“No.” I sighed. “Yes, some of it has to do with that human, but it’s about us. About what we feel for each other.”
She stared at me for several moments and then squirmed until she was able to dip under my arms. She flinched when she put weight on her injured leg and backed up. “Is this like a ‘I didn’t want you until someone else wanted you’ type of thing?”
Struggling to keep a tight leash on my frustration, I leaned against the table. “That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it, Daemon?” Tears built in her eyes, killing me. “Why now, when three months ago you couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as me? It’s the connection between us. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Dammit. Do you think I don’t regret acting like such a douche to you? I’ve apologized.” I pushed away from the table. “You don’t get it. None of this is easy for me. And I know this is hard for you. You have a lot to deal with. But I have my sister and an entire race counting on me. I didn’t want you to get close to me. I didn’t want another person to care about, to worry about losing.”
Kat drew back, obviously shocked, but I was on a roll now. “It wasn’t right how I acted. I know that. But I can do better than that—better than Benny.”
“Blake,” she corrected. “I have a lot in common with Blake. He likes that I read a lot—”
“I do, too.”
“And he also blogs.”
I reached out and caught a piece of her hair and wrapped it around my finger. “I have nothing against the internet.”
She knocked my hand away. “And he doesn’t like me because of some stupid alien connection or because some other guy likes me.”
“I don’t either.” I lowered my hand to my side. “You can’t keep pretending. It’s wrong. You’ll break that boy’s poor little human heart.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You will, because you want me and I want you.”
Shaking her head, she limped for the door. “You keep saying that…”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
Kat briefly squeezed her eyes shut. “You say you want me, but that’s not enough.”
“I show you that I do, too.”
“You do not.”
“What was that?” I gestured at the table I would never look at the same again. “I think I showed you that I like you. I can do it again if you’re not clear on what that was. And I brought you a smoothie and a cookie to school.”
“You stuck the cookie in your mouth!” She threw her hands up in the air.
I smiled at that damn good memory. “The table…”
“Humping my leg like a dog in heat every time I’m around you doesn’t prove you like me, Daemon.”
I clamped my mouth shut before I laughed. “Actually, that’s how I show people I like them.”
“Oh. Fine. Whatever. None of this matters, Daemon.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Kat. And I’m not giving up.” Not on her—not on us. “Do you know why I met you that day in the library?”
“What?”
“The Friday you came back after being sick?” I ran a hand through my hair. “You were right. I picked the library because no one would see us together.”
Her lips thinned as she looked away. “You know what, I’ve always wondered if your ego was so big you didn’t want to eat crow.”
“And as always, you jump to the wrong assumption.” I waited until she looked at me before I continued. “I didn’t want Ash or Andrew to start giving you a bunch of crap because of me like they did with Dawson and Beth. So if you think I’m embarrassed of you or not ready to make my intentions very public, then you better get that idea out of your head. Because if that’s what it takes, then it’s on.”
And that’s the second I realized that was what it was going to take.
“Daemon…”
I smiled at her then, a real smile that said so much. “I told you, Kitten. I like a challenge.”
Chapter 14
On the way to school the next morning, I stopped at the florist shop—the only florist shop—a few blocks from school and picked up a single red rose. It was corny. Undeniably so, but if Kat seriously thought I wasn’t willing to show people how serious I was about her, she had another think coming.
It was risky, possibly even stupid. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what the possible consequences could be, but if this was what it took to prove myself to Kat, then this was what I would do.
Walking into trig class a few moments before the bell rang, I hid the rose behind my notebook until I was in front of her.
Kat looked up, staring at the rose and then me blankly. I tapped a soft petal off the tip of her nose. “Good morning.”
Dumbfounded, she stared at me.
“This is for you,” I explained, knowing that the entire class was staring at us.
She took the green stem between her fingers and stared at it as I sat in my seat. “Oh holy baby Jesus,” Lesa murmured, and I chuckled.