Page 37 of Knot Gonna Give You Up
“Vic! How could you? Poor Simon is minding his own business, and you just fling a rubber band at him?”
My eyes flit from Vic over to Simon, and when I raise an eyebrow at him, I can see the mischief appear in his eyes. He sees my game, and from the look I get from him, he’s in. Almost instantly, his face transforms into sorrow, a little hurt thrown in there as well.
“Seriously, Vic? What the hell did you do that for? I can’t believe you’d ambush me like that!” Simon laments.
Vic smiles for a moment, then slowly starts to frown, trying to decide if Simon’s playing around or if he’s being serious. I straighten up and walk over to Simon, trying to look concerned for him.
“Are you okay? Looks like it hit you hard. Can you show me?” I ask him, my voice dripping with concern.
Simon turns his face to the side, and I gasp as if his skin has completely fallen off. The mark isn’t even that big or that red, just a small splotch that indicates something irritated the skin.
“Is it bad?” Simon asks me, voice wavering
“I’m sure it will heal up just fine!” I assure him.
My voice is wavering with contained laughter, so I try to push out a few tears to make it sound more like I’m crying. Hopefully it’s convincing. Simon rolls his lips in, and I suspect he has the same problem I do at the moment.
“Is it bleeding?” Simon asks, a little panic infused into his question.
“Only a little!” I assure him.
Vic moves closer, his face now full of worry for his friend.
“Shit, Simon, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I snapped it so hard. I didn’t see where you were standing!”
I look up to see if Simon wants to try to keep it going, and he shrugs ever so slightly. Apparently, it’s up to me. Poor Vic has suffered enough, and I’m not sure how we’d even keep this up. Without thinking, I grab Simon’s chin and turn his head so Vic can see the rubber band mark.
“He willneverheal!” I exclaim.
Vic frowns, looking at Simon’s perfectly fine cheek, then looks at me. I can see it dawning on him that I started the whole shebang, and a teasing smile comes over his face.
“Oh, I’m gonna get you for that one!”
I let out a very undignified shriek and dart away from him, scrambling to put their dining room table between us, hoping for a buffer. Vic braces himself on the other side of the table, and we scuttle back and forth, each trying to outmaneuver the other. I hold my hands up in surrender quickly.
“Okay, okay! I’m sorry! You win, you can tickle-torture me later after we eat. I’m so hungry,” I tell him, panting.
Vic smiles in triumph and agrees before turning to Simon. I follow his gaze and realize Simon hasn’t moved from his spot since I showed Vic his face. The blood in my face drains as I realize what I did. Oh my god, I grabbed his face. Fuck, I touched him without asking. I freeze in horror, unsure what I may have inadvertently done. If he didn’t want to touch me to discover if we’re a Match, I completely violated that right. What if he’s mad at me? What if I just fucked things up between them? My breathing starts to speed up, my eyes glued to Simon, and his eyes snap to mine.
The edge of my vision starts to get fuzzy as I breathe faster, trying to get some oxygen in. My vision goes unfocused as I try to figure out what’s happening. Why can’t I get oxygen in? Why is it so hard to breathe right now? Is this my punishment for touching him? The inability to breathe. Fuck I think I’m gonna pass out, but I can’t stop trying to breathe. Suddenly, there are hands holding my face and a pair of bottomless brown eyes looking straight into mine.
“Breathe!” the eyes command.
Funny joke, eyes, I can’t! Brown eyes continue to fill my vision, and I notice that my hand has been moved to something that’s slowly rising up and down. It feels nice, I can focus on the feel of the movement while I drown in the brown eyes. So slowly that it’s almost painful, my breathing slows, and I finally feel like I’m getting oxygen again.
“That’s it, baby, slow and steady,” the eyes tell me.
My vision starts to expand beyond the brown eyes, and I realize they’re attached to a face I wasn’t expecting. That’s right, I’m at Simon and Vic’s. Oh. Simon. What did I do?
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assures me.
“Oh, did I say that out loud?” I ask.
His smile almost knocks me off my feet. It’s bright and beautiful, and it should always be on his face.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
“For what?”
