Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,85

mask off the hook, holding it. “It was a long time before I met someone who could take me,” she explained. “That’s the thing about broken people, Guillaume. If we ever give you our heart, then you know that you deserve it.”

Tears welled in me, but only for a moment.

“He was patient with me,” she told him, a far-off look in her eyes.

My grandfather.

Long since passed, but they were well and truly in love. At least she was happy for a while.

“Now go,” she told us, starting to put on her mask. “I’m tired.”

Like hell she was. We could watch a movie or something.

“Grand-Mère…”

But she shouted, “Go! Be young!”

I wanted to laugh, telling her that I was forty-three at this point and just over it, but it would make her happy if she knew I was happy, so…

She put her mask on, and we left the room, me leading the way back to mine.

Once inside, I closed the door and watched Will set a candle on my windowsill. It was the one that sat on my grandmother’s dresser. He must’ve swiped it.

He pulled out a lighter from his jeans and lit it, positioning it center as the small glow came to life, burning against the black night.

He turned, the light of the flame flickering in his eyes as he looked over at me.

“No movies tonight then?” he asked, walking around my room.

I shook my head, not meeting his eyes.

“And I think,” he continued, moving toward me, “even if you could leave, you wouldn’t anyway.”

Taking a step, I moved away from him, both of us circling each other.

Again, I shook my head.

“Because you’re suspicious of everything good,” he told me.

I remained silent, continuing to move away as he moved in.

“And it won’t end when you go to college or leave this town, Em. Nothing will change. You still won’t have good things.”

I tried to swallow through the lump in my throat, but I couldn’t.

“Because you’ll still be you,” he said.

I breathed in and out a few times, and then the words spilled out before I could stop them. “I want to let this happen,” I told him, finally looking up and meeting his eyes. “Part of me really does, Will. You know why?”

He stared, and I barely noticed that we’d both stopped moving.

“Because as soon as it was over, I know I’d never have to hear from you again.”

I didn’t blink as I held his eyes, his beautiful greens sharpening and his spine straightening.

Yes, fucking you would be the one way to get rid of you. It was almost tempting.

But then I watched his lips tighten as his eyes glistened.

He fell silent, looking taken aback, and I faltered, watching my words work their way through his head, slicing a bloody path that I immediately regretted.

He dropped his eyes, stuck the lighter into his pocket, and let out a resolved breath. “Why are you so mean?”

But he didn’t really want an answer. Turning away, he left my bedroom and headed down the stairs, and in that moment, my insides crumbled, because I knew I’d gone too far.

I didn’t want this.

I didn’t want him to go, because I’d never hear from him again. I’d go to school tomorrow, pass him in the halls, but this time, he wouldn’t look back at me.

I’d gone too far.

Racing after him, I jogged down the stairs, leapt over the last few steps, and pushed the front door closed again just as he was opening it.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, gripping his T-shirt at his waist and dipping my forehead into his back. “I’m not…” My voice shook. “I’m just…not a happy person, Will. And you’re right, I never will be.”

Tears lodged in my throat, and I blinked long and hard to keep the tears away. I didn’t want to cry in front of him again.

He stood there, still, only the beat of his heart pulsing through his body.

“I’m not right for you,” I told him.

And not because he was rich and popular and I wasn’t, but because he made my life better. I looked forward to him.

What did I give him?

“Noted,” he replied coolly. “Now let me go.”

I squeezed my eyes shut at his cutting tone.

He wouldn’t be back.

And something started to come over me, like a curtain falling—or lifting—and for once in my life, I refused to stop myself. I was so cold.

And he was so warm. It was like an invisible rope pulling me to the edge that it was beyond me to control.

“You wanted