Red Thorns (Thorns Duet #1) by Rina Kent

Oh my God.

Did she see? No. It’s not possible. It was only the two of us in the forest. But maybe I was so caught up in the role that I didn’t notice what the hell was going on around me.

I stare at Sebastian. “Did you tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“Never mind.”

While they’re somewhat close, Sebastian and Reina aren’t so close that they’d sit around and tell each other their perverted fantasies.

My perverted fantasies.





“This is your idea of a date?” I stare at our surroundings.

It’s the forest, again.

Sebastian drove us to a hidden big rock at a nook at the base of a hill. It’s near the place where he chased me over the weekend.

The late afternoon sun casts rosy and orange hues all around us and in the distance.

I should be apprehensive, maybe even terrified, but being back here is once again filling me with that sense of relief I felt when he walked into the locker room earlier.

We grabbed some McDonald’s on the way and we have the boxes between us on the rock as we eat.

Sebastian nearly finishes his double burger in a few bites while I take my time.

He lifts a shoulder. “I assume that if I took you to a restaurant, you wouldn’t be comfortable.”

“Your restaurant of choice is The Grill where everyone kisses your ass. Of course, I wouldn’t be comfortable there.”

He smiles. “If it were any other girl, they’d be fussing about how I don’t want to be seen in public with them.”

“I’m not other girls and I don’t care about the public.”

“You prefer being alone.”

He didn’t voice it as a question, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking about. This part of him is scary, and I want to escape as far as I can from it, and yet, my feet won’t take me anywhere.

I’m glued in place, muttering, “Sort of.”

“To read manga?”

“I…don’t do that.”

“Do you hoard them?” The amusement in his tone pisses me off.

“Yeah, and masturbate with them. Happy now?”

“No. Now that you put the image in my head, I need the details. Or a demonstration. Both are acceptable.”

“In your dreams. Besides, it’s all digital now. No one buys physical manga anymore.”

“The geeks do.”

“I’m…not a geek.”

“Oh, sorry. An otaku.”

“Screw you.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing else I’d rather do. But we have to balance things out for that twenty percent non-sex part. Or maybe I should reduce it to ten percent. What do you think?”

“I think you have sex problems.”

“I’m a healthy twenty-one-year-old male in his prime and that comes with a strong sex drive. And it’s my mission to make you feel that it’s all normal. Natural. Chemical.”

“What if I don’t want normal?”

He finishes his burger, eyes shining with mischief. “Then I can show you abnormal.”

“That’s…not what I meant, you pervert.”

“I was thinking about different positions. Where did your head go, pervert?”

My cheeks flame and I stuff a few French fries in my mouth to stop from incriminating myself further.

Sebastian runs the tip of his fingers over my cheek. “You have a cute blush.”

“I told you, I’m not cute!”

“Easy, Tsundere.”

“So now what? We’re just going to sit here while you annoy me?”

“I annoy you?”

“That’s news…because?”

“You don’t know me, Nao.”

“I know you’re a rich kid from a rich family with political shit going on. Oh, and you’re the star quarterback nobody shuts up about and keeps shoving down everyone’s throat—mine included, by the way. Does that sum it up?”

“Not even close. You just described the image I project, which is so similar to your metallic Goth, satanic follower image. Does it express who you are on the inside?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why do you think mine does?”

Because I want it to. Because I’m still holding on to the hope that he’ll indeed turn out to be shallow. Yet the more time I spend with him, the more I’m certain the opposite is true.

After chewing a bite of my burger, I choose my words carefully. “No, I don’t. I believe everyone has layers they hide from the outside world.”

“Precisely. Just like how we’re both hiding how much we enjoyed that chase and everything that happened after.”

“Sebastian…”

“It’s a layer that you refuse to acknowledge because you’re ashamed of it.”

“You’re…not?”

“No. It’s who I am and there’s nothing to change about it.”

“But you’re hiding it, too.”

“Not because I’m ashamed.”

“Then why?”

“To play the social game. But I don’t have to with you, because we’re compatible.”

I snort. “How many girls have fallen for that?”

“None, because I’ve never found one compatible enough to say it to.”