Free Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross Page A

shrug. “They were afraid it would be traumatic for me.”
    â€œThat sounds like an excuse. And not a very good one.” He looked up, meeting her eyes. “I don’t believe in coincidence, Mira. I think there’s a reason you had to travel here alone. Something you were meant to find.”
    Maybe it’s you, she thought, and then had the immediate urge to unthink it. She didn’t want to be overeager, immature.
    She didn’t want to like him more than he liked her.
    â€œWe’ll figure it out.” He set his hand down on the book of fairy tales, seeming to notice it for the first time. “You were reading this?”
    She nodded. “I was kind of surprised to find it on your bookshelf. I didn’t really read fairy tales when I was a kid. I thought they were … I don’t know, too juvenile? But they’re different than I thought. Darker. So far, I think ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite.”
    â€œYou like sad endings?” he asked.
    â€œMaybe.” Mira swallowed. She hadn’t thought of it like that, but maybe it was true. She didn’t love the romance in the story; she loved the yearning, the despair, the mermaid’s noble sacrifice. It stabbed her heart and made her feel in a way that happy endings didn’t.
    Because if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back … then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.
    â€œSad endings are what I know,” she said.
    He frowned at her. “Nothing’s over yet, Mira. We’ll find them. We’ve barely started.” He reached out and touched her face; turned her toward him. His fingertips sent a shivery burn though her, and she found herself staring at him a beat too long. “Not giving up on me, are you?”
    She shook her head, not trusting her voice; and when her cheek burned hotter against his hand, she moved away—before she could do something embarrassing like close her eyes and sigh , or lean into his touch like a cat.
    â€œWhat about you?” she asked, to change the subject. “What’s your favorite fairy tale?”
    Grimacing, Felix stretched out on the bed. “I don’t really like fairy tales.”
    â€œBut … you have this book.” It didn’t fit with the rest of his stuff. Why would he keep it if he didn’t like it?
    â€œIt’s been in the family a while,” he said. “My dad would be annoyed if I threw it away. And I used to like them. But I guess the novelty wore off. I got sick of reading about torture and dismemberment and … happy endings that get handed out at random, to people who don’t deserve them.”
    â€œTell me how you really feel,” Mira joked.
    Felix cracked a smile. “They’re not all bad. Sleeping Beauty’s all right. She gets to sleep for a hundred years and not go to work tomorrow. I’d like to do that. And she gets woken up by a kiss. That’s a nice change.”
    Felix lay on his back, eyes closed, his mouth relaxed—and Mira blushed, hyperaware of his position, of how easy it would be to lean over and kiss him. Had that been a hint? But … no, she couldn’t. She’d die of embarrassment if she kissed him and he opened his eyes and said, What are you doing?
    â€œSome curses are meant to be broken,” Felix said. “And some just keep going until your life runs out.”
    â€œCurses?” Mira’s breath faltered. There were no coinci-dences—that was what he’d said. Here was her answer, the truth she’d tried to drag out of Blue.
    â€œCurses & Kisses. That’s the name of Blue’s band,” Felix said.
    â€œOh.” Her hopes deflated as quickly as they’d soared. “Was that … were you quoting a lyric?”
    â€œJust talking. Tired, I guess. I should get up and find you a new room.” Felix pushed himself off the bed, and she