Page 57 of Aftertaste

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and I groaned at the feeling. I needed water, STAT, and lots of it. My head thumped to the beat of an invisible drum, and as I opened my eyes and sunlight blasted through my retinas, I groaned.

“Oh god.” I slapped my hand over my eyes, trying to un-see the light that had tried to blind me.

I rolled over, pulling the covers with me, but it took me a few seconds to realize the light in my bedroom didn’t come through my window like that. As soon as recognition slammed into me, my body snapped up into a sitting position, my hands grasping the covers at my chest even though I knew I was still fully clothed.

I blinked over and over again, trying to get the sleepiness out of my eyes as I took everything in. I may not have been in my bedroom, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know where I was. And as soon as I recognized the colors of the walls and the signed basketball sitting on the dresser, my heart hammered for an entirely different reason.

“Storm,” I whispered.

I didn’t expect an answer, so when he asked, “Yeah,” from behind me, I jumped out of my skin.

I whipped my head around, my gaze landing on him as I backed up on the bed to the edge. He wasn’t next to me though, but instead sitting on the chair in the corner, his eyes rounded with dark circles.

“What…” I swallowed and backed up even more, getting out of his bed. The last time I’d been in there we’d been naked and—I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that, not right then. “What am I doing here?”

He pushed to the edge of his seat and rested his forearms on his thighs. “You got drunk last night.” He paused, his piercing gaze not moving off of me. “Thalia called for me to come and get you.”

I nodded, remembering the amount I’d drank at the party. When I’d left the café yesterday, I’d walked for hours then finally ended up at Thalia’s. I hadn’t told her what had gone on or that my entire world had been shattered. She’d taken one look at my face and declared the only solution was to drown my sorrows.

“So, you brought me back here?” I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to comfort myself.

“Yeah.” Storm blew out a breath then pushed his hand through his hair. “Go shower and then we can talk properly.”

Emotion bubbled up into my throat. It was just him and I here, no one else around. There was a mountain between us, yet I still felt closer to him than ever. I’d thought everything had changed, but had it?

“It hurts to look at you,” I confessed, feeling the tears threatening to fall.

Storm nodded, as if he understood, and he was probably the only other person in the world who ever would. He stood, his shoulders pulled back, his strength alluring and begging me to go to him.

“I can’t do this.” I stepped back, knowing the en suite door was right behind me. “I can’t be around you, not when I feel like this.”

“When you feel like what?” Storm asked, his voice soft but demanding.

“I can’t,” I choked out, taking another step back and feeling the cool tile of the bathroom floor on the soles of my feet. “This is wrong.”

“What’s wrong?” His voice was deeper now. “Tell me, Sage.” He moved around the bed, coming closer. “Tell me.”

I opened my mouth, my throat closing up, but I managed to rasp out, “I’m in love with you,” a second before I closed the bathroom door, shutting him off from my confession.

My Everything

Storm

I stared at the door for what felt like hours as I heard the shower turn on, but it didn’t mask the sound of her sobs.

I’m in love with you.

Her words echoed over and over again in my head, getting louder and louder each time. She hadn’t said that she loves me, no, she said she wasinlove with me. She’d told me how she felt, even after all that we’d found out.

Just because someone told you something, didn’t mean it automatically changed the way you felt. And that was exactly what was happening. Our parents had told us who we were to each other—who we were meant to be. But that didn’t mean that was what we were.

We may have been brother and sister, but I didn’t see her like that, I’d never see her like that.

My foot moved before my brain registered what I was doing, but as I took another, then another, I knew what I was doing was the right thing. Maybe not to anyone else, maybe not legally, but inside my heart, I knew the truth.

Sage was it for me. She’d been it since the moment I’d laid eyes on her, and nothing or nobody would stand in our way.

My palm grasped the door handle and I slowly turned it, stepped inside, then closed and locked the door behind me. I was separating us from the outside world because they didn’t understand, they’d never understand.

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