Free Touching Eternity (Touch Series 1.5) by Airicka Phoenix Page B

with his free hand. “You put it in your hair.”
     
    Cautious, she took it from him, startled when he jerked back at the first brush of their fingers. He cleared his throat again, stuffed his hands into his pockets and muttered an apology. Slanting him an odd glance, she turned her attention to the offering.
     
    It was scraps of fabric bunched together and restricted with a clip. She turned the clip over, smoothed out the crushed folds so they fell open around her palm.
     
    “ A lily!” she exclaimed, overjoyed by the gift. She raised her eyes to his. “Where’d you get it?”
     
    He shrugged, his gaze suddenly too fascinated by everything else but her. “Some guy was selling them by the school when I was leaving,” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Made me…” he cleared his throat. “Made me think of you.”
     
    Beaming, she scooped back the strands at her left temple and pinned them in place with the flower. She patted it to make sure it would stay in place, spread her arms open wide and tilted her head.
     
    “ Well? How do I look? Do you like it?”
     
    He looked like he was choking on something, like he was in pain. He seemed to be having a hard time swallowing. His face had gotten very red and he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her.
     
    Her heart sunk a little. Her arms lowered back down to her sides.
     
    “ You don’t like it.” She bit her lip to keep it from wobbling.
     
    “ No!” he shouted, a little too loud. “I mean yes! Yes, I like it…a lot.” He exhaled shakily. “You look beautiful, Ams.”
     
    She smiled. “I love it.” Once certain he wouldn’t bolt, she took a cautious step forward, hooked her arms around his neck and drew him in. “Thank you!”
     
    He was as rigid as the statue of Ares, but she could feel his heart hammering a little too fast against hers. Slowly, tentatively, he raised his arms and wrapped them around her middle. The familiar feel of him, the smell of him poured over her like the gentle rush of waves over sand. She closed her eyes and let herself melt into him.
     
    “ I missed you,” she whispered.
     
    He pressed his lips to her temple, sighed. “I missed you, too.”
     
    ***
    Her eyes flew open and Amalie found herself staring down the length of her floor to the shadows beneath her bed. A pool of moisture beneath her cheek had her pushing to a sitting position and wiping at her face with the back of her hand. She never felt herself cry, but the proof glistened against the hardwood.
     
    Stupid! He wasn’t worth crying over anymore. He’d made his choice and he hadn’t picked her. He’d forgotten her. He’d left her behind, deserted and abandoned her. He’d left her…alone and unwanted.
     
    She was unwanted.
     
    She was unnatural. No one wanted her. No one cared. She was defective, something useless and broken. Her own mother hadn’t wanted her. Her father hated her. The world shunned her and the only person she had ever loved, truly and with all her heart and soul, couldn’t stand the sight of her, couldn’t stand the thought of ever being with her. She repulsed him. Her disease disgusted him. He didn’t want to be with someone crazy. He couldn’t love someone crazy. He’d found someone else, someone that made him happy. Someone normal. He loved this other person. He wanted her. She wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t ruined, tarnished or broken, this girl he loved and wanted.
     
    God, why was she even alive? What was her purpose? Why would He put her on this earth if she wasn’t allowed to live? What had she done to deserve this torture? What was her crime?
     
    Across the room, the door clicked softly open. She couldn’t bring herself to look up.
     
    Tomas was early…again.
     
    ***
    “ What’s that?”
     
    Instinctively, Amalie’s hand flew to the clip in her hair, her heart somewhere at her feet. “A…A hairclip?” she whispered, her voice wavering.
     
    Her father had never looked so deranged, so