Cruel Kisses (It's Just High School #2) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,71
I guess when she’s the one person who can arouse my demons, she’s also the one who can tame them.
16
She clings to me like that for a while. I’m in no particular rush anyway. I like the feel of her in my arms, the smell of carnal sex in the room. I like the way she fits there, like she was always supposed to be there.
I like that my heart calms down and races all at the same time when she’s near and now, I get to maybe rescue my pride, which would be tricky seeing as I basically suicided it the last time I saw her.
“Tell me,” I whisper in her ear, but she trembles and holds on to me even tighter. “What happened, baby? Why did you run that night?”
She’s silent for a while as her heart starts thundering, beating against my chest. She goes to pull back, so I let her, easing my almost smothering grip on her so she feels less restricted.
“I have no idea where to begin and frankly, I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be here with you right now.”
“Come on, Little Minx, you know that’s bullshit, right?”
“Is it though?” she scoffs, now putting distance between us as she fixes her clothes, dressing in just one move. “Am I crazy to think that you and your family can’t be trusted?”
“No, of course you’re not crazy. I can’t even trust my own family. Not fully at least,” I mutter, then get up from the bed, grab my jeans from the floor and tug them on.
I start looking around the room for my shoes. I have no idea at which point I kicked them off, but I need to make myself busy, because by God, if I just sit there and talk, with my dick out after I just fucking lost it with her, I’ll be asking for torment that I don’t need in my head.
She stares at me like she still doesn’t know what to make of everything, like she’s still on the fence about something.
“Shit, Mia stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you have no idea what to make of me,” I growl, wanting her to see me. Just me. You’re looking at me like I’m a stranger to you when you know better.”
“My God, Julian, I don’t know any better!”
“What the fuck does that even mean?” I spread my hands out wide. “It’s me! I’m here for you and if you’re still thinking that I’m somehow aligned to the shit my father was doing then I’ll repeat myself again, to ease your unhealthy insecurities, Mia. I’m not my father. I didn’t know what he was doing.”
“You didn’t know,” she mutters, repeating after me, a frown on her face. “How is it that you didn’t know, when I saw at the police station that you knew?”
“Mia—”
“The truth, Julian,” she whispers, cutting me off as she gets up from the bed and struts to the opposite side of the room, watching me like one would a serial criminal. “I’d like to hear the truth.”
“And here I was thinking that’s what we have between us,” I bite out, that anger coming back again. I hate how she can sometimes be so cavalier about all this, so cavalier about me. “It’s not like you’ve ever lied about the way you feel about me, even in hate.”
Our eyes meet and hold. I watch as her shoulders ease, allowing herself to calm down.
“Okay,” she sighs, taking a deep breath. “Let’s talk.” She tugs at her sleeves like she’s been doing since the moment I discovered that she had exchanged her first-class ticket with some lady from coach.
“First of all, I had nothing to do with what dad was doing and honestly Mia, he really wasn’t going after you.”
“Then who was he going after?”
I swallow, this is the moment where we air everything out. This might go very well, or it might blow up in our faces.
“Your father,” I mutter. She’s silent for a few seconds, then she nods.
“You mean your father’s brother?”
Well then. Here goes nothing but pain.
“You know?”
“It’s a long story.”
“We have nine hours and twenty minutes to talk about everything, Mia, neither one of us is getting off this damn plane with secrets,” I state matter-of-factly. I’m tired of secrets and shit that only serves to make her either run from me or distrust me.
She swallows, her eyes shifting to the floor then back up again to look at me, but that rigid posture is back.