Page 75 of Tempting the President

Kellion slowly pulled away, and I hated the way I felt the loss keenly, to the point that my chest started tightening again. Butinstead of getting off the bed completely, Kellion only leaned against the headboard and lifted me onto his lap.

Pushing me down so I’d be lying against his chest, he said from behind, “Tell me.”

Still, I hesitated.

He said warningly, “Aria...”

I pulled out my phone.Because you looked sad.

“I did?” Kellion sounded surprised. “When?”

Me: When you read a message on your phone.

“Ah.”

Me: Your parents?

A moment of silence before Kellion said finally, “No.”

My fingers stilled. I couldn’t tell if he was lying, couldn’t blame him if he did. There were just some things we’d always too proud to admit, things we hated about ourselves. For Kellion, it was that he couldn’t stop caring so much about his parents. For me, it was that I could find nothing to care about with mine.

“It’s a friend of mine. Jack’s asking me to fly to Greece.” He paused. “It means I won’t be able to be at your exhibit if I do.”

Oh.I didn’t know who this Jack was, but the way Kellion spoke of him told me that whoever he was, he mattered. I twisted my head around to face him. “That’s...what makes yousad?”

He only looked at me.

I shook my head. “Idiot.”

Kellion lifted a brow, and the message behind it was very clear. If it were another person telling him that to his face, that person would be six feet under by now.

My lips twitched as I repeated firmly, “Idiot.”

“I’m this close to strangling you. Or kissing you. Which do you think would make you suffer more,terataki?”

“IDIOT.” But I laughingly pushed him back when he started to move. I placed a finger over his lips. “Listen...closely.” Releasing his lips, I smiled up at him. “I’ll never make you choose.”

Kellion stilled.

“All I want is to make you...smile.Remember?” My lips pursed. “Also, I’mnota ‘little monster’.”

But he didn’t answer. For a very long time he remained silent, only gazing at me with unfathomable eyes. Just when I started feeling nervous, he spoke. “You’re like Eros, you know.”

Eros?The God of love? “Cupid?” I asked, bewildered.

He nodded. “People used to think of him as a monster. Did you know that?”

I still didn’t get it. I knew of the love story of Eros and Psyche, of how she had thought he was a monster at the start because of the way he dwelled in the shadows, never showing his face.

“Your words are like his arrows.” He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “They always strike true.”

Ah.

We laughed at the same time.

I typed on my phone, DID YOU, KELLION ARGYROS, REALLY JUST SAY THAT?

He took my phone and deleted the entire line. “Shut up.”