Fallen - Lauren Kate [103]
“I figured you’d be mad about last night,” he said, pushing himself away from the gate. He took a few steps into the cemetery, then sat cross-legged on a short gray marble bench among the first row of graves. He wiped the dirt and brittle leaves away, then patted the empty spot next to him.
“Mad?” she said.
“That’s generally why people storm out of bars.”
She sat down facing him, cross-legged too. From up here, she could see the top branches of the enormous old oak down in the center of the graveyard, where she and Cam had had their afternoon picnic what seemed like a very long time ago.
“I don’t know,” Luce said. “More like baffled. Confused, maybe. Disappointed.” She shuddered at the memory of that seedy guy’s eyes when he grabbed her, the sick flurry of Cam’s fists, the deep black roof of shadow … “Why did you take me there? You know what happened when Jules and Phillip snuck out.”
“Jules and Phillip were morons whose every move was monitored by tracking wristbands. Of course they were going to get busted.” Cam smiled darkly, but not at her. “We’re nothing like them, Luce. Believe me. And besides, I wasn’t trying to get in another fight.” He rubbed his temples, and the skin around them bunched up, looking leathery and too thin. “I just couldn’t stand the way that guy talked to you, touched you. You deserve to be handled with the utmost care.” His green eyes widened. “I want to be the one to do it. The only one.”
She tucked her hair behind her ears and took a deep breath. “Cam, you seem like a really great guy—”
“Oh no.” He covered his face with his hand. “Not the let-him-down-easy speech. I hope you’re not going to say we should be friends.”
“You don’t want to be my friend?”
“You know I want to be much more than your friend,” he said, spitting out “friend” as if it were a dirty word. “It’s Grigori, isn’t it?”
She felt her stomach constrict. She guessed it wasn’t too hard to figure it out, but she’d been so wrapped up in her own feelings, she’d barely had time to consider what Cam thought about the two of them.
“You don’t really know either of us,” Cam said, standing and stepping away, “but you’re prepared to choose right now, huh?”
It was presumptuous of him to assume he was even still in the running. Especially after last night. That he could think there was some contest between him and Daniel.
Then Cam crouched before her on the bench. His face was different—pleading, earnest—as he cupped her hands in his.
Luce was surprised to see him so wound up. “I’m sorry,” she said, pulling back. “It just happened.”
“Exactly! It just happened. What was it, let me guess—last night he looked at you some new romantic way. Luce, you’re rushing into a decision before you even know what’s at stake. There could be … a lot at stake.” He sighed at the confused look on her face. “I could make you happy.”
“Daniel makes me happy.”
“How can you say that? He won’t even touch you.”
Luce closed her eyes, remembering the tangle of their lips last night on the beach. Daniel’s arms encircling her. The whole world had felt so right, so harmonious, so safe. But when she opened her eyes now, Daniel was nowhere to be seen.
It was only Cam.
She cleared her throat. “Yes, he will. He does.”
Her cheeks felt warm. Luce pressed a cool hand to them, but Cam didn’t notice. His hands curled into fists.
“Elaborate.”
“The way Daniel kisses me is none of your business.” She bit her lip, furious. He was mocking her.
Cam chuckled. “Oh? I can do just as good as Grigori,” he said, picking up her hand and kissing the back of it before abruptly letting it drop back at her side.
“It was nothing like that,” Luce said, turning away.
“How about this, then?” His lips grazed her cheek before she could shrug him off.
“Wrong.”
Cam licked his lips. “You’re saying Daniel Grigori actually kissed you the way you deserve to be kissed?” Something in his charcoal eyes was beginning to look baleful.
“Yes,” she said, “the best kiss I’ve ever had.” And even though it had been her only real kiss, Luce knew