Chapter 208


    Seeing it hurt me in ways I couldn’t have imagined before.


    #


    He’d kissed me in the hallway. He’d almost kissed me in self–defense practice.


    I hadn’t considered he would be kissing other people too.


    “Piper…” he said again, softer.


    I couldn’t even bear to look at him. I turned my shoulder to him and dropped my gaze to the floor.”


    Please go clean up. Then we can talk.”


    He was rarely uncertain, but he shifted awkwardly on his feet now. “Very well. I’ll be right back.” He


    turned toward the door, and I did not look up again until he had walked through it.


    Both Mark and Charlotte were looking at me. I felt judged.


    Charlotte nced away but Mark didn’t. He didn’t say anything, didn’t even hold an expression, but I


    could feel his disapproval radiating off of him in waves,


    And in my heart, I understood it.


    Whatever Nichs had been doing, and whoever he had been doing it with, he had dropped all of it to


    rush here and make sure I was okay. In order of his priorities, I ranked high above anyone else.


    This was apetition, and Nichs was only trying to make the best of a bad situation. I knew,


    maybe better than anyone, the amount of pressure he was under to find a Luna suitable for the


    kingdom.


    I had been unkind to him.


    “May I borrow your handkerchief?” I asked Mark.


    He reached into his pocket and then produced a soft blue folded bit of fabric. I epted it with thanks.


    “If you’ll excuse me a moment,” I said, and rushed out the door.


    Nichs hadn’t gone far. He was only a few steps down the hallway, aggressively rubbing his lips with


    his sleeve, “Damn it all,” he cursed.


    “Here,” I said as I approached behind him. “Let me.”


    He jumped at the sound of my voice, and quickly turned. His eyes met mine, but he didn’t say anything


    lowly, gently, I reached up with the handkerchief and wiped away the remaining smudges of lipstick


    lips and chin


    He stood very still as I worked.


    When I finished, I slowly lowered my hand. “I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s not my ce to keep you from the


    other girls. But when I thought of you with them…. I’m sorry.”


    “You are jealous,” Nichs said. His voice was monotone. His face, impassive. He gave nothing away.


    I half–wanted to deny it out of sheer embarrassment, but I couldn’t.


    I know it’s unfair to want to keep you for myself, when we both know we can’t be together. ButN?velDrama.Org content rights.


    when I think of you with one of them… Kissing them…”


    Just like that, the deep boil of jealousy reignited in my stomach.


    I wished I could im Nichs in body and soul. To keep him as my own, and to be his in turn. I


    wanted us to carry each other’s scents so thickly that no one would dare make a move on him without


    knowing I was there first and forever.


    “This…” He gestured to his lips. “Whatever happened before I came to see you today. It didn’t actually


    mean anything to me.”


    I wanted to believe that, those sweet words meant tofort me. But it was a struggle, especially


    when I was caught in the tumult of my ugly jealous.


    “Prove it,” I said.


    He just looked at me for a long moment. Then his gaze dipped to my mouth.


    At once, he grabbed my hand and tugged me toward a closed door along the hallway. He pulled the


    door open. It was a closet. He yanked me inside with him, then mmed the door closed behind us.


    In an instant, my back was against the inside of that door.


    Nichs’s mouth was on mine.


    And he was kissing me senseless.