Ugly (Winter Sun, #1)

by Roe Horvat

After that first time, he came at least once a week. He must have known I didn’t need the help, but we both played this game for nearly three months. Until tonight.

A spidery web of gashes ran down the side of his face, interrupting his left eyebrow, to the corner of his mouth, and along his neck. They disappeared under the collar of his shirt and reappeared on his left forearm. I figured he must be all scarred up underneath that shirt, too. But why would that be scary in itself? It just showed he must have been in serious pain at some point, poor guy.

To me, Burke wasn’t ugly at all. Maybe the word ugly meant something else to me than it did to other people. I’d met a bunch of ugly people in my short life—horrible, evil monsters whose faces showed their cruelty.

It’s not my fault. Hearing him say it felt strange. I’d always assumed everything was my own fault—a chain of my decisions led me to where I was.

“Stay with me.” The whisper was barely audible. “Emerson, let go. Now.” I tried to make my voice sound stern and not as desperate as I felt. “Please, stay.” He tugged on my arm, whimpering softly, and the scent intensified. His heat wave was in full force now. “Please…” And I broke.

He made faint purring sounds when he slept, too quiet to be called snoring. Like a kitten. An orphaned kitten you found in the street, a famished little creature that would rub itself against your legs incessantly until you’d pick it up. If you’d feed it, it would lick your fingers with gratitude and sleep in the crook of your arm. And unless you locked it up, one day, it would be gone again.

“Will you keep me, Burke?” His whisper pierced my mind. It’s the heat. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.

Whatever would happen, I was going to do what was best for Emerson. The decision soothed me, giving me hope.

“That’s some silly shit, Em.” Kirby pointed a finger at me. “Stop that. He’s just a guy who’s made you come your brains out. Nothing more, nothing less. You’re in love, and that’s great and all, but if it doesn’t work out, it’s not the end of the world, okay?”