Page 30 of Torched

I pinch the bridge of my nose, then bring my gaze back up to stare at myself. The girl staring back at me seems bleak, lacking the vibrancy that I’m used to.

“I don’t know,” I breathe. “I just don’t know.”

“It’s Cristina, isn’t it?”

I want to say no, but I can’t hide anything from Callie, even if I wanted to. She’s the one I trust with my life and lying to her feels a hundred shades of fucked up.

“She says she wants Liam back.”

“She’s lying,” she quickly counters.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. The only reason she’s pretending to want him is to fuck with your head and from what I got from Liam; it’s working.” Leave it up to Callie to shoot me in the heart with the truth. “So, she got her first tick of the list complete.”

“What’s that?”

“Get under your skin.” I purse my lips as I let the words sink in, unable to argue with them without Callie blurtingbullshit.

“The second one is her taking your man off your hands.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I scowl.

“She’s going after your man, Gen. Doesn’t matter if she really wants him back, which she doesn’t, or if she’s just doing it to get Liam back on her team. Either way, she’s going after your man.”

Anger travels deep inside my organs, my body vibrating at the thought.

“The question is,” Callie continues. “Are you going to let her?”

“You think she can do that? After everything that’s happened?” I see what she’s doing, but I can’t deny it’s working.

“Doesn’t matter,” Callie rebukes. “Are you going to lether?”

“No.” The answer falls from my tongue before I can even hear it in my mind.

“You sure? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

Screw my cousin for poking me like this.

“You staying in your room all day to avoid her will only make her feel more powerful, thinking you’re too scared to face her.”

“I’m not scared of her!”

“She’ll grow more and more convinced that she can seduce Liam again. It’s not like she hasn’t done it before already.” Callie continues, undisturbed.

“Over my dead body.”

“In fact, I think she’s sitting somewhere on the upper deck right now, gloating, because she still hasn’t seen your face in two days. You’re playing right into her hand, Gen.”

“Fucking hell, Callie!” I huff, running a hand through my messy hair. “Are you serious?”

“You are my cousin, but so is she. I know her, Gen, and I know you. You think by keeping your distance until you’re ready, you’ll be stronger when you do face her. But she’s only enjoying this way more than she should. She loves the effect she has on you. She lives for this shit. Shewantsyou out of the way. You’re only making it easier.”

I know she’s right. My eyes stay collided with the ones reflected back at me. The light blue turns a little icy as I hold my own gaze. I’ve been playing into Cristina’s hand by keeping myself clear from her, when really, I should’ve been in her face so much she’ll grow sick of me. Until she understands there is no getting rid of me unless she kills me.

“Fuck,” I mutter, thinking about my childish behavior for the last couple of days.

“You finally see it now?” Callie questions, amused.

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