Ever so slowly, I lowered my mouth to the lime. As I did so, I felt the brush of her lips on mine.
Just a touch. Just a breath, and it ignited fire in my veins.
And at that moment, I forgot a lot. My heart stopped, my breathing quit, my thoughts cea...
「 thirty-three ✧ etched in my heart 」 tw: panic attack
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We all followed Lacey's skipping frame to the line where many were waiting to speak or grab a signature from Rowen and Alaska. Even the security guard reluctantly followed. Curious, I fell into step with him.
"You work for the FBI, correct?" I asked him, glancing at Emilia before turning my attention to him. He was slightly taller than me, or possibly it was just his impeccable posture. His hair was dark, a mirror of his eyes and constant expression.
He cleared his throat. "Yes. I am currently assigned under Alaska and Rowen. The reason I am following you all for the evening is due to..." He grimaced. "New orders and protocol. Apparently, too many of us were watching Rowen and Alaska and not enough were observing the guests."
"Ah," I replied. We arrived at the back of the line, so I turned to him, sticking out my hand. "I don't think I got your name, but I'm Augustus Casen."
He took my hand, giving it a firm shake. "Archer Castillon."
"Castillon? Is that French?"
He nodded tightly. I could tell he was extremely reserved, but his lack of conversation didn't bother me. It surprised me when he asked, "And where are you from?"
"Germany," I replied, then glancing forward to where the others were inching ahead in line. At the sight of Emilia laughing at something Lacey said, I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips.
Archer didn't fail to notice the interaction from beside me. "Are you with any of them?" he asked slowly, a bit reluctantly. As if he wanted to know but didn't want to ask.
"Sort of," I answered, grinning now. "Her and I are... trial-dating, per se."
"The girl in the red?" he asked. "And what does 'trial-dating' entail?"
"Yes, Emilia is wearing red. And essentially, she has given me one week to prove myself worthy of being her boyfriend. Today is day two."
At that exact moment, Lia turned around to look for me. Once our eyes locked, she broke out into a beautiful smile that sent my heart racing.
"Congratulations," Archer said from next to me. "It looks like you've already won her over."
My grin only grew at that.
Then he cleared his throat beside me. "And the girl in the gold?"
I shifted my gaze to Lacey, who was conspicuously attempting not to look over at Archer. "Lacey? What about her?"
"Lacey," the FBI agent said, as if testing the name on his tongue. I watched as he stared at her, and despite his fists clenching at his sides, his eyes revealed nothing.
Trained boredom. Blank.
He didn't ask anything more. Instead, he tore his eyes off her and scanned the room, as if busying himself with something to forget about her existence.
