Page 71 of Light Leech

I stood with my left shoulder touching hers and eyed her, but only long enough for her to acknowledge it. I couldn’t keep my smile down. “He’s maturing, at least it looks like it.”

“A lot of thanks to you, right?”

I shrugged. “The world kinda forced him into maturation. I’m just trying my best to be the brother he wants me to be.”

“I think you’re doing a pretty good job.”

“Thanks.”

Silence hung between us for a moment, but it was far from uncomfortable.

“I’m excited for some time together,” I said. No need to hide anymore. We had met in heated attraction, realized that we were rushing, grew distant when we each feared the weight of the world against Gongtide, but now… Now, we could be sincere. Now, we could like each other and see what came of it.

She looked at me, keeping her eyes on me and waiting for me to lock mine with hers. She rubbed the back of her hand against mine and I felt the soft touch of her polished nail rub across. “Me, too. Last week was nice.”

“I thought so, too.”

The next silence wasn’t as comfortable. She cut it short. “Is there something that’s bothering you?”

I shrugged as if I needed her permission to continue.

“Come on, Petya, I feel like we know each other enough to be candid. I mean, there isn’t anything else hiding between us, is there?”

I smirked. “No, and I guess that is the problem. You’ve seen what I do. What I am.”

“This again?”

“What again?”

“The whole ‘I’m a bad person and no one should love me,’ act?”

“It’s not an act.”

“Well, I’ve already told you that I understand what you have to do. It was like the first thing we went over when we met.”

“But that was just after you woke up to your real life.”

“Doesn’t mean you weren’t speaking to me. I’m not blind. I think we both needed some distance after I was pulled out of the Neon Idol mindset. Your passion wasn’t your fault. I was still fueled by the more promiscuous side of the Idol. Now we’re both soberly aware of what this is between us.”

“And that is?”

“A start. Infatuation. You like me, don’t you? That’s not just another act?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No.

“No what?”

“I like you.”

“Good, because I like you, too.” She held my hand and squeezed it, then let go before the others could bother us about it. “We both have our baggage, but we’ll carry it together. The world might be in chaos, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for this.”

“And this is?”

She laughed. “Me seeing if you’re the type of person I could spend more time with.” She sighed. I’m glad we had this conversation, it’ll make it easier to get you in to meet 3Rochi.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll be easier to pass you off as my boyfriend than some executive when you don’t know anything about the music industry.”