don’t catch it.
I pretend I don’t know what he is talking about. “He asked me why I had sex hair and swollen lips. I can’t lie to him. I didn’t think he would beat you up.”
He rests his head in his hands with his arms resting on this thighs. He lets out a whoosh and shakes his head slowly. I feel like complete shit about it to be honest. I knew Marley would beat him up. I’m pretty sure when we were younger he threatened Chance within an inch of his life if he ever talked to me again.
“Why?” he asks again, this time with anger in his voice. Which I’ll admit makes me shiver.
I ponder on this question for a few tense silent minutes before I give him what he wants. “I don’t know why you’re asking me. You’re the one who kissed me last night. For some reason I won’t even begin to wonder about, I liked it. I wanted more. It’s the most fucked up thing that has ever happened, but there you go.”
He turns those hazel eyes my way and something stirs in my belly. Something I don’t want to feel, yet I never want it to go away. A smile plays about his lips and I involuntary bite my lip. Then he speaks, and I wished he hadn’t. “It’s like opening my eyes for the first time ever. I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want you. I can’t figure it out. You’re the only person I should stay away from. Everything I ever said to you before this weekend was wrong. I could see what it was doing to you, but I couldn’t stop myself. Maybe I just want to make up for all that. I want you to be happy.”
At this point I’m very pissed off. If he wanted me to be happy and normal then he shouldn’t have been the reason I’m not. “You can take that shit and get out. I don’t need you to make me happy. You’ve done enough in my life.” I’m breathing heavy and I really want to punch him in the other eye. I truly think I might cry and I promised myself this asshole would never make me cry again.
“I’m not going to leave, Norma. I want to make all that stuff up to you. You deserve to be treated with respect, like a human being. I have to do that.” His big warm hand smooths over mine and tingles shoot up my arm. I clinch my eyes shut to beat back those tears that want to spill.
“You want to be able to live with yourself, is what you really want. It’s actually really selfish if you ask me.” He squeezes my hand and I pretend I don’t like the way it feels. I pretend I don’t like the way he touches me.
“Look at me.” he softly commands. I keep my eyes shut. I will not look at him. We sit in silence again before I feel him shift around on the bed. I was hoping he was getting up to leave but I feel his heat above me. My body shivers of its own accord. “Look at me.” he whispers in my ear.
My eyes pop open and he is hovering above me. I think I start panting at this point. His face is in shadows, making his eyes black. It’s actually pretty freaky. “What?” I squeak out.
“I remember the natural color of your hair. I liked it but I love this black. It makes those violet eyes of yours pop and your skin a beautiful peach color. You freaking glow for crying out loud. It makes me follow you with my eyes where ever you go.” He says all this while staring into my eyes. It’s intense and mind blowing. “This face,” he says while his hand comes up to cup my cheek and rub his thumb along the bone. “May have once been something you weren’t proud of, but now, now it’s so beautiful. These red lips I go crazy for. This perfect little nose. Big ole eyes you can get lost in.” He trails kisses along each places he describes and I feel my hands bunch into his t-shirt, unconsciously trying to pull him closer. “I don’t want to make you happy for me, no Smalls, I want to make you happy for you. You deserve all the happiness I have taken away from you. It was wrong and I’m trying to make it right.”
I think that is the most I have ever heard him speak. It’s usually one word
Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Howard Curtis