Darwin's Theory: PAIN by Adrienne Wilder

Author:Adrienne Wilder [Wilder, Adrienne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy
Published: 2013-06-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

Like he’d read my mind, Peter turned those big brown eyes on me. Even though he didn’t say a word, I saw the hurt in their chocolate depths. My chest tightened, but I refused to cry. Not only would crying smear my eyeliner, but I would’ve totally ruined my badass, emotionally detached image.

Instead, I laid back down beside him and picked at a curl threatening to slide into his eyes. I pushed it back, taking my time to align it with a few others. Like everything else, Peter also has perfect hair, thick, brown curls with a tinge of gold and red. In the summer it gets some really nice highlights, giving him a total beach bum look.

And that totally gets me off.

But then everything about him does.

“I’ll fix it.” Just like always, I spoke without thinking first. I wasn’t sure how to fix this other than to keep it from going any further. And according to Tolbert there was more, and he was willing to play as dirty as he had to. Which meant he’d send it to every cell phone number he could get a hold of. Not to mention posting it on the Internet.

Even though the guy in the video wasn’t Peter, and even if I could convince the world it wasn’t Peter, the idea of it being him would hurt him. And I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let Peter get hurt.

“How are you gonna fix this, D?”

“Don’t worry about the details. I just will. I promise.” This time my tone was different. It not only sounded different in my head, it felt different in my heart. Not just because I meant it—because I always mean what I say to Peter—but because I knew the repercussions of my actions.

Arson was a big thing. As in Felony big. And that meant jail time in more than the drunk tank.

“D, please don’t … don’t do anything…”

Stupid. That’s what he wanted to say. Stupid like burning up Tolbert’s car, the stupid thing I’d already done that dragged Peter into this mess.

The fact that this was all my fault hit me in the chest like a ton of bricks. God, sometimes I really hated myself. Really, really hated myself. If I wasn’t such a coward, I would have tossed my ass off the top of the Westin years ago.

So much for not crying. It was only one tear, though. But unfortunately Peter saw it.

He caught it on his thumb and frowned.

“D…”

“I’m sorry, Pete. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Or for you to get hurt. I’ll make it right. Just trust me. I’ll make it right.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter touched my cheek. I would’ve rather had him touch me somewhere else, but that was fantasyland and I knew it. Besides, he was too good for me. I’d ruin him. Totally ruin him. Hell, I’d already put his education, his scholarship, his public image, in dire jeopardy … and I hadn’t even so much as kissed him yet.

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