Page 24 of Give Me a Reason

Frederick was laughing… with Anne.

He never would’ve thought it possible. Not when she’d walked out of his life ten years ago. Not when he’d run into her in Bethany’s classroom less than two months ago. He’d never thought he could laugh with Anne Lee again.

Yet here he was. Here they were.

“Speaking of flat tires,” she said, her voice pitched an octave higher. She was fucking endearing when she was flustered.

“Were we?” He couldn’t have stopped himself from teasing her even if he’d wanted to. God, he wanted to touch her.

“Were we what?” Her brows furrowed adorably.

“Were we speaking of flat tires?” He took a step closer to her and leaned his shoulder against the bookshelf.

“Yes, we were.” She crinkled her nose at him. He was running out of words to describe how agonizingly cute she was. “I was thanking you for changing my flat tire.”

“Ah.” He grinned. “You mean before we agreed that you weren’t an asshat.”

“Oh, shut up.” Even the daggers she shot out of her eyes were charming. But not as charming as the reluctant smile that quirked her perfect pink lips. “ Speaking of flat tires , I watched some YouTube tutorials on how to change them.”

“You did?” His gaze reluctantly left her mouth and rose to meet her eyes. Luckily, her eyes were just as lovely.

“I did.” She nodded earnestly. “I didn’t like feeling helpless, being stranded on the side of the road. A woman my age should know how to change a flat tire.”

“Yes, it’s a skill every ajumma should acquire,” he deadpanned.

“Were you always this annoying?” Her melodic laughter liquefied his insides.

“Always.” His voice was huskier than he would’ve liked.

“Besides, I’m not quite an ajumma yet,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Give me a few more years to settle into my auntie era. I think I’ll quite enjoy it when I get there. Ajummas are so wonderfully pushy, taking what they want without apology.”

“Is that what you want?” He cocked his head and watched her. Anne had never been one to take, always the first to give. What exactly did she look forward to taking without apology? Would she ever be tempted to take him? As ridiculous as his musings were, heat nevertheless curled low in his stomach.

“To be pushy?” She scrunched her lips to the side. “Maybe. It might be a refreshing change.”

His unwelcome lust was doused by an even more unwelcome thought.

He couldn’t forget how wan and withdrawn she’d looked at the elementary school.

He’d felt a brief spike of triumph at the time—spiteful, shameful—but not anymore.

Her pale, exhausted face haunted his thoughts with increasing frequency.

And he was driving himself out of his mind, wondering what happened to her.

“Were you pushed around in Korea?” His protective instinct took over, and he couldn’t even remember why it wasn’t any of his business. “Did someone force you to quit acting? Is that why you came back?”

“No…” Her eyes widened at his tightly coiled anger. “No one…”

“Shit. I’m sorry.” He knelt by her seat and looked up at her, gripping the arm of her chair. “It’s none of my business.”

“No, don’t apologize.” She put her hand on his bare forearm.

Even as heat flared across his body, he made himself go very still so she wouldn’t stop touching him. But he didn’t know how much more he could take without touching her in return.

Oblivious to the effect she had on him, Anne continued. “There were people wanting to take advantage of me, but there were people who supported me as well. More than anything, I’m the one who pushed myself to succeed.

“It was exciting at first, but I got swept up in the whirlwind and lost control over my own life. I let things happen to me instead of choosing what I wanted. I watched my agency slip away and couldn’t do anything about it. I got lost.” She shook her head. “Sorry, that doesn’t even make sense.”

“It makes perfect sense.” He unthinkingly covered her hand with his own.

“Thank you.” She sighed, her gaze dropping to their hands. “I came home to figure out what I want for myself, while I still have something left to give. I decided it was time to choose my own path.”

“You did the right thing,” he said gruffly. Anne, in her innate strength and wisdom, decided it was time to step away. She chose to come home. No one used her or hurt her. He expelled a shaky breath, limp with relief.

But what now? Was there a place for him in her new future? What the fuck? Alarmed at the trajectory of his thoughts, he scrambled to his feet and searched for something to distract himself. And to distract her from noticing that he needed to distract himself.

He glanced around the living room with wild eyes, but everyone else was engrossed in conversation, sitting in small clusters.

Tessa showed Bethany something on her phone, and the two of them dissolved into laughter.

Joe, Coraline, and Anne’s dad chatted next to the fireplace.

