“Don’t you dare say you wanted me, because you treated me like I was the Antichrist! You can’t just undo that because there’s a stupid connection between us.” She sucked in a sharp breath, the flush leaking out of her face. “You really hurt me then. I don’t think you even know. You humiliated me in front of an entire lunchroom!”
Looking away, I dragged my hand through my hair. She was right. I had hurt her. I had embarrassed her. I couldn’t go back and change that, even though I wished I could. “I know. I’m…I’m sorry for how I treated you, Kat.”
She stared at me for a few seconds and then bit down on her lip. “Even now, we’re all the way hidden in the library, as if you don’t want people to know you made a mistake that day and acted like a dick. And I’m supposed to be okay with that now?”
What the hell? My eyes widened. Did she think I was hiding her? “Kat—”
“I’m not saying we can’t be friends, because I want to. I do like you a lo—” She cut herself off. “Look, this didn’t happen. I’m going to blame aftereffects of the flu or say that a zombie ate my brain.”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
“I don’t want this with you.” She started to turn, but I caught her arm. Her eyes narrowed on me. “Daemon…”
I looked her dead on. “You’re a terrible liar. You do want this. Just as badly as I do. You want this as badly as you want to go to ALA this winter.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You don’t even know what ALA is!”
“The American Library Association midwinter event.” I was quite proud of this. “Saw you obsessing over it on your blog before you got sick. I’m pretty sure you said you’d give up your firstborn child to go. Anyway, back to the whole you-wanting-me part. You do want me.”
Kat drew in a deep breath as a weird mix of amusement and irritation flashed across her face. “You are way too confident.”
“I’m confident enough to wager a bet.”
Her eyes rolled. “You can’t be serious.”
I grinned. “I bet that by New Year’s Day, you will have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, and irrevocably—”
“Wow. Want to throw another adverb out there?” Her cheeks were bright red.
Winking at her, I came up with another one. “How about irresistibly?”
“I’m surprised you know what an adverb is,” she muttered.
“Stop distracting me, Kitten. Back to my bet—by New Year’s Day, you’ll have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with me.”
Kat choked on a laugh.
“And you dream about me.” I released her arm and folded mine across my chest, cocking an eyebrow. “I bet you’ll admit that. Probably even show me your notebook with my name circled in hearts—”
“Oh, for the love of God…”
“It’s on,” I promised, and I meant it. For real.
Chapter 6
Friday evening I went out on patrols, mainly to stop myself from finding some reason to bother Kat so I didn’t come across as having a one-track focus, er, obsession. Who was I kidding? I totally had a one-track focus. It was weird. I had never been this wrapped up in someone before. I guessed it was normal.
I couldn’t shake the taste of her kiss, the sound of her breathy gasps, or the way she had melted into me like warm butter. All day my brain had been replaying those hot moments in the library.
Which made class kind of awkward.
I circled around the colony and then traveled to the edge of the county, staying in the thick woodland. There wasn’t a single sign that an Arum was around. Good news, but I knew it wouldn’t stay that way.
It was a little after ten when I shifted back to my human form seconds before I stepped out of the woods and onto the road leading up to our houses. A few steps and I felt the warm shiver along the back of my neck. My gaze went to Kat’s house and then mine, and there she was, coming out of our house.
“Kitten.”
“Hey.” She looked everywhere but at me. “Where, um, so what have you been doing?”
“Patrolling.” I stepped onto the porch, and even though she was eyeballing a crack in the porch floor, I smiled a little as I stood close to her. Close enough to feel the warmth rolling off her tense body. “Everything is all quiet on the western front.”
Her lips twitched. “Nice reference.”
I lowered my head close to her temple. “It’s my favorite book, actually.”
Kat’s head jerked toward mine and our mouths almost lined up. “I didn’t know you knew how to read the classics.”
Smirking lazily, I stepped closer. Our legs and arms brushed. “Well, I usually prefer books with pictures and small sentences, but sometimes I step out of the box.”
She laughed, and I wanted to shout my approval. “Let me guess, your favorite kind of picture book is the one you can color in?”
“I never stay in the lines.” I winked.
“Of course not.” She looked away, swallowing. The laughter and the smile died off. “I’ve got…to go.”
I swung around. “I’ll walk you home.”
“Um, I live right there.”