You Did Not Just Say That. I

Dimitri. I Hadn't Known He Was Here. His Eyes Were On Me Too,dark And Endless. Only I Couldn't Read What He Was Feeling. His Face Betrayed Nothing, But There Was Something In His Eyes...something Intense And Intimidating. The Image Of Him Ready To Take Down That Group Of Guardians Flashed Through My Mind,and Something Told Me That If I Asked,he Would Fight His Way To Me Through This Courtroom And Do Everything In His Power To Rescue Me From It.

The Training Part," I Guessed. "yup. You're Going To Be Dimitri's Partner." A Moment Of Funny Silence Fell, Probably Not Noticeable To Anyone Except Dimitri And Me. Our Eyes Met. "guarding Partner," Dimitri Clarified Unnecessarily, Like Maybe He Too Had Been Thinking Of Other Kinds Of Partners.

I Wanted Someone A Little More Approachable," I Explained. "what, Like Captain Mctropicalshorts Back There? Where On Earth Did You Find Him Anyway?" "just Did An Internet Search." Feeling A Need To Defend My Research, I Added, "he Comes Highly Recommended." "by Who? Long John Silver?

Once When I Was Ninth Grade I Had To Write A Paper On A Poem. One Of The Lines Was"if Your Eyes Weren't Open You Wouldn't Know The Difference Between Dreaming And Waking' It Hadn't Meant Meant Much To Me At The Time. After All There'd Been A Guy In The Class That I Liked So How Could I Be Expected To Pay Attention To Literary Analysis? Now Three Year Later I Understand The Poem Perfectly.

Adrian Suddenly Glanced Up At Me. Our Gazes Locked, And I Felt Like He Could Read My Mind. How Often Did He Think About That Kiss? And If He Really Was Crazy About Me, Did He Imagine More Than Just Kissing? Did He Fantasize About Me? What Kinds Of Things Did He Think About? His Lips On My Neck? His Hand On My Leg? And Was That Leg Bare . . . ?