Page 32 of The Fire

“You bitched about it often enough,” Jamie said, like he could read my mind. “Thought it was a pretty fucked up quirk for a guy who claimed he wanted to open a restaurant, but I found it cute. Guess that should’ve been my first clue, huh?”

Jamie took a right turn onto Lobelia—toward his house, away from the center of town and the emergency shelter—and I let it happen.

Guess that should’ve been my first clue.

“First clue ofwhat?” I demanded.

Jamie didn’t reply. He pulled into his driveway just as another flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

“First clue of what?” A hot little ball was lodged in my chest and seemed to be making its way up into my throat, choking me.

Jamie ignored me. “Good thing we weren’t a few minutes later,” he said as he cut the engine. He pushed open his door. “Storm’s getting worse. Grab your stuff and—”

I twisted in my seat and grabbed his arm with both hands, stopping him. “For the love of all that’s holy in theuniverse, Jameson Burke,first clue of what?”

“That I have shit judgment when it comes to you! For fuck’s sake, Parker. Isn’t it obvious?” He pushed a hand through his thick, red-brown hair, and in the glow of the little dome light, his cheeks were flushed from some combination of cold and anger. “Listen. You don’t wanna be here? I get it! I don’t fuