Page 66 of His to Burn

That pissed me the fuck off.

I shoved it down and turned my focus to what mattered. “This is a nice setup, but it will eventually draw attention. Even if no one knows about it, people will come.”

“There’s enough to share,” she said.

I laughed humorlessly. “Just like I said. A do-gooder. You think people who show up here are going to be looking to share.”

“What? Someone will kill us for a can of green beans?” she said.

“No,” I made sure my eyes were locked with hers and let my voice drop, “they’d kill you for less. Those things are one thing. But people are going to be the problem now.”

She thinned her lips and tilted her head in a way I now knew she intended to argue. I didn’t give her a chance.

Bad enough that she was blind to the world of shit we were in, but my reaction to her only compounded my anger.

“You think that shit with Jorge was something? That was light work. What happens when it’s someone who’d kill you for what you had? Someone who wants to hurt you or kill you or worse just for the hell of it? You thinkthat lets-share, collectivist shit is going to fly then?”

I realized I was yelling.

I never yelled.

She pulled that out of me.

Yet another sign of how fucked up this woman had me.

And further proof that I needed to keep my distance.

Some part of me wondered if that was possible.

If her gaze were a knife, I’d be skewered, but, as hard as her expression was, her words were soft.

“Jackson, I’m well aware of the kind of people who are out in the world on a normal day. I don’t need you to try to scare me. I get it,” she said.

Her words landed like a punch.

Jaw tight from the way I clenched my teeth, I looked away.

I was pushing her away, same as I did with everyone except Evan.

It wasn’t conscious. Hell, most of the time, I didn’t realize I’d done it until later.

But I was doing it now, trying to keep my walls up and Asia on the outside.

Asia wasn’t cooperating.

There was no judgment in her tone, but I couldn’t shake the feeling she knew exactly what I was doing and making an effort not to let that happen.

Because I was right, but this wasn’t about right or wrong. It was about me seizing on something—anything—that would make sure my walls stayed in place and protected me from what ever the fuck Asia was doing to me.

I risked looking at her again and saw not even a trace of anger. Just Asia looking at me with a tenderness I’d never received before.

It was enough to sap the last of my anger.

Still, I wasn’t ready to let it go quite yet. “As long as you understand,” I said.

My voice wasn’t exactly soft, but there was no heat in it.

“I do understand,” she responded, her voice still soft.