Page 94 of Burning Daylight

And then again.

On the fourth time, there’s a click. Her voice comes over the line, and the tightness in my chest eases.

“You know you’re theliteraldefinition of overbearing, right?” she says instead of hello.

My muscles ease. “I like to think of it as extravagant persistence.”

She sighs. “What do you want, Bear? Or do you only go by Roman now?”

My heart thumps. “Call me whatever you want, as long as you’re acknowledging my existence again.”

She’s quiet for a minute and then, “How is it there… You good?”

I glance out over the cliff, Rosebrook Falls stretched beneath me in the valley. “Depends on your definition of the word, I guess. I just told the world I’m not dead so, above average?”

“I watched it, you know…the press thing.” She pauses. “You looked like him.”

My jaw tics, stomach cramping. “Brooklynn?—”

“It’s whatever,” she says quickly. “What are you doing now?”

“Hanging out at some park.”

“Fascinating,” she drawls.

I rub my neck and then glance up, my heart flipping.

Juliette’s standing there, watching me.

“Hey, I gotta go. If I call you later, will you answer?”

“You bet.” Her voice is sarcastic but I’ll take what I can get.

“Love you, kid.”

“Ditto.”

Click.

“It’s called Upside Down Rock,” Juliette says immediately.

Her voice sends a shiver down my spine.

I can’t help the grin that spreads. “You’re here.”

She quirks a brow. “I said I would be—what do you think I am, a liar?”

Shaking my head, I just stare at her becausedamn, she’s pretty.

“You made me wait long enough,” I say. “I was about to give up and go home.”

Her head tilts. “And where exactly ishome? Montgomery Manor?”

Standing up and stepping forward, I gaze down at her, my body tripping over itself like it wants to be near her more than I do.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” I reply. “I don’t want to think about the fucked-up relationship our families have with each other. When we’re here, I just want us to be…us.”

Her throat bobs. “And what exactly does that entail?”