Frederick was almost desperate enough to consider joining them.

Almost. But he didn’t want to deal with more cheesy winks from his misguided friend, and something about Jonathan Lee felt off to him.

Anne had spoken very little about her family when they were together, except how hard it was to lose her mother.

Besides, they were often too busy to talk.

They were too absorbed in each other—heart, mind, and body.

He held back a groan. Those memories were not the kind of distraction he needed.

“So you know how to change a flat now?” Frederick grabbed onto a thread of their conversation.

“No.” She blinked at the sudden change of subject, but then her expression turned morose. “I still have no idea. It makes total sense when I’m watching the tutorial, but the moment I stand in front of the car, my mind goes blank. It’s like I have a mental block or something.”

“Come on.” He cocked his head to the side. What do you think you’re doing, Nam? “Let’s go.”

“Go?” she asked, even as she stood to follow him. Only Anne’s aunt spared them a glance as they left the living room. “Go where?”

“Outside.” He grabbed his jacket off the coatrack by the front door and turned to face her. He must be out of his mind. But hadn’t he already established that was the norm when he was near Anne? “It’s time you learned how to change a tire.”

“You’re going to teach me?” She smiled with such unadulterated glee that his heart did a clumsy somersault. “Right now?”

“Yes and yes.” He stepped out the door and shrugged into his jacket. Wow. He really was doing this. “You coming?”

“Yes, of course.” She snatched a cardigan off the rack and practically ran past him across the street where her white sedan was parked.

“Do you remember where your spare tire is?” he shouted after her. He deliberately slowed his pace so he wouldn’t bound after her like a golden retriever, but he still reached her side before she could answer.

“I don’t know.” She frowned, patting down her pants, then peeking into her pockets. “It’s not in here…”

“Yeah, go on.” He rolled his eyes, then watched her open the trunk and lift its floor.

“I’ll be damned.” She sassed her hip and planted a fist on it. “It’s in here .”

“Well, don’t just look at them.” He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Take them out.”

“Here.” She held out her cardigan. “Hold this for me?”

“Aren’t you going to put it on?” He kept his arms crossed, pointedly not taking her sweater. “It’s freezing out here.”

Her eyebrows rose. “It’s nearly sixty degrees.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Freezing.”

“Californians.” She scoffed with a teasing smile.

This was the Anne he remembered—happy and gently playful. He returned her smile. She was back where she belonged. With me… He slammed the door on the thought.

“Don’t forget you belong here, too.” In California with her family , he reminded himself. Not by my side.

“Yes.” Anne met his eyes, and her smile slowly faded. “I’ll never forget where I belong again.”

Frederick sucked in a sharp breath, and his blood pounded in his ears.

Don’t read too much into her words. He took a step toward her.

She didn’t mean what you hope she meant.

But she took a step toward him, and he wanted to touch her so badly that his hands shook.

What the hell are you doing? He couldn’t stop himself from lifting his hand, wanting to feel the warmth of her face against his palm.

Maybe just this once. Her eyes rounded, and she seemed to stop breathing.

He wanted… Fuck. He snatched her cardigan from her and gripped it hard in his hands.

“I’ll take that if you insist on freezing to death,” he said, breathing unevenly.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll survive.” Her smile was a little unsteady at the corners but still lovely, and his treacherous, hungry eyes fell to her lips.

He’d barely averted disaster by not grabbing at her, but he craved to be closer to her somehow. “So have you figured it out?”

“Figured out what?” She cocked her head to the side.

“What Anne Lee wants?” His heart stuttered for no apparent reason. He just wanted to know more about the new future she hoped to build for herself. No big deal.

But when her eyes dropped to his lips for a split second as if to say, You’re what I want, he nearly groaned out loud—either with mortification from his delusional thought or because of the white-hot lust tightening his body. But Anne met his gaze again with a subtle shake of her head.

“I want to continue acting. On my own terms.” She raised her chin as though owning her words. “And I want to do it here.”

“You want to act here?” She doesn’t want to leave. Frederick’s chest constricted with emotions too tangled for him to recognize. “In Hollywood?”

“Yes? I mean, yes,” she said with a firm nod. “But I’m going to hold out for a role that I can pour myself into without depleting my well. A role that fills me with joy.”

“You’ll find it.” Frederick had no doubt she would. “And Hollywood had better watch out, because you’re going to kill it.”