LILITH

“Make me want to pretend to be more miserable than I actually am.”

The moment he finished his sentence, I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.

What was I even thinking?

I scolded myself inwardly. All this flirting and teasing must’ve scrambled my brain.

But…

I looked into his eyes again, only to find that the heat I thought I’d seen earlier was gone—completely.

Had I imagined it?

As the tension drained slowly from my shoulders, I began to turn his words over in my mind.

Was he trying to say he didn’t want my sympathy? That he wasn’t as pitiful as I’d assumed?...