Wildfire

Chapter 26

26. Fall

"You're in love with me," I said blankly. The urge to burst into hysterical laughter rose in my throat as I stared at Diego, waiting for the, "April Fools!" Over the last week, my toleration levels for weirdness had risen to exorbitant levels, but this — this — really took the cake.

"Yes." He eyed me warily, like he wasn't sure how his admission was going down — and really, who could blame him? It was like one of those hit-or-miss jokes where you had to know your audience. And Diego clearly didn't know his audience.

"In love," I repeated. "With me."

When he started to nod, a light-headed feeling stole over me and I wondered if somehow, I actually had been sucked in some sort of Alice in Wonderland universe. It felt like the longer I tried to cling to my sanity, the more the world kept trying to knock it down.

A cold, numbing sensation started to spread throughout my body, the lingering heat of our earlier proximity fading. Because he wasn't joking. I could see it on his face — beneath the wariness, there was a layer of dogged determination. He really did believe he was in love with me.

How could he be in love with me? I sifted back through my memories, trying to pinpoint a moment where I could say, "Okay, there" but there were barely any memories to sift through. Barely any.

"Paige..." he started slowly, like he was talking to a skittish animal.

The comparison couldn't have been more accurate; a part of me wanted to open the door of the truck and run, run, run, and never look back.

"Do you know how many conversations we've had, Diego?" I asked him suddenly, the words spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them. I could feel anger sparking to life in my blood, like a livid shadow beneath the coldness in my veins. "We've had four. Four — including this one."

Diego sighed, a sliver of frustration coating his voice as he said, "I shouldn't have told you."

"You don't even know me!" I exclaimed hotly. To my utter humiliation, I felt tears pricking my eyes. For the first time since we'd met, I realized just how far my inner walls had started to crumble as they shot right back into place. I cocooned myself in a mental blanket, shielding myself from him as my body grew rigid and my heart started to race. "You don't even know my full name!"

"Paige Marie Alcott," he said promptly, the frustration in his voice deepening.

"Congratulations," I said sarcastically. "You can read my student I.D. But that's not my full name, and that's something I would have told you if I'd known you for longer than five minutes!"

"Then tell me it now," he said. His voice was softer this time, coaxing... and I almost fell for it.

"You — you can't be in love with me," I insisted, ignoring his request. I forced myself to consider the situation as logically as possible, pushing past my inner alarm bells and panic signals. I started to analyse every memory I had of him backwards and forwards, trying desperately to understand how the hell he'd jumped to this conclusion — but each time, I came up blank. Even if having a girl rescue you and pull a bullet out of your chest was something you found strangely attractive — that was all that made sense. Attraction.

"Is this a lupi thing?" I demanded, my eyes staring straight ahead.

Diego sighed again, the sound more resigned than frustrated this time. "No. I told you before, we date the same way as humans. We fall in love the same way. None of that 'mates' shit or whatever the hell the latest fantasy trend is."