Page 29 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
Taking a deep breath, I make my way to Brenna’s door and knock once.
“What?” she snaps at me. She’s still pissed. This is a very bad idea.
My mouth pops open, but I realize in that moment that I don’t have any clue what to say. I won’t beg. I can’t force her.
“There’s food.” I shake my head as the simple words come out of my mouth. I’m not really asking if she wants to eat with me.
“And? There was food here yesterday and you didn’t tell me about it,” she calls through the door.
“Maybe you should come out to eat it.”
“Maybe I should just lay here and go back to sleep like I’ve been doing.”
I groan and push my fingers through my freshly trimmed hair. This is stupid. A large part of me wants to burst into her room, grab her by her arm, and drag her to the table. I shouldn’t have done this.
“As you wish.” I grumble and turn on my heel. This is the last time I go out on a limb like this. It’s nothing but a waste oftime. Brenna and I will never have any type of common ground. There’s nothing about me she could possibly connect with.
I close my eyes for a second, and a quick image of her concerned face flashes in my mind. She was genuinely worried about me when she came to pull my coat about what Dean had done.
We may not have a connection yet, but we do have common ground. We’re stuck in this together.
I take a few steps away from her door, feeling a wave of disappointment. This definitely has not gone to plan.
I make it halfway down the hall when I hear the door behind me slowly creak open. I turn, looking over my shoulder to see Brenna standing there with a scowl on her face.
She blinks a few times as she takes me in.
“You shaved?” Her eyes focus on my face, and simply out of habit I turn my head away from her.
She walks in my direction quickly. I suck in a quick breath when her hand rises and she gently turns my head back in her direction.
“You shaved and cut your hair?” The wonder in her voice is nearly childlike.
“It was time.” I didn’t want to admit that I’d done it for her. That I wanted to look more presentable for her.
She nods, and a small smile starts to form on her lips. I prepare myself for whatever crafted insult she can hurl my way. Usually the insults I hear from people are underhanded. Something like even with the scar, you have intense eyes.
Instead she simply says, “You look very handsome.”
There is no undertone, no patronization. Just simple honesty.
“Um… yeah… thanks.” I don’t know how to react. Especially now that I’m focusing on the fact that she’s touching me gently for the first time since I’ve known her. Her fingers on my face are like flames, yet this fire doesn’t burn with pain. It burns with something else entirely. Desire.
She clears her throat and drops her hand. I already miss her touch.
“So… there’s food?”
“Yeah. You have to eat. I have to eat. I got food.” Once again the words don’t come out how I want.
Brenna squints her eyes at me and tilts her head, as if she’s trying to decipher a code.
“Are you asking me to have dinner with you?”
Just like her to cut through all the bullshit.
“Yes.”
“Okay. I can do that. Give me a second. I can’t have you showing me up.” She smiles at me and looks down at my outfit before giving me the okay sign with her fingers.
