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“A deep personal connection?” he repeated. “Like your favorite piece of jewelry or…?”
I turned to look at him thoughtfully. “I wonder if it works on people too. Not just objects.”
“People fall under the category of object,” Robin reported robotically.
I glanced at her, then turned back toward Foster with renewed interest.
He took a hesitant step back, looking concerned. “But you’ve already tried to touch me. It didn’t work.”
I shook my head. “Except we’ve gotten to know each other a lot more since then. I feel way more connected to you now.”
His throat worked as he swallowed, and then he bobbed his head slowly. “Alright,” he whispered. “Go ahead and try.”
Faith and Hudson murmured something to each other as I took a tentative step toward Foster. “If it doesn’t work,” I started. “Then nothing changes.”
His eyes searched mine. “And if itdoeswork?”
“Then I guess we’ll find out,” I whispered as I slowly extended my hand.
Foster drew in a deep breath, tensing with anticipation. My fingers trembled just before I made contact with his cheek.
When I felt warm flesh, I jerked my arm back in surprise.
“Holy shit.” Foster’s eyes flared. “I felt that.”
“Really?” I asked, clutching my wrist in my hand. When I looked down at my fingers, they looked unchanged, but they were still tingling from the contact. “You felt it? You really felt it?”
He let out a laugh and nodded encouragingly. “I really felt it,” he promised as he plopped down in his chair, looking dazed. “You touched me.”
“I can’t believe it,” I breathed, shaking my head in wonder. “I touched you.”
“Yeah.” His smile blossomed as he gazed up at me. “You did.”
Needing to do it again, I reached out and touched his other cheek.
“Whoa.” He closed his eyes. “This is so strange.”
Unable to stop now, I investigated his entire face before smoothing my hands up into his silken light hair.
Foster exhaled and tipped his head back, groaning slightly to let me know how much he enjoyed the attention. I scraped my fingernails along his scalp gently, and his lips parted as air hissed from his lungs.
“Just whereisshe touching you?” Hudson asked, lifting up onto his toes to peer over the table and down into Foster’s lap.
As Foster lifted a hand to flip him off without opening his eyes, I glanced over at the other couple, and inspiration hit me. I sank down gently into Foster’s lap.
His eyes flew open, and he gazed back dazedly before I rested my cheek on his shoulder and hugged him.
He choked out a small sob and hugged me back, only for his arms to go right through me.
“Dammit,” he muttered, trying one more time to hug me but failing. “I can’t touch you back.”
“That’s okay,” I assured him, smiling into his eyes as I cupped his cheek in my palm. “This is a start. This is a very good start.”
23
FOSTER
From that point on, Raina rarely took her hands off me. As we walked across campus toward my last class of the day, she linked her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder. And during the lecture she kept playing with my hair.
