21

"And now she's having psychic dreams about you?" Standing up, Valentino replied, fairly loudly.

"They're not psychic at all, Val! They're not psychic," I exclaimed, standing in front of him, "they're just..weird?"

"Weird?! So, when you chose to tell her the truth, she happened to have a dream about you as Angel abandoning her? Nope. not psychic at all!" His voice sounded sarcastic.

"You're overreacting, Val."

"Damon, I'm not being dramatic. 'I'm just worried about you, friend,' he explained quietly.

"Why are you worried?" I asked, perplexed.

"I'm not sure why, maybe because I don't want you to lose her." Another thing that disturbs me is that it won't be long before cameras catch her and the media discovers her. Worse yet, what will you do when we resume our tour?" The room grew silent as my mind raced over every imaginable threat to my relationship with Nyx, if there was even a relationship.

'Damon, as much as I want you to, don't tell her. Don't do it, buddy." As he placed a solid, reassuring hold on my shoulder, his eyes stared deep into mine.

"Why? I can't lie, Val-"

"You're not telling the truth, Damon!" You aren't lying! You're simply not telling her the truth for the sake of your friendship. Take a look at how open she is with you, Angel. First, gain Damon's trust, faith, and friendship, and then determine what you want to accomplish. You've told her about your feelings; now it's time to get to know her. Wait till she has enough trust in Damon to tell him about Angel."

Wait till she has enough trust in Damon to tell him about Angel.

As I strolled outside to the garden, Valentino's words echoed in my ears.

I walked through the rose-filled pathway, my hands in the pockets of my shorts. I locked my focus on the sun. The simplicity of its loveliness bewildered me as it blended in with the colours of pink and orange. Something so lovely and inviting was actually quite violent and perilous. This made me recognise how something might appear to be incredibly beautiful from a distance yet have the potential to absolutely devastate you if approached closely. But who was I really blaming for my blunder? Me? Nyx? Is it both of us? I had no idea but felt compelled to find out.

"Doesn't it look lovely with the pink and orange tones?" I was startled by a voice from behind me. I swung around to greet Nyx's familiar hazel gaze. A tight smile formed on my lips but did not reach my eyes.

"Yeah, it does." I murmured, returning my gaze to the sun.

"The weather is going to change," she continued, her gaze fixed on the sun.

"The weather?"

"Yeah. My mum once told me when I was younger." She looked away, whispering. "She claimed that the weather would change when the sun combined with pink and orange hues."

"How do you think the weather will be tomorrow?" I inquired, displaying interest.

"Rainy, I believe, because it was sunny all day."

Even with dirt on her nose, she managed to look as adorable as ever. I turned to face her, remembering our conversation the night before. She gave me a fleeting glance before returning her sight to the sun in an attempt to evade my stare. Blood raced up to her cheeks, making it virtually impossible for me not to smile.

"Summer rains." I mentioned the rain last night and the current situation.

"Are you still working?" Taking up gardening now as well?" I asked.

"No, not quite. Martha became ill, and Fred took a few days off. His wife is expecting a child." Her face lit up with delight at the prospect.

Our gardeners, Martha and Fred, had been gone, so she was left with the entire workload.

"Oh, Martha. She's getting on in years.' "At least she's with her hubby. "35 years!" She stated this while pointing at me and matching Martha's face with a small grin.

"Of 35 years!" I mimicked. Her lips twitched and a small giggle escaped

.

"Well, I have to go. I'll return on Saturday." She turned to walk away, a fleeting smile on her face.

"Nyx, please wait," I urged after a few paces.

I caught up to her and glanced at her.

I touched her nose with my fingers on her cheek and rubbed my thumb across her nose. She looked at me but let me do it.

"Uh..dirt. "You had dirt on your nose."

I murmured, smiling, as blood flowed up to her cheeks once more. I'm not sure if she realised it at the time, but it looked cute on her.

"Um... thanks?" She asked, wiping her nose.

"Anytime," I said, wiping my thumb across my shorts.

After the events of the previous night, I felt the need to hold her, to touch her, in the purest way possible. I had no desire to feel her or get her into a warm bed. When it came to her, or any woman for that matter, none of these notions crossed my mind.I was solely interested in getting to know her. I only wanted to make her happy, to make her smile, to love her, to make her...mine.

My lips tingled with the want to kiss her, and as she turned to go, I called her again, "nyx."

"Yeah?"

As I approached her, I placed my massive palm on her cheek, rubbing my thumb at the tip of her cheekbone.

"More dirt?" She asked, naively, "No, I just." I whispered before moving in and kissing her on the lips.

She was hesitant at first, but she quickly warmed up to it, wanting it just as much as I did. I felt her place her hand on top of mine as I brought my other palm to her other face, deepening the kiss.

"I have to go, Damon." she said reluctantly.

I caught a glimmer of terror in her eyes as I looked down at her feet.

But I let her leave this time.

I had made my decision without realising it at the time. Even if she didn't trust me enough to tell me about Angel, I couldn't keep her in the dark.

At the very least, she had faith in Angel. That was sufficient for me.

I was about to inform her.