dares to explore. I always crossed lines and put my life on the line for love.”
“Exactly,” I reply.
“So you’re like me, a hopeless romantic and deeply disturbed.”
A smile pulls at my lips. “I guess so.”
“Call the doctor, we have two on the loose,” he whisper-shouts.
“What was your hardest kill?” I ask.
“Hmm…” He pauses, sounding confused at my abrupt question. “A woman. I didn’t plan to kill her. She was involved with a brutal organization that kills as a hobby. I was captured, and they put me in a car with her. They had given her an order to kill someone. Someone important to me. But she didn’tknow that. She said she couldn’t refuse them because they were keeping her brother hostage. I just saw red. All it takes is a little push, right?”
Gunshots echo around me.
Jason fires away, and I drop to my stomach. The forest starts spinning, and the loud bang rings in my ears.
Dammit.
