Page 18 of Tasting Innocence
Chapter Six
It feelslike we’re descending the stairs for a half an hour, but we eventually reach a room. Well, I don’t know if it’s a room or not, but the steps come to a stop and the enclosed stairwell opens up, so now we’re following what appears to be a sliver of light coming in from the corner.
“I hope there aren’t any rats on the floor,” I whisper.
“Probably just roaches,” Dex whispers back.
I elbow him, still gripping his hand. “I’d prefer rats, I think.”
A loud thump resounds through the room, like something heavy fell on the floor above us.
“What the hell was that?” I say, moving into his side.
“It’s probably the guys looking through the rooms.”
When we come to the small amount of light, it appears it’s coming from a crack in the wall, so I push my face up as close as possible and try to peek through.
“I’m pretty sure I’m looking into someone’s room,” I whisper. “I think I see a suitcase on a bed.”
“What? This is a peephole?” he questions. I move aside and let him look. “I think that’s Trevor’s bag.”
“Maybe he’ll be back soon and we can yell for him. Maybe this is a weird secret entrance.”
“In the meantime,” he says, turning around and putting his back to the wall. “Maybe we should talk.”
I copy his position on the opposite side of the crack in the wall and stare back at him. “What do you want to talk about?”
“The cabins.”
I take a deep breath and slowly blow it out. “Okay.”
“You didn’t let me say much while we were still up in Sleeping Dunes, and then when I thought things would be weird, you just acted like nothing happened, so I felt it was best to let it go, but…” He chews on his lip, looking away, deciding how to continue. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Vi.”
The breath in my lungs abandons me and my heart kicks it up a notch, working twice as fast as usual. My lips part, close, and then part again. That’s all I’ve been wanting to hear, right?
“You might think what happened was because I had been drinking. And maybe that, paired with our time alone, is what made me try, but I’ve been thinking about kissing you for about a year now.”
“I...uh. I don’t know what to say,” I admit. Not because I have no thoughts, but because I have too many.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he says.
“Do you?” I ask with a short laugh. “Because I hardly know what I’m thinking.”
He waits a beat. “I’m gonna assume.”
“Never assume you know what a woman is thinking. You’ll always be wrong,” I say with a grin.
Dex returns my smile. “Can I tell you what I’m thinking about?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Renzo.”
“Right.”
“But before we even get into that,” he says, pausing, “I’d like to know how you feel.”
And here it is. My time to tell him how I’ve also been crushing on him. How I want things between us to escalate into much more than just friends.