Page 57

“Hey, I haven’t seen you around much.” Melissa, the same girl Aurora put in the hospital for talking to me, drops down beside me on the sofa.

“And you’re not seeing me now, for your own good. Go away,” I tell her.

“Are you with Aurora? Because that’s fucked up. You know she’s a psychopath, right?” Melissa says.

“Who?” It takes everything in me not to retaliate. I get it. My girl can be spontaneous, but she’s not a fucking psychopath. She does have feelings. For me, at least.

“Aurora Valentino. If you’re not dating her, then you should let her know that.” Melissa laughs.

I stand and shake my head. “For someone who got the shit kicked out of them, you sure are brave, opening your mouth about her.”

“She’s not here.” Melissa shrugs.

“If you think that’ll stop her from finding out, then you’re the one who needs your head checked.” Putting my empty beer bottle down on the table, I walk away before I say anything else. I head upstairs and lock myself away in the bedroom. I pull out my phone and smile when I see a message from Aurora.

SB:

Are you still alive?

Me:

I am. You disappointed?

SB:

Relieved.

SB:

Thank you for coming over. But don’t do it again.

Me:

What if I told you I have fantasies of fucking you in your bed?

SB:

Screw it. You only live once. Risk your life for me, Charming.

I laugh out loud and plop down on the bed.

Me:

See you in the morning. Breakfast in the library?

SB:

I’ll be there.

I set my phone on the wireless charger that’s sitting on the bedside table before rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. My mind goes over all the different ways of making sure Aurora can stay mine. Of making sure my family doesn’t use her against me, because that’s exactly what they’ll do if they find out I love her.

They’ll see me as a traitor, and to teach me a lesson, they’ll kill her and make me watch. Or it’ll be worse than that. They’ll torture her instead. They could make her disappear, ensure I’d never find her again. Or that if I did, she wouldn’t be the same girl.

Aurora is strong. She’s a fighter, and as much as I want to think she can handle anything that comes at her, she’s still just a teenage girl. And everyone has a breaking point. Even her. The only way I can think of to keep her is to marry her. And for that, we’ll have to wait until we’re both eighteen, which is only a few months away.

Then I’ll need to convince her to go against her promise to her mother and marry me without anyone knowing…

I shake my head. I can’t do that to her. I can’t make her go against her family.