Page 72 of Aftertaste

“Rush!”

He stood and held the cell high enough so he could read it but not low enough for me to reach it. “Well, well, well.” His gaze connected with mine, his lips turning into a smirk I knew all too well. “It’s Thalia.” He swiped at my cell and entered the passcode. I cursed. Trust him to know what mysecretcode was. “I wonder what she wants.”

“Give it back,” I gritted out, trying to get ahold of my cell, but it was no use. He was holding it up too high.

“She wants to know what you’re doing this weekend.”

“Rush,” I warned, standing on the arm of his sofa. “Give it back.”

“Rush,” Sofi intervened. “Give it back to her.”

“See.” I whined, planting my hands on my hips. “Even Sofi thinks you should give it back.”

His thumbs flew over the screen, his gaze flicking up to me then back down again. My blood boiled to a point I couldn’t control; he was interfering in things he had no right to.

I vaulted off the sofa, screamed a battle cry, and jumped on him full force. We both went crashing down to the floor, but he didn’t let go of my cell, no matter how much I tried to get it from his vice tight grip.

“Give it back!” I shouted, feeling my face getting hotter and hotter the more I fought with him. He was acting like a damn kid, and I knew this was revenge for when he’d first met Sofi. I’d teased him mercilessly. He’d promised he’d have his revenge, and now he was taking it with both hands.

My cell beeped and we both froze. My knee dug into his back; his arm outstretched in front of him as his other fended me off. And slowly, oh so slowly, he turned my cell so we could both see the screen.

Thalia: I’d love to go on a date. As long as there are no burgers involved. ;)

“What did you do?” I whispered.

“Something you never would have.” He turned so his face was level with mine. “You overthink everything.” I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “I could see you doing it right then.”

I blinked. “But how did you know?”

“Because you said it out loud.” He chuckled. “How many times have I told you that I’ve heard you talking to yourself?” I rolled my eyes. I liked to think out loud, he knew that, but I hadn’t realized I’d been doing it just now.

“Ugh.” I pushed up off him and stepped on his back, just because I could. “I hate you sometimes.”

“Nah.” He stood and held my cell out to me. “You love me.”

I did, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

A Night for Firsts

Thalia

I stared at a white spot on the bright yellow wall in the Mexican restaurant, hoping it would center me and make my nerves dissipate a little. I’d only been sitting here for five minutes, and already I was half thinking Haven was going to stand me up.

What was I thinking? It was her who had asked me out. She wouldn’t have done that if she wasn’t going to turn up.

I tried to give myself a pep talk, but with each tick of the elaborate sun clock above the white spot on the wall, the more I convinced myself I was going to be sat here alone for the next—

“Hey,” a soft, lyrical voice greeted, and my head snapped up, my gaze landing on Haven’s bright red lips. They lifted up into the sweetest smile, one that put me at ease immediately.

“Hi,” I whispered, not knowing whether I should stand or not. I wasn’t sure whether my legs would work if I was honest, so I stayed put.

Haven drifted to the seat opposite me, her flowing white skirt wafting after her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she pulled off her cropped, black leather jacket, revealing her arm of brightly colored tattoos and the gray top she wore tucked into the front of the skirt. She was beautiful. More beautiful than anything I’d ever seen.

“You look amazing,” I blurted out, not able to hold my thoughts in.

She sat down and reached her hand across the table, taking my shaky one in hers. “So do you.” She’d only seen the top half of me, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that, but instead, I stayed silent, trying to tamp down the heat I was feeling on my cheeks.

I’d spoken to her every single day since we’d met, yet I felt like this was the first time I was meeting her. It was strange, like I didn’t know her at all, yet knew everything about her. I wondered if this was how most people felt when they went on dates, or whether it was just me.

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