harder.
Things were heating up real fast.
“Danny, you’ve had too much to drink…”
“That’s what you did, Paris. So why are you
acting all shy now? You weren’t so gentle
when you were messing with it eight years
ago.”
وو
The times we’d been intimate were few and
far between.
But his words brought the memory back like it
was yesterday.
I was mortified.
93
“Remember now? Your face is burning up.”
<
That’s when I realized Danny was rubbing his
cheek against mine.
“You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?
Someone who has a boyfriend wouldn’t react
like that.” He kissed my lips, slowly taking
everything he could. “Paris, let’s finish what
وو
you wanted to do eight years ago.”
His eyes were hypnotic in the dim light.
I couldn’t help but give in, trying to soothe
him.
He swept me up in his arms.
Then he dropped me onto the couch in front
of the window.
I let him undress me until we got to the
<
forbidden zone.
A sharp pain shot through my head, and
that’s when I realized he wasn’t the only one
who’d had too much to drink.
“Danny, no! We can’t do this. I need to go…’
I tried to get up, but he pushed me back
down.
“Am I not doing a good job? Why do you
want to leave?”
“Do you hate me that much?”
How could I hate him?
Even after all this time, even though I’d
learned to heal myself, I still loved him.
“”
Everyone knew it.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
He was such a catch, but right now he was
acting like a product on sale, begging me to
take him.
But something felt off.
Then it hit me.
“Aren’t you in love with my sister?”
Danny stiffened. “When did I ever say I was in
love with your sister?”
I was floored. He didn’t?
That couldn’t be right. The voice in my head
く
on the day of my epiphany had told me he
was head over heels for my sister.
Seeing my silence, Danny was confused at
first, then happy.
“You thought I was in love with your sister, so
you were avoiding me? Is that it?”
“No. I’ve always been in love with you. Now
I’m telling you. Can you accept me now?”
My head was spinning.
It was like everything in the world was off.
I didn’t even know what was real anymore.
He dove in for another kiss.
The moment our skin touched, images of my
gruesome death flashed before my eyes.
Was it all fake?
But the pain of my internal organs being
ravaged, the helplessness…it all felt so real.
There was a thorn between me and Danny.
Whenever we got close, I’d feel pain.
Fear jolted me back to my senses.
I pushed Danny away.
“I told you, I have a boyfriend. I can’t do this
to him.”
Danny laughed humorlessly. “You didn’t seem
to care when we were kissing. You were
totally into it then. Why didn’t you think about
your boyfriend then?”
Why was he so clear-headed when it came to
stupid stuff?
Exasperated, I just had to lie.
“You know, I’m not a good person. I did a
terrible thing back then, so I’m capable of
cheating on my boyfriend, okay? I just had a
moment of clarity.”
Danny’s eyes darkened.
He seemed pissed.
“I think they were right. I shouldn’t have let
you get away with what you did. You need to
be punished.”
My heart jumped, “What are you going to
do?”
He suddenly bent his head and bit my
collarbone, sucking hard.
“You’re insane!”
I tried to push him away, to fight him off.
But he kept leaving marks all over my body.
I had no choice but to slap him across the
face.
“Get a grip.”
He just stared at me with a bitter look.
“I don’t believe you have a boyfriend.”
く
“If you do, tell him to come and kick my ass.
I left his place with just one sentence.
“You’re out of your mind!”
