I plop down on the couch beside him, and I lean against him as he watches an old movie from the days before the virus spread.
“Go to sleep,” he murmurs, and the curtains draw once he presses a button beside the couch.
“I want to watch this with you,” I yawn out, and he gives me a faint smirk before my eyes become too heavy to hold open any longer.
“Araya, are you coming?” Hale asks in a slightly agitated tone.
“I am,” I huff, and I look in the mirror at the far too tight dress that almost drapes the floor. The plummeting neckline barely hides any of my secrets, and it continues on to my navel for a larger peepshow than I intended to give. “Remind me to never trust Wendy with picking me out a dress again,” I growl.
The blood red hue of the dress makes my hair look even darker as it swishes around my shoulders. The hidden details are what make the dress beautiful, but also a little too… sexy.
“I’m sure it’s fine. We really have to go,” he grumbles.
He’s been ill for two weeks. I’m sure he’s ready to get me out of his apartment, and I know I’m going crazy too. We’ve been locked up together like two horny caged animals, but there’s never any sex because of me and my big mouth.
The more I get to know him now, the more I wish I had just let him keep chasing me.
“I wish you weren’t so cranky. As soon as there is a room available, I promise I’ll be gone,” I harp through the door.
“I don’t want you gone, I just don’t want to be late. I’m the captain. It would look bad,” he sighs.
“Go on without me. I’ll just come down when I summon up the courage to let everyone see me in this.”
I twitch nervously as I spin around again, and the damn back is completely transparent through the lace of the dress. Thankfully, the transparency doesn’t extend past my rear, but it’s still pretty damn slinky.
“I don’t want to leave you behind.”
“Then the captain will be late.” I stare a moment longer at the dress I should toss in the trash rather than wear, and another dreadful sigh escapes. “Just go. I’ll be fine,” I grumble.
“Very well. Come find me when you get there, and I’ll make sure Brazen doesn’t mess with you. I know that’s why you’re not ready. You’ll have to face him sooner or later. You can’t hide in my home forever.”
“I can hide here until I have a home of my own again. I’m looking into the Hershian compound. They need a good interrogator, and I sent over my résumé yesterday.”
He doesn’t say a word, and I feel like a fool because he’s probably already gone.
I just roll my eyes, and then I let out a slight squeal when I hear, “You’re leaving?”
I turn to face the pitiful eyes staring into mine, and I shrug as if they don’t affect me - even though they do.
“I thought it might be good for me to get a fresh start… again. I can’t go back to Javeline, I hate Hartwood, and Selma has far too many people I know.”
“Seminole could use a good interrogator too,” he murmurs sadly.
“Seminole has you, and you’re just as good as I am.”
“You said you wouldn’t leave if I quit chasing you, and I have. I actually prefer our new arrangement of friendship,” he says softly, and he moves to sit on the edge of the bed.
His words almost sting me even though it’s exactly what I asked him to do. I never expected him to quit me so easily.
“It’s just a thought. Besides, we can be friends from anywhere,” I almost huff out, and then I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “Go on down. I’ll be there in a minute. They’ll be expecting you to start the cadet selection ceremony, and I’m sure the newbies are getting stir crazy,” I say with lightheartedness.
This is ridiculous. I’m falling for him all over again, and he’s over me now that I asked him to back off.
“Araya, I want to talk about this more,” he sighs against the door.
“We will. That’s what friends do,” I secretively snark.
I hear reluctant steps pacing before they leave the room. I reemerge after I hear him walk out the front door. The apartment has been fully restored now, but my pictures are still not reframed. He’s really done, and I need to get the fuck out of Seminole.
