and his throat, loosening it. “Here’s the thing. That girl that I stood up for when those jerks took her portscreen?”
“Kate Fallow.”
“Right, Kate Fallow. Well, she was really good at math. And, at the time, I was failing.”
The anticipation fluttering through her body turned to ice. Wait—was this his confession? Something to do with … Kate Fallow?
He cleared his throat when she didn’t say anything. “I lost the fight and all, but she still let me copy her homework for a month. That’s why I did it. Not out of a misplaced desire to be heroic.”
“But you said you had a crush on her.”
“Cress.” He smiled, but it looked strained. “I had a crush on every girl. Believe me, it wasn’t a big motivator.”
She squeezed back against the chair and pulled her knees to her chest. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“I couldn’t before. You were so certain that I was this other person, and I kind of liked that you saw me differently than anyone else. Part of me kept thinking that maybe you’ve been right all along, and it’s everyone else who’s been wrong about me. That even I’ve been wrong about me.” He shrugged. “But even that was just my ego talking, wasn’t it? And you deserve to know the truth.”
“And you think my entire opinion of you was based on one incident that happened when you were thirteen years old?”
His brow knitted. “I thought I’d done a pretty good job of clarifying all those other incidents, but if you have more, by all means, let me ruin those for you too.”
She bit her lip.
The rooftop. The kiss. He’d kept his promise. He’d given her a kiss worth waiting for because she was about to die—they were both about to die. She knew it had been a risk, and probably a stupid one. And that was the choice he’d made rather than let her die without experiencing that one perfect moment.
She could think of nothing more heroic.
So why wouldn’t he mention it?
Perhaps more important, why couldn’t she?
“No,” she whispered finally. “I guess I can’t think of anything else.”
He nodded, though his expression was disappointed. “So given all this new information, you, uh, probably don’t think you’re still in love with me. Do you?”
She shrank into her chair, sure that if he could see her now, he would know. The truth would be evident in every angle of her face.
She loved him more than ever.
And not because she’d scoured file after file of reports and summaries and data and photographs. Not because he was the dreamy, untouchable Carswell Thorne that she’d imagined kissing on the banks of a starlit river while fireworks exploded overhead and violins played in the background.
Now he was the Carswell Thorne who had given her strength in the desert. Who had come for her when she was kidnapped. Who had kissed her when hope was lost and death was imminent.
Thorne awkwardly scratched his ear. “That’s what I thought. I figured it was just the fever talking, anyway.”
Her heart twisted. “Captain?”
He perked up. “Yeah?”
She picked at the chiffon overlay of her skirt. “Do you think it was destiny that brought us together?”
He squinted and, after a thoughtful moment, shook his head. “No. I’m pretty sure it was Cinder. Why?”
“I guess I have a confession too.” She pressed the skirt down around her legs, her face already burning. “I … I had a crush on you, before we even met, just from seeing you on the netscreens. I used to believe that you and I were destined to be together, someday, and that we would have this great, epic romance.”
One eyebrow ticked upward. “Wow. No pressure or anything.”
She squirmed, her body was vibrating with nerves. “I know. I’m sorry. I think you might be right, though. Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them. I’m beginning to think that maybe great, epic romances don’t just happen. We have to make them ourselves.”
Thorne shuffled his feet. “You know, if it was a bad kiss, you can just say so.”
She stiffened. “That’s not at all what I … Wait. Did you think it was a bad kiss?”
“No,” he said, with an abrupt, clumsy laugh. “I thought it was … um.” He cleared his throat. “But there were clearly a lot of expectations, and a lot of pressure, and…” He squirmed in the chair. “We were going to die, you know.”
“I know.” She squeezed her