All I've Never Wanted(137)

Venice cracked up. “Humpty Dumpty? Why?”

“Because he’s cool,” Zack declared. “Even if he did fall off a wall.” He paused. “He did fall off a wall, didn’t he?”

She giggled. “You are so cute.” Her eyes grew wide and she immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

“You think I’m cute?” Zack asked giddily.

“Uh. N-no,” she stuttered. “I-I mean…I think a lot of people are cute. You know. Uh, Maya’s cute. Mickey’s cute. Um, Rico’s cute—well, actually, he’s a little scary, but if he shaved a little and cut his hair and—“

“Venice.”

She stopped. “Yes?”

“Can you stop talking please?”

Venice flushed, looking like she was going to start crying. “Oh, o-ok. I’ll—I’ll just go then. Sorry.”

She turned to open the door, but in that moment, Zack made a quick decision and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him again.

Confusion filled her features. “What—“

And then Zack stopped her from talking again. Only this time, it was with one long, deep kiss on the lips.

After a few seconds, when Venice got over her shock and started kissing him back, he smiled against her mouth. She tasted like strawberries and maybe marshmallows, just like he remembered.

This was even better than getting a puppy.

* * *

I was sleeping on a cloud. At least, I think it’s a cloud, because honestly, whatever I was lying on was too soft and fluffy to not be a cloud. I sighed dreamily and nuzzled deeper into the fluffiness. This was awesome.

Just as I started dreaming about Roman and I floating through a rainbow-colored sky in pink heart-shaped bubbles, my body started vibrating. Wait, no. Not vibrating. Shaking. That’s it. I was shaking back and forth like a rag doll, and let me tell you, it was not a comfortable feeling.

“Stop,” I whined, batting at the air. “Please stop. That’s annoying.”

“Maya? Maya, wake up!”

Huh. That voice was awfully familiar…

“Maya, can you hear me?”

After a few more seconds, I finally, reluctantly blinked open my eyes, glad that the room we were in wasn’t all that bright. It took me an extra five seconds to orient myself, and when I did, I found myself staring straight up into a very handsome, very concerned face.

“Oh, thank God.” Roman sighed. “I thought you got a concussion from hitting that wood floor.”

“What happened?” I croaked, struggling to sit up. Roman helped prop me against a mountain of goosedown pillows, covered in fifteen-hundred-thread-count cases (no wonder I thought I was on a cloud). “My head hurts.”

“Of course it hurts.” He looked both annoyed and relieved. “You fainted. Actually, that seems to be a habit of yours.”

“I what?” I exclaimed, now wide awake. I ran through the night’s events in my mind, trying to piece together what happened.

Slowly, it all came back to me. Mine and Rico’s dinner at the restaurant. Venice falling into the pond. Zack diving in to save her. Roman storming in. Rico goading him. And then…

My eyes grew to the size of saucers as I remembered what happened right before I fainted. Holy crap. Did Roman really say that? Or was had I become delusional from my fall?

Trying to quell the backflips my heart was now doing in an apparent attempt to qualify for the US Olympic gymnastics team, I stared at Roman, taking in every inch of his face. The high, chiseled cheekbones. The strong jaw. The full lips. The deep, mesmerizing violet eyes fringed by long black lashes that could make any girl jealous.

And I’m not sure what made me ask what I asked next, but in a small, timid voice, I posed what could end up to be one of the most important questions in my life thus far. “Roman. Did you, uh, did you say you were in love with me?”

And he froze. I swear, I’ve never seen anyone stay so still for so long. He didn’t even look like he was breathing. In fact, were it not for the tomato-like redness creeping slowly up his neck and face, I wouldn’t have been sure if he was even alive or not.

“Roman?” I shifted uncomfortably in my bed after a good five minutes passed by, with nary a sound on his part. “Did you hear me?”

He blinked. “Yes.” I’m not sure if he meant yes, I did say I was in love with you, or yes, I heard you.

He just stared at me, causing me to panic a little. Oh my god. What if he hadn’t said it? That would be absolutely mortifying, especially since I’d already blurted out the L word in the hospital.

My cheeks burning, I threw off the covers. “Um, I should, uh, I should go. Now,” I blurted, avoiding his gaze as my heart pounded against my chest. “My parents are probably, uh, worried.” My voice cracked a little on “worried,” but my feet didn’t even touch the floor before Roman grabbed my wrists, stilling me.

“Why are you leaving so soon?”

“I told you. My parents are going to freak,” I mumbled.

“No, they won’t,” he corrected calmly. “I already called them. I didn’t mention the fainting part, of course, but they know you’re here.”

“Oh.” I sank down on the bed again, turning my back to him. “I kind of want to sleep, though, so can you just—“