Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,70
matter what I did, it just wouldn’t catch. I followed the instructions exactly as I remembered them. But it didn’t work.”
He continues. “Even a silent forest starts to make scary noises in the night. Min and I huddled together in the dark, too frightened to close our eyes. Every sound caused us to jump. Every gust of wind caused her to break into tears. All because I couldn’t take care of her.” Rich’s voice becomes hard. “All because I couldn’t start a damn fire.”
My heart melts. I can hear how much he loves his sister in his words. I would have given anything to have a family member like that when I was growing up.
“…Then what?” I ask when he doesn’t continue.
My voice rouses Rich from his spell. “What? Oh. Nothing, really. The sun rose in the morning. We found our way back. There was nothing scarier out there than whatever we had in our imaginations. But I swore to myself that day I would learn to build a fire.” He shrugs. “When I got home, I did.”
“What about your father?” I ask. “Wasn’t he worried? What did he say when you got back?”
Rich gives a long, bitter laugh. “He didn’t even notice we were gone. The next day, he scolded us for getting our clothes dirty. As if he could expect anything different when you take two kids into the wild.
“Wow,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
Rich grimaces. “For what? I already know my father’s an asshole. I don’t need your sympathy for that.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant, Penny. You think because I have a bad relationship with my father, you can pigeonhole me into one of those wounded male stereotypes.” He snorts. “Don’t bother. Others have tried. Anyway, it’s a lot more complex than that.”
“No,” I say, “That’s not what I meant at all. I see now how much you care for your sister. I’m sorry that you had to get tangled with me, and put her in even more danger because of that.”
“Penny, no.” His voice is full of emotion when he turns to look at me. “I don’t think that way at all.”
“If I were anybody else,” I tell him, “you would have left me with Tam and Victor. You’d be reunited with Min by now. There’d be nobody to hold you back.”
“Penny, you’re not holding me back,” Rich stresses. “The only one here at fault is me. Me, and my stupid emotions. Because of them, I put you in danger. I didn’t have the strength to make you leave when you still had the chance.”
There he goes with that heart-wrenching sincerity again. “Rich?” I look at him, see the dancing flames reflected in his eyes. I can’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Tell me the truth. Would you have come back for anybody else?”
There is no hesitation in his answer. “No. I came back for you, Penny. No one else.” My heart does a flip in my chest. It becomes a little harder to breathe. “My sister is the most important person in the world to me,” he continues. “She is the only true family I have.” He brushes aside a lock of my hair. “Yet I risked her to be with you.”
I try to swallow the lump in my throat. “Really?”
“Yes.” Rich leans toward me. “Only for you.” He is so close I can feel his hot breath on my skin. So close that there is nothing separating us but the thinnest sliver of air. His nose nuzzles against mine. “Only for you,” he repeats.
Then, he kisses me.
I respond too easily. My mouth opens to him with no hesitation. Rational thought has abandoned me. I kiss him back, forgetting everything I told him before. Ignoring all the things I should be remembering. The heat of the flames beats against one side of my face, but it’s the rest of my body that suddenly feels too hot.
Rich’s hand finds the small of my back. He tugs me close. I let out a little gasp as our hips collide. A cool rush of air runs along my swollen lips where Rich’s mouth had just been.
With a start, I remember myself. When Rich tries to come in and kiss me again, I turn away.
“Penny,” he says, “is everything all right?”
“This is wrong,” I tell him. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
Rich reaches up to cup my chin with two fingers. Gently, he turns my face to his. “Don’t tell me it’s wrong,” he whispers,