OLEANDER
The following two days felt easier.
I hadn't seen Dante, and I hoped that would stay permanent. After what happened in that room, I'd rather never see him again.
I wandered out to the garden behind the building where I was staying—a vast stretch of land fading into the woods. There was something peaceful about it, untouched and still.
I sat on a stone bench, wincing as the cold seeped through my skin. Wrapping my jacket tighter around myself, I let the quiet wash over me.
"Hey."
My eyes snapped open, lifting to find Hex standing in front of me, hands tucked into his jeans.
"Hi," I murmured, quickly looking away. We hadn't spoken since that day. He'd been keeping his distance, and I wasn't sure why.
Not that it mattered. I preferred it that way… or at least that was what I kept telling myself. Still, part of me wished he'd come closer.
That was the thing about Hex. My thoughts around him were a tangled mess of contradictions.
