Chapter 78: Lips Don’t Lie
’Who in this room knows your lips better than anyone else?’
The question card sat in Merlina’s palm like a loaded gun, small but dangerous.
Her mind flashed to El Capitan, the pine tree, her room, the study desk. His hand slipping beneath her shirt, warm and certain, like he had been dying to touch her. His mouth devouring hers, tongue pushed into her mouth as if he was starved for her, bottom lip dragging then sucking until it was wet and swollen.
He kissed her like he wanted to leave a mark not just on her skin but on her soul. When he pulled back, pupils blown and jaw tight, he looked at her as if he was two seconds from dragging her to the bed.
Now across this room, Craig froze. He didn’t even blink. His jaw was set and his posture too perfect, like the boy who had kissed her that way never existed at all.
His fingers twitched against his knee, the only part of him that gave away the composure he was trying so hard to hold onto.
Merlina’s fingers curled tighter around the card like maybe if she held it long enough it would disappear. Like maybe the question wasn’t real. Like maybe the universe wasn’t this cruel.
But it was.
And so were her friends.
She swallowed hard. Her throat tightened around the silence and she let out the softest whisper. "Who the hell wrote these questions?"
Her voice was not angry, just shaken. Trying to stay level, she forced a small laugh, the kind that did not reach her eyes. "Was it you Phoebe? Or Keith?"