Abandon - Meg Cabot [87]
I wanted to correct him. Mr. Mueller had very much come after me, by going after my best friend.
But he hadn’t killed Hannah. She’d killed herself. Still…
“What he did to Hannah was wrong,” I said. “Someone needed to stop him.”
“But you didn’t really want him dead,” he said. In the dancing blue light cast by the pool, his expression was half grave, half amused. “You know how you are, Pierce. You came out of the house at midnight to scoop a lizard out of the swimming pool to save it from dying.”
“How do you know that?” I asked wonderingly. “Unless…” I broke off, staring at him, realization dawning at last. “Wait. You threw that lizard into the pool. You knew I’d see it and come out here to save it, and then you could talk to me. Didn’t you?”
He didn’t even bother denying it. Instead, he leaned forward until his face was just inches from mine to counter, “If Richard Smith told you so many terrible things about that necklace, like that it killed a thousand people, and that Furies would come after any girl I gave it to in order to hurt me through her — which you obviously believe or you wouldn’t be asking me all these questions — why are you still wearing it? I thought you hated me because I’m such a jerk.”
My pulse gave a violent leap. Was it because of the question — he’d seen right through me — or his sudden proximity?
“I do,” I said, climbing to my feet in what I hoped looked like an indignant manner, though inwardly, I was shaking. “In fact, I’m going back inside. In the future, John, I would appreciate it if you would stay on your side of the island, and I will stay on mine. Also if you didn’t try to kill people — or lizards — to get my attention. Good night.”
But I hadn’t gone more than a single step before my hand was seized. The next thing I knew, he was pulling me back — just as I’d taken him by the hand and pulled him earlier.
Only he hadn’t even bothered to get up. He merely pulled me into his lap.
I was so surprised to find myself there, at first I could only stare up at his face in shock, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
“John,” I started to say. “You really can’t just —” Then his lips came down over mine. And all of it — the sound of the waterfall, and the croaking frogs, and the whine of the cicada, and the lights at the base of the palm trees, and the wavy blue reflection of the pool water over everything — went away, and it was only about John and the hardness of his arms as they tightened around me, and the wood-smoke smell of him, and the softness of his hair beneath my fingers, and the way I could feel his heart drumming against mine, and the fact that I couldn’t believe any of this was happening, couldn’t believe it had never happened before, couldn’t believe I’d never allowed it to happen before, never wanted it to stop.…
“Wait,” I said breathlessly, pulling my mouth away from his. “John. Wait.” I had to put a hand to his chest and physically push him back. “Wait a minute. ”
“What?” His arms hadn’t loosened their hold on me one iota. “What’s wrong?”
What was wrong? Everything. Nothing. I didn’t know. I couldn’t think. I felt as if the Milky Way, hovering above our heads like a celestial pitcher, had suddenly overturned, pouring suns and planets down my throat. Stars seemed to be shooting out of my fingers and toes, the ends of my hair.
“We can’t do this,” I said, even as he was kissing my throat.
“Yes,” he said, a glow in his eyes I’d never seen there before. “We can.”
“No,” I said. “I mean, I can’t.” My pulse was racing so fast, I thought my heart was going to explode right out of my chest, the way it had seemed to when I’d run down those steps away from him. Only now it was definitely not from epinephrine. “I need to think about this.”
He lifted his head to look down at me.
“I’ve given you long enough to think about it,” he said. “Almost two years. You wore the necklace that whole time. You even took it back after I gave you a chance to be free, by