Never Letting Go (Delphian Book 1) by Christina Channelle Read Free Book Online Page A

my presence? Am I just reading him incorrectly?
    I kept telling myself this answer wasn’t important. I tried to ignore the almost helpless sound that had come from him and focused on things that were less confusing, like Dante.
    Or so I thought.
    It was just like any other day. Kaede was away working a late shift, Amy was intently playing some game on her phone in her room, and Dante and I hung out in the living room. The television was just background noise as I watched him watching me, his gaze moving across my face.
    His eyes reminded me so much of what, I imagined, an ocean would look like. They got darker and darker the more they looked at me, and I marveled at the fact that they were now a stormy blue. I knew he wanted to continue what had been interrupted between us days ago.
    And despite the name of a person flashing through my mind, I let him.
    His lips felt strange against mine, like an alien impression. I was left in a state of almost wild fascination as my body instinctively pulled back, a small frown forming on my face as my mouth left his. I touched my lips, confused.
    Again, why did this very moment seem so familiar?
    Dante licked his lips slowly as he stared over at me sheepishly, a tinge of red flooding his cheeks.
    “Sorry,” he said as he ran his hand over his face. “I shouldn’t have done that, Mia, but I really wanted to, I’ll be honest. I like you.”
    I slowly brought my fingertips to my lips again as I grazed the sensitive skin, trying to analyze what had just happened.
    It tingled.
    I obviously knew he was waiting for some kind of response even though I couldn’t respond verbally. I didn’t know what to do. I like you too, Dante, I wanted to say back.
    But something felt wrong.
    A noise caused me to look up and I saw Briggs looking at me, again almost accusingly, a few feet away. It was like a repeat of days before: I had no idea how long he had been standing there, what he must have seen. But that almost hurt look on his face quickly disappeared as he stared coldly at the both of us before roughly stalking away.
    I didn’t know I was holding my breath until I released it. The expression on Briggs’ face clutched at my heart. It made me feel things that kiss with Dante didn’t and I touched my chest, which was suddenly beating rapidly.
    Standing up, I ignored Dante’s puzzled expression and walked over toward Briggs, who was now standing in the hallway, breathing heavily. He must be able to explain all this. I moved a hand to grab onto his shirt but he quickly moved away.
    “Don’t—” the fear—yes, fear —was apparent in his voice. “—touch me,” he spat, recoiling as if I were infected with some disease.
    “What is wrong with you?” Dante rushed up from behind me, gave Briggs a punch on the arm, then looked at me apologetically.
    “Yeah,” Amy’s door suddenly swung open as she came face to face with us. “I can hear you all through the door, you know.” She came over to us and scowled at Briggs, then wrapped an almost protective arm around me. I was shaking. “Why are you so mean to Mia? She hasn’t done anything to you.”
    Briggs continued to express a foul look as he remained silent, jaw contracting repeatedly. Then his eyes moved over Amy, Dante, and eventually me. I stared helplessly into dark circles, heart frolicking in my throat. He held my gaze for a moment before stalking away.
    “I don’t have to explain myself,” we all heard him mutter as he retreated to his room.
    There was an awkward pause and Amy had an almost half-surprised grin on her face like she didn’t know what to say. Dante roughly ran his hand through his hair and sighed, shaking his head. He then looked over at me intently. “I don’t get him sometimes. He’s pretty decent—he doesn’t have to stay here but he does and helps us out as much as he can. I just don’t understand why he’s the way he is with you.”
    I pondered on Dante’s statement. I didn’t understand myself and