Page 121 of Kiss Me Like I Didn't Kill You
I stare at it for a moment before typing back.
Arlo: Handled.
I set the phone down and finally take in the room.
That’s when I see her.
The woman sitting alone near the window, the light from inside catching on her hair, white blonde, almost silver.
She’s dressed simply, in soft tones that make her stand out more than anything else here. A pale jumper tucked neatly into a skirt.
There’s something about her that feels… untouched. Nineteen, maybe twenty. Too young to have learned how ugly the world really is.
She turns her head as if she feels me watching. Our eyes meet.
Green.
Clear and vivid, nothing like I’ve ever seen.
What kind of green is that?
Because I think it just became my favourite colour, and I’ve never had one, not even as a kid.
For one reckless second, I forget myself. My fingers tighten around the glass until I’m certain it’ll break.
Something stirs in my chest, unfamiliar and alive, and I don’t even have a name for it.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I don’t do this. I don’t notice women like this.
I don’t feel anything I can’t control.
I’ve spent years believing love is a story people tell themselves to feel less alone. And yet, here I am, staring at a stranger like something in me just woke up.
We keep looking at each other, neither of us moving. Then she smiles.
And just like that, I’m done for.
It’s a small smile, but it’s real and unguarded.
And for a second, I don’t think she even knows what she’s done.
Because now she’s seen me.
And once I’m seen, I don’t let people forget.
My jaw tightens. I should look away, but I don’t. I can’t. Her gaze holds mine.
She sealed her fate the moment she looked at me. Because now I’ve decided.
That smile?
Mine.
I’ll earn it, steal it, take it apart and put it back together until she forgets it ever belonged to anyone else.
Her?
