Page 117 of Sweetheart: Part One

Fuck.

Ebony smiled. “Charming driver, really,” he said.

My blood ran cold.

No.

No no no.

I wouldn’t fucking watch him do this.

“Though…” He paused, considering. I stared at him, seeing the twinkle of delight in his eyes as if he could feel the tension from me.

What the fuck was I supposed to do, though?

As he opened his mouth again, I did the only thing I could to derail the conversation.

“You know, he—?” Ebony cut off at the sound of glass shattering at our feet.

I stared at the marble floor where crystals of the broken cube he’d handed me moments ago, glinted back at us.

Then I looked up at Ebony’s frozen expression. A plan came to me in a wild moment, unbidden and completely insane. But I wouldn’t let him do this, even if that meant playing him at his own game—and he’d have a hard time arguingdisrespectto him publicly, either.

“I…” My voice was the faintest breath, and I didn’t take my eyes from him. The woman behind the counter—everyone around us—was staring. “I’m s-sorry,” I stammered, throwing everything I had into the tremble in my voice. I was tense as a mouse, drawing up every memory of hiding from monsters that my childhood had leant me.

Ebony frowned, calculating for a moment.

Then I was sinking to my knees, fingers trembling from the adrenaline, body tense as I scrambled at the glass across the floor.

“Vex!”

I froze, rigid and still. Then I continued collecting the little pieces of glass.

“Vex!”His voice was firmer this time, and I jumped, having been waiting for it.

“I can fix it,” I said, wild and desperate. “I’ll… I’ll fix it.”

“Vex!” This time I jumped harder when I felt his hand on my arm, dragging me upward. “Hey, hey, come on.” His voice was so gentle, but I didn’t meet his eyes as he helped me to my feet. Instead, I stared down at his shoes, fingers clasped. “It doesn’t matter, I can get another one. Not worth you getting hurt over.”

My gaze darted to the lady at the desk. She was staring, taken aback as, before her eyes, I painted a picture so very opposite to what anyone expected of the charming actor, Ebony Starless.

I forced a weak smile on my face, looking up at him for just a second.

“R-right. Of course.”

He reached up, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, and I flinched away. He paused, and this time I saw the flash of fury in his eyes, brief and only visible because I was looking for it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you feeling unwell?”

I held that rigid smile, one I’d seen a thousand times on my mother. Before today, I’d always wished I could forget it. I looked up at him longer this time, and there it was again, that something deadly glittering in the depths of his eyes. Fucking good.

“Y-yes,” I whispered. “That must be it.”

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Come here.” He drew me into a hug.

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