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Strong fingers took hold of my upper forearm, and gently tugged me back, causing me to turn around. “We can talk now.”

There it was…the demands were back. But the words were gentle, somehow. My eyes met his, and the world seemed to pause in that moment. I opened my mouth, ready to tell him no, but the look in his eyes held me,beggingme. And I ended up saying, “All right.”

Letting me go, he held out his arm toward the chairs in anafter yougesture. With a deep breath, I walked back to my seat and sat as he did, putting the muffin on the plate. My eyes landed on the rose—so beautiful, so perfect. I couldn’t help but brush my fingers against its supple petals.

“It’s a rose.” He spoke gently, voice oddly thick before he cleared it. “Have you ever seen one before?”

My heart stuttered. I glanced at him. Legs apart, he leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees, watching me intently. I hesitated. Ihadseen one before…only once. But that was a story that belonged to me and my heart. A story I had promised to keep secret.

“No,” I whispered, reaching for my coffee instead. Wes tipped his chin to his chest, and I took a sip, enjoying the bitter taste as I watched him rub his hands together. Silence took over again. He was the one who asked to talk, not me. As far as I was concerned, the onus was on him to get this awkward conversation rolling. So I took another sip of my coffee while Wes just gazed at the floor.

“I—” he hesitated. Clasping his hands together, he looked around the room. This was interesting. Wes was rarely at a loss for words. And as much as I wanted to tease him and point it out, I stayed quiet. He cleared his throat and finally looked up at me. “What did you see yesterday?”

Leave it to Wes to turn this around and makemebe the one to lead the show. I didn’t think so. If he wanted to talk, he was going to have to do the talking. I decided to be evasive.

“Enough,” I replied stoically before grabbing the muffin and taking a bite. Oh lord, it was delicious. I took another nibble and tried hard not to moan at the buttery flavor in my mouth.

Wes rubbed his lips together, turning his face away, twirling his thumbs. This wasreallyinteresting. The feeling of unease was thick, and watching Wes struggle with whatever it was he was trying to figure out was kind of fascinating.

I wonder if this is what I look like all the time?

“Nothing happened,” he finally uttered.

I wonder if I should play dumb? Would that be too cruel of me? Eh…let’s see how it goes.

“What do you mean, ‘nothing happened?’” I leaned back in my chair, enjoying another bite of my muffin. I was pretty sure the dark bluish spots were blueberry. And mixed with the fluffy texture? It was just exquisite.

Wes’s eyes narrowed. Then he shifted his gaze, sighing loudly. “What you saw in town yesterday. Me and…and the girl. Nothing happened between us.”

“Mmhmm,” I mumbled. “Not what it looked like.” The urge to snicker was fierce, but I beat it back. Watching him squirm in his chair was just too rich.

He shot me a quick glare, and all I did in response was take another bite of my pastry, giving him a cool look in return.

“Look, Calista is my ex, but we broke up before I left for the rebel camp. There’s nothing between us now.” His tone was shifting, the plea gone and replaced by a firmness that reminded me of the Wes I had grown to know.

I licked my lips as I wiped the corners of my mouth with my napkin. “Look, I don’t know what I saw, and I really don’t care. If you and Blondie have something going on—”

“There’s nothing going on,” he shot back, cutting through my words sharply.

I hesitated. He was getting worked up about this. Maybe I shouldn’t have poked the bear. After all, I needed him…at least for another three weeks. I sighed, weighing my response. I didn’t need to piss him off, and I certainly didn’t want to lead him on. But I had to stay focused…for Jacob. I cleared my throat and then took a deep breath. “Okay, nothing happened.”

Wes held my gaze, his eyes searching for something, and then he nodded softly, leaning back into his chair. “Okay,” he repeated.

Silence encompassed us again, the tension and awkwardness returning. I eyed my coffee, and then decided I wanted to move past the weirdness and get back to some semblance of normal. “So, thanks for bringing me breakfast.”

“You’re welcome.”

Silence fell again. I looked back at him, but he seemed to be lost in thought. And the truth was, I needed to get going. Right as I was about to stand, he spoke.

“Why didn’t you come down to eat?”

I raised an eyebrow and snorted. “Isn’t it obvious? Being pushed into an arranged marriage is already making stuff awkward. Watching you and Blondie was just icing on the cake.”

Wes snickered. “Blondie?”

“Yeah…Cristy or Kelsy or whatever her name is. I met her at the barracks days ago, and she is not what I would call apeach, you know? That mountain lion you wrestled had a better disposition.”

Wes was silent for a second, then two, and then he chuckled.