MILA 2.0_ Redemption - Debra Driza Page 0,70

I waited, I hoped for something as simple as a password. I should have known better.

A red line streamed from the video camera over the front door, aiming directly at whoever stood below.

Initiate retinal scan.

I slumped. Unlocking the door? No problem. So long as we had a grant student’s eyeball handy.

“What is it?” Hunter whispered.

I turned to share the bad news, only to discover worse news. In the short time I’d been focused on the camera, the person had continued in our direction.

Human threat detected: 50 ft.

Maybe it was just someone heading back to the dorms. One quick glance dissuaded me of that notion. The man was hard to see because of the flashlight he wielded like a weapon, but one thing was for sure. He was heading right for us.

“Duck,” I whispered, dropping below the top of the hedge and pulling Hunter down with me.

“No one’s allowed over there!” a deep voice boomed from the path.

Human threat approaching: 30 ft.

“He’s coming,” I whispered, meeting Hunter’s wide eyes in the dim light, my pulse nothing more than a frantic flutter in my neck. Wide-eyed, we crouched behind the hedge, face-to-face, our noses so close that his breath feathered across my face.

20 ft.

If we were caught now, we were dead meat. The dean would find out, and that would be the end of our plan. At best, he’d ban us from campus. At worst—well, if he was involved with Holland, then who knew what the worst might be?

One voice in my head urged me to run. In the dark, with a head start . . . I had a good shot of escaping. But Hunter could never keep up. I’d left him once before, and I couldn’t abandon him to danger a second time, regardless of how he treated me.

We could pretend that someone dared us. Or that we’d just been taking a walk, and I’d dropped my iPod somewhere. Something, anything, so long as it was remotely plausible. I was an android; I could pull this off. Maybe—

Hunter’s yank on my arm interrupted my mental chatter. He fell back, one hand catching his fall, landing on his butt and pulling me onto his lap.

“Wha—?”

“Boyfriend,” he mouthed. The reference barely had time to register—Daniel’s idea, right—when his arms hauled me up against his chest and his mouth covered mine.

At first, I didn’t move. I wasn’t sure I could. I felt stunned, almost Taser-level stunned. My eyes widened and my hands braced on his shoulders.

As I sat there, torn between fear and surprise, I reminded myself that this wasn’t a real kiss. It was our cover story. A stolen tryst near a deserted building.

As cover went, it was way better than any of my ideas. It just might work.

Human threat: 10 ft.

But only if we convinced whoever was about to catch us.

I pulled him closer until his body heat combined with mine. My fingers slid through his hair. If this guy was going to buy our story, we had to put on a show. I felt the shock of my actions shudder through Hunter and I closed my eyes. His heart and my heart were unified in terror. The pressure of his mouth increased, and I waited. Both for the threat to arrive, and for all the old feelings to surface. At one time, I would have done anything to be in this position. To hold Hunter close and take refuge in the safety of his arms.

Except that now, any refuge seemed like a distant dream.

Which left the awkward realization that I was playacting with someone who, even if he ever forgave me, would never understand me.

Along with the equally awkward realization that I wished he was someone else.

“Hey, you two. Out of there.”

Hunter waited a couple of seconds before pulling away, giving a brilliant performance as a boy caught off guard. He pushed to his feet, swiping a lock of hair from his face with a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, sir. We didn’t realize . . . just snuck away to . . . uh . . . you know . . .”

While Hunter stammered, I rose from my spot on the ground. Slowly, with the sense that here, in this planter, I was surrendering a dream for good.

I curled into Hunter’s chest in a pretense of shyness that was really all about not letting the guy see my face. I peeked through my fingers, so I could catch a glimpse of him. His uniform tagged him as someone other than faculty. A

readonlinefreenovel.com Copyright 2016 - 2024