Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

17: Racing Heart

We were sitting in the media room, the TV off. I had one leg propped on the couch, the other hanging off as I angled myself to look at him. Ben's pose mirrored mine. He still held my hand in his as he looked at me, mindlessly playing with my fingers.

I watched him hesitantly bite at his lip before he lifted my hand up, flattening it out with his and pressing our palms together... like he wasn't sure if he could do this with me.

"Your hands are tiny," he commented.

But of course the jokes about my size weren't going to be out of the question here. With a roll of my eyes, I began to move my hand away, but he caught it before I got too far, instead lacing his fingers through mine as he rested our joined hands on his knee.

Taking a couple of steady breaths, I tried to steady the butterflies in my stomach that started having a party. But it was to no avail.

"Why did you tell me?" I asked suddenly, partly to distract myself, and partly because I had tossed and turned this question in my head the past week. My heart gave a gentle squeeze as it awaited his answer, hoping for some clarity on where we stood.

"I—"

But before he could say anything, Lukas walked into the room, wedging himself between us, causing us to release each other's hands.

He picked up the remote and turned the TV on before glancing between us. "What? Did I interrupt something?"

I stifled a laugh at his joke and turned towards the TV, unable to see Ben's reaction.

But Ben was having a completely different reaction. Tone bitter, from the other side of Lukas he snapped, "Do you mind?"

"No, do you?" Lukas quickly countered.

And Ben's response was almost instant. "Yes. I do."

At his words, my heart sped up slightly, causing Lukas cast me a wary look. Eyes wide, I turned to face him.

Can they really hear that? But I wasn't game enough to ask.

"Can you leave?" Ben groaned.

"I could... But where's the fun in that? I feel like hanging out with you and Ollie."

"Ollie?"

"It's her nickname. Didn't you know?"

Ben hesitated. "No..."

So Lukas turned to me. "Get a hold of this guy. He knows nothing." Then he nudged me with his elbow, letting out a little yelp. "Okay. That's definitely a thing."

"What's a thing?" I finally interjected.

"Lukas," I heard Ben warn, still out of my sight.

"Whaaaat?"

"Don't," he then said. "Another day."

"What's another day?" I asked.

But Ben didn't respond. Instead, he got to his feet and walked over to me.

"Come on," he said, grabbing my hands and pulling me out of my seat.

Almost hesitantly, I followed Ben out of the room, taking one glance back at Lukas on the way as he leaned back into the couch, propping his feet up. When he caught me looking, he gave me a wink.

Then Ben closed the door between us.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"My room," he stated simply.

At once, my eyes went wide and heart began to hammer.

"If that's okay?" He cast a wary glance over his shoulder as we walked up the stairs.