Marked

Chapter Twenty-Two

She wished Hector would just shut up and kiss her. She stood on her toes in front of him, hoping she could distract him long enough to get him to stop talking about training.

"It's okay. You'll do better next time."

"You're really killing the mood, ya know." She mumbled as she sank back down to her heels. Hector ignored her jibe and searched her eyes.

"Come on. I know it's bothering you and not talking about it is only gonna to make you more frustrated."

"It will not."

"I thought we'd agreed to be honest with each other."

Sighing, she wound around him and sank down onto his bed.

A few candles littered his desk, casting the room into soft, orange shadows. Though there should have been something romantic about being alone in a candlelit room, she found herself feeling oddly turned off by him.

She didn't want to talk about the disaster she was in training. All she was asking for—all she really needed—was to be kissed until she was dumb and dizzy. Was that really too much to ask for?

"I'm terrible at training and I'm letting everyone down. I don't see how talking about it is going to make me a better pilot."

"You just got started. You think the rest of us went into this thing knowing what to do?"

She pursed her lips.

"Well?" He asked, eyebrows arched.

"No." She grumbled.

"Then stop beating yourself up over it."

"It's easy for you to say. You're great at being a pilot. I bet you didn't crash while taking off on your second day of training."

"No, but--"

"Or suffocate mid-simulation because you thought the mask was just a teeny, tiny bit too uncomfortable. I mean who does that? I'll tell you who. An idiot," She jabbed a finger at her chest. "An idiot like me, that's who."

He came to sit beside her. His arm wound around her shoulders and squeezed. Almost as if he were a magnet, her body drew towards him where the cradle of his neck provided the perfect spot to tuck her chin into.

"It'll get better."

"Well, if you say so."

"But ya know, whining isn't really going to make you a better pilot either. When do you think you'll be done sulking?" He said as he pulled away. The hint of humor in his voice had her narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'm not quite done yet." She mumbled back.

"Well you better hurry before it gets dark. Because then I won't be able to give you the surprise I have for you."

He went to the coat rack, snaked his arms through his jacket and began to button it.

"Where are you going?"

"That depends on you." He turned to her with a grin.

Damn it, why was he so handsome?

"A surprise you say..." She patted the bed beneath her, trying not to look at him as she spoke. He'd probably still have that smug grin on his face, anyway.

"Yup, a surprise for you. Unless you wanna stay here and whine some more..."

"No, I think I'm good now." She stood and pulled her own coat off the hook and zipped it on all the while fighting the urge to look in his door mirror.