Lib Novel Page 43
He looked off to the side, pretending he needed a moment to come up with something. “I guess you could say that I’m used to being alone, but I’m not used to being lonely. Since I met you, I never want to go back to being either one.”
“You’re lonely even though you have Hannah? She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”
“I don’t have Hannah,” he clarified. “And no, she’s not my girlfriend.”
“You two…” She crossed her fingers. “Don’t you?”
“What is,” he mimicked her, “this?”
“You…hook up.”
“We don’t.”
“You will. You should. She’s pretty.”
“You’re pretty,” he pointed out. “Does that mean the two of us are going to have sex?”
To his surprise, she didn’t give off any inclination that she’d blushed or was taken aback by the question. Not once did she lower her eyes, her voice, or distract herself by drawing symbols in the small pools of dirt on top of the rock.
“You can’t even see my face. I could be a monster.”
“So? We could make little monster babies.”
She bubbled with a laugh.
As usual, her laugh made him smile.
“I’m not part of this conversation,” she continued. “The only thing I’ve ever done with a man is kiss him.”
What had initially begun as food sedation quickly burned away. “And when exactly was this?”
“A couple of years ago.”
“Where is he now?”
“Studying to become a doctor.”
“Where? In the U.S.? Because you lived there at one point, didn’t you? I can tell from the way you speak.”
“Does it matter?”
“More than you know.”
She tapped the space between them with a fingernail. “Can I…show you?”
A flash of cold pricked his face, shifting his focus away from an interest in the inconsistent details of her background.
“Show me what?”
“How I kissed hi?—”
“Yes.”
She cradled the side of his face and slowly leaned toward him. He closed his eyes, and she pressed her lips to his cheekbone. Her lips lingered for a moment, and he waited for more. When more didn’t come, he waited to reopen his eyes until after he heard her settle back into place.
“So scandalous, Sayeda,” he teased.
Her jaw dropped. “It was a big deal for me at the time! I’m kind of a late bloomer.”