“What they’ve done to everyone,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “But you wouldn’t—couldn’t—kill anyone. You’re better than that. You have too much goodness in you. Right here.” I put my hand over his heart.
Sliding my hand around the back of his neck, I nudged him to me. His eyes darkened and the blue-green depths swirled. He skimmed his lips over mine before pulling back. His mouth hovered over mine, just a sigh separating us. I could feel his breaths mixing with mine, and I said his name on a sigh. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth. Letting my lip slip from his mouth, he kissed along my jaw to my ear.
“You were made to fit in my arms.” He kissed the hollow behind my ear, and my fingers fisted in his hair.
I pulled his mouth back to mine and his tongue delved between my lips, exploring every part of my mouth. Running along the length of my tongue, across my teeth, over the roof of my mouth—he touched everywhere. I leaned into him, wanting more. Always wanting more. His feel. His strength. His taste. Him.
The light clicked on, and Chay stepped back. I grinned. “I guess the fun’s over.”
“Yeah, but it was damn good while it lasted.”
I gave him a quick kiss. “‘Bye. Text me.”
“I will,” he promised. “I’ll talk with you tomorrow, Milayna. I have a feeling we’re gonna get a free pass from school.”
Judging by the bruises covering his face, and the way mine throbbed, I figured he was right.
***
The next morning, my face was a beautiful kaleidoscope of color. Makeup was once again a failure, so I got to stay home from school.
Unfortunately, Chay had to go to school, so there was no one to make fun of soap operas with. Uncle Rory was my babysitter for the day, and he didn’t see the appeal. So we watched the sports channel. It was torture. I’d rather have been at school.
Five days until my birthday.
Thursday, my mother booted me off to school even though I looked like I was on the wrong end of a catfight.
“I can’t go to school looking like this, Mom! Give me one more day.” Although another day with Uncle Rory and the sports channel and I was likely to pull my hair out strand by strand. Watching the sports channel all day was like Chinese water torture. It actually made me want to study chemistry.
“No, you can’t miss any more school. If anyone asks, tell them you fell down the stairs.”
I stomped up the stairs to my room, tripping on the top step, and landing on my hands and knees on the hallway floor.
“See, honey, falling down the stairs won’t be a big stretch for you. You can even fall up them.” She walked away, giggling.
“Ha freakin’ ha,” I muttered.
I called Chay for a ride, but his mother said he’d already left. He had a quiz to make up. I didn’t even want to think about the amount of work I had to make up. The thought made my head pound. I had demons to deal with. I couldn’t be worrying about chemistry labs and calculus. Who the hell cared what x equaled?
“So what’s the official story?” Muriel asked, interrupting my thoughts. She had given me a ride to school. We walked from the student parking lot to our lockers.
“Hmm?”
“Your face.” She tilted her head to the side. “People are bound to notice.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Um, I fell down the stairs.”
She walked with me to chemistry, said she’d see me the next hour in calculus, and walked away. I looked through the door into the classroom. Chay sat at our lab area, his arms folded on the table, his head lying on them. I walked quietly to the desk and hefted my book bag up. It landed with a loud thwack next to him. He jumped up straight in his chair.
“Now you know how it feels,” I said with a smile. “You look like hell, Chay.”
“That was going to be my line.” He stood, pulling out my chair for me, and I sat down. As he moved away, he let the tips of his fingers glide over the skin at the base of my neck. I shivered. “So, what’s the story? Stairs?”
“Yep. Just tumbled down the darn things,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.
It wasn’t like someone wasn’t going to figure out our lie. Chay was bruised, I was bruised; Drew, Jeff, and Jen were all bruised. Not to mention the other side. I was sure they had their fair share of cuts and bruises, as well. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there’d been a fight. The only real issue was to make sure no one knew what the fight was about.
“I missed you yesterday.” He pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. His finger trailed down the side of my face.
“I missed you, too. Uncle Rory insisted on coming over. We ended up watching the sports channel all day. It was torture. I actually wanted to do homework.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m better company than Uncle Rory.”
“Slightly.”