Page 86 of Pretty Black

I sucked in a breath and met his gaze. He squeezed my hand, and his gray eyes were steady. More steady than anything had been in my life.

“You are made of magic. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world sees what I see.”

I dropped my gaze, hair falling in my face. “How can you look at a guy covered in scars and say that?”

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Because I’m not looking skin deep. I’m listening to the words you write from your soul.”

“How do you always know what to say?” He soothed a part of me I hadn’t known needed soothing, bringing a calm to my life I could easily get addicted to.

If this was happiness, I’d chase him for the rest of my life.

“Like what?”

“Do you believe in fate?” I repeated his words to him.

“You remember that?”

“How could I forget?”

He smiled, cheeks getting pink. “It felt like the right thing.”

“Let’s make that fate magic.”

“Ready?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“I got you. I will always have you.” His words were soft, but they echoed in my mind. He’d proved he had me beyond any shadow of a doubt.

“I know.”

“Come push the button with me.” He put my hand on the enter key with his.

We pushed.

“Now turn it off.” I flopped back on his bed and stretched out.

He shut his laptop and laid back, but he didn’t turn towards me. He stayed on his back, staring at the ceiling.

Had I pissed him off?

I frowned but didn’t dare ask.

“I need a drink,” he said at length.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I’m fucking sick to my stomach.” He laughed and shoved out of bed.

I gathered my hair in my hands and put it up in a messy bun, reaching over to the little shelf above Cas’ bed, where he left a stack of pencils for me to use in my hair. He poured us each a glass of cheap alcohol.

“We’ll be looking back on this in a few years, knowing this was the moment that started it all.” He held out his glass to clink with mine.

“This might have been the moment we uploaded a song, but this isn’t where we started.” I put my hand on his chest over his heart. “You sealed our fate when you wouldn’t give up that night.”

“I’m never going to give up.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

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