Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

She walked forward carefully then dropped down to sit on the very end of the board, her legs swinging beneath her over the water. I moved to sit beside her, leaving an inch of space between us despite the fact that I wanted to pull her close. I sighed, running a hand over my face. This whole thing was so fucked. I’d set her up tonight, gone out of my way to hurt her yet again but here I was, sitting in the dark with her, aching to touch her, stealing glances at her like some kid with a crush. Why was everything so difficult with her? It should have been simple, no matter what she looked like or how hot I thought she was, I shouldn’t have been agonising over the idea of getting rid of her. Maybe once it was done, I’d be able to move on from this, forget about her. But as she leaned back to lay on the diving board and the white dress she was wearing rode up, revealing the bronze skin of her thighs and another glimpse of her underwear, I knew that was an empty hope. I’d never hungered for someone like I did for her.