Page 163 of The Kiss Of Death
“That’s torture, what you’re asking me,” I groaned, straightening my spine and accepting her hand anyway. “But I’ll accept that torment if that doesn’t imply stopping my fantasies about you. I’m at thirty-eight pages so far. It’s terrifying; I should write a book. I could email you a copy if you’d like? Do you dream about me sometimes?”
She skipped into the grass. “Only that I’m strangling you in your sleep.”
“I could make that dream come true, but let’s be clear, I’m yourfriend.” That word tasted bitter in my mouth as I followed her. “But I’m still me.”
“What does that mean?”
“That if you’re thinking about dating someone, you’ll break me. So in exchange, I’ll break his bones one by one, but notbefore I ruin him with my tech skills. It’d be a shame to put them to waste now that the world knows what my alias can do.”
“You really have a huge ego,” she cursed, shaking her head.
“Is that the only huge thing about me?” I couldn’t miss the opportunity. I was a man after all, and we all had our dumb moments—even with a genius brain.
She pointed a finger at me and grimaced. “Stop, this is not a friendly topic. You really don’t change.”
“Not with you; I’m too possessive for that. You’re the only woman I’ll ever want for the rest of my life. I can’t change that, so I’m sorry for you.”
“So why did you really ask me here? I won’t go on a date with you, Levi. I’m not ready for that yet.”
She said yet.
“I know. Come,” I said, guiding her to the coffee place by the lake. “Don’t you think you deserve a moment off from training for the audition?”
“So you’re still stalking me every place I go?”
“Does that disturb you?”
I liked watching her. It was peaceful.
“No.” She swallowed, gazing away. “Your presence feels safe.”
Safe.It sent a spasm to my heart.
Her eyes met mine, her fingers fidgeting together. “But have you ever thought about what you’ll be doing after Pantheon? In a few months, you’ll be done, so you’ll… leave, right? While I have two more years.”
“I figured that part out already,” I said. Her eyes widened, and I knew the question was coming, so I cut her off. “I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
Meaning she’d know about my little work project and life plan after she passed her audition. My therapist’s advice was foreach of us to work on ourselves before being togetherblah, blah, blah.
Her phone beeped, and she read through it. Right—I’d have to fight for Dalia’s attention on this day.
“It’s my father,” she mumbled. “He wishes me a happy birthday. He’s under house arrest, but his judgment will still take months.”
I still loathed him. I couldn’t get the idea that this man would someday become my father-in-law. “Are you talking to him?”
“Not really. I told him I needed space before the audition.”
I nodded as we arrived in front of the café, which was in the shape of an old half-timbered mill. “Push the door open.”
“God, I hope you won’t lock me with you in here, or if it’s one of your schemes to—”
She swung the door open, and the collective cheer of her friends resounded, “Happy birthday!”
“You should enjoy your birthday,” I whispered to her. “Because as soon as you allow me to make you mine again, you’ll be celebrating with me, and I don’t share, Dalia.”
“You organized this for me?”
What she meant was “you succeeded in gathering them all here without murdering anyone?”
