Page 26 of Born in Sin (Phoenix #3)

Celina lay on her back, grass poking through the thin cotton of her t-shirt.

Beside her Virat sat, his knees bent, arms resting on them.

He’d shot up in height over the last year and had gone from being Celina’s height to this tall, gangly boy with a mop of thick hair that permanently looked like it needed a haircut.

She wanted to run her fingers through that hair.

Celina clenched her hand into the dirt and looked away.

Virat tipped his head back, looking to the stars, his normally serious face looking relaxed and peaceful.

She unclenched her hand and reached for his, tangling her dirty fingers with his clean ones.

Virat’s fingers unfurled for hers, tightening around them, not caring about the mud and grass she was tracking all over him.

He turned on his side, stretching out beside her, his head resting on one hand as he looked at her, a faint smile on his face.

“Hey,” she said, a big, loopy smile on hers.

“Hey,” he murmured, his voice making her feel warm and gooey inside. Behind them the building that housed the science laboratories rose, a wall that kept them hidden from nosy, prying eyes.

“Vir,” she said softly, worried about ruining the moment but knowing she had to ask the question that was wearing a path in her brain. “My mother doesn’t want me to talk to you.”

She regretted the words the minute they left her mouth. Virat’s smile disappeared as he flopped on to his back on the ground.

“So,” he said, his voice so quiet she had to strain to hear the words. “Are you going to stop talking to me then?”

She saw the tremor in his fingers, the way he pressed them into his side and reached for them, squeezing tight with her own hand.

“Would I be here if I was going to?” she asked with a smile. “I’ll always be here. With you.”

His fingers stilled under hers.

“Help me understand,” she said gently. “Why she’s being like this.”

“I’m –“ He stopped, cleared his throat, seemed to take a moment to think it through and then tried again. “It may have something to do with the fact that I’m a bastard.” He seemed to say that word ‘bastard’ with extra relish.

His gaze roamed her face, looking for her reaction.

Celina struggled not to show too much of her shock and horror.

“I don’t know who my mother is. She had me, left me, and then…

” he shrugged. “Well, here I am. The unwanted son to the granite magnate. It’s easier to stash me at boarding school and his manager’s house than have to look at me across the dinner table while he plays the role of perfect dad and husband to the family he actually wanted.

I guess that’s why your mother doesn’t want you to be around me. I understand.”

“What do you understand?” she asked, threading her fingers through his.

“Why would she want me around you? My own parents don’t want me around them.”

Celina shuffled closer, her shoulder bumping his. “I want you around.”

“Celi-“ He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Don’t.”

“You can’t shake me off, Virat Jha. I’ve imprinted on you.”

He looked at her, his lips twitching slightly. “Like a duckling?”

“Quack Quack.”

Virat laughed, the sound bursting out of him. And Celina couldn’t help herself anymore. Her heart ached for this boy with all its sixteen-year-old passion. She leaned over and kissed him, a chaste touching of her lips to his.

Virat froze, his eyes going wide and wild.

Celina blushed, a fiery red and before he could do or say anything, she jumped to her feet, running back towards her dorm.

“Celi!”

His voice floated over to her on the breeze.

“Will you come tomorrow?” The desperate hope in his voice had her overflowing heart turning in her chest.

“Behind Chem Lab. 9 PM,” she said, repeating the words on the note he’d slipped her earlier in the day. “I’ll be here. Every day.”

Every single day, she thought, as she pressed her fingers to her lips. Every. Single. Day.