Page 32 of Illuminated

“Thanks.”

He put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Ruby.”

“What?”

“It’s the anniversary I’m looking forward to. They’ll go so well with your hair and eyes.”

I sipped some of the tea. He’d put sugar in there, which I normally didn’t like, but right now, the sweetness was nice. “What? Rubies will look good on me?”

“Sure. You have the eye for beauty, so don’t tell me you can’t see that.”

“I’m behind the camera, not in front.”

Auris smiled at me and pulled his phone out.

“Oh, come on, I’m a mess,” I said and went back to my tea.

“You’re a gloriously human mess. Look at me, Ethan.”

Which was when he took a picture of me. I didn’t really have a right to complain since I was the king of taking random photos of random stuff and turning it into a series, but… I pouted. He took another picture.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I need a new background. I never change these as much as I would like to, but I like you looking at me whenever I have to look at my phone.”

I snorted. “Flirty vampire.”

“That’s right. So are you feeling a bit better?”

I shrugged. “I guess. Sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“You never saw violence like that before, that’s what happened. No one is supposed to get used to it, and your body was letting you know.”

“Right.”

“You want to sit with me and talk some more? I’d love hearing about your college years, if you’ll tell me.”

I nodded. “Sure, we can do that.”

Auris nodded and went over to the fireplace to stoke the still-warm embers and build a new fire atop them. I watched, fascinated by him, but also worried. I never wanted to see him tortured or hurt again.

A shiver ran down my spine, but that was when Auris struck a match and lit the kindling. The flames started eating until there was almost no cold left in the entire house.

Chapter Seven

The next morning, I was set on doing some actual work, meaning editing.

For the purpose, I put on my editing shorts before heading to the kitchen, unsurprised that Auris was at the counter again, his laptop open.

“Good morning, Ethan.”

“Morning,” I said, bouncing on my feet. Everything in me still felt sort of raw, but last night had been the best. We’d just talked and talked. We’d clicked. We’d clicked before, but last night had had that first date feel to it, apart from the fact I’d been upset at the beginning of it.

“You are looking like a man with a purpose,” Auris said.

“Thanks for noticing. I’ll do some editing.” I pulled all the fixings for sandwiches out of the fridge and started on making a large plateful of them.

“Is that the artist’s code for ‘don’t talk to me for the next several hours but make sure I stay hydrated’?”

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