Page 114 of Burning Daylight

No matter how angry I am with him, if I shut him out, am I any better than how he’s been with me?

My shoulders drop, and I sigh. “Fine. But don’teverdo it again.”

Relief coasts across his eyes, and he beams at me, his smile pulling up higher on the right.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks.

I sniff. “Depends on what you’re referencing, I guess.”

He waves his arm at me. “Whatever it is that has you like this.”

Another wave of irritation hits me, and I turn toward him, my anger recognizing him as a viable punching bag, regardless of whether it’s truly him who deserves the ire or not.

“No, actually, I don’t want to talk about it. Maybe when I first got home, andno oneeven blinked in my direction. Maybe when you came to that Penngrove fundraiser without a single, solitary ‘I missed you, Jules.’ But now? Now I’mgood. No need to rehash how our parents are trying to marry me off to my ex like a Regency-era fever dream, or how I’mallegedlyan adult but still sleeping in my childhood home.”

I wave my fists in the air while I continue my tirade, and Lance’s eyes grow wider with each spewed word. But I don’t stop, because now I’m on a roll, and if he wants to hear things, then he’ll hear them. “The leash is back on, let’s all pretend like we’re surprised.”

After my rant, I exhale heavily, a little out of breath from how quickly the words left my brain and flew into the air, but I feel a little better.

Lighter, maybe.

“Jesus, I thought you said you forgive me,” Lance says.

I purse my lips at him. “I do.”

He nods slowly. “Yeah, okay.”

“You know what I want to talk about?” I lean toward him. “I want to talk aboutyou. About how you’re never around, how you’ve made a career out of disappearing. Or why Benjamin Voltaire acted like you were besties the other night. And let’s not forget the bruised knuckles, or how you suddenly don’t give a damn that Ty has black eyes and is carrying a gun.”

Lance arches a brow. “Ty has a gun?”

I give him a look. “Had, when I first got back into town. You didn’t see it?”

He rubs the back of his neck.

My chest cramps. Him not paying attention to Tyler is new. They’ve always been inseparable: him, Tyler, and Art.

But maybe I need to give a little to get a little with him. Clearly, he’s not going to be the one to open up first, and even if he hurt me, I still miss him.

He’s still my person.

I watch him carefully, but his face is a blank mask. Impenetrable.

“Are you hanging out in the HillPoint?” I ask, point blank.

He flinches. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Jules.”

I narrow my gaze. “If I didn’t want the answer, I wouldn’t have asked the question,Lance.”

He scoffs and looks away. “Art owns property there now. It’s not like I’m in danger.”

“Right,” I reply. “Because shady real-estate dealings are alwayssupersafe.”

He cuts a look at me. “How do you know it was shady?”

I give him a thin smile. “I didn’t. Not until you just confirmed it.”

Lance sighs, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his head hanging. “I love you, Jules, but I can’t tell you everything. Please just respect it.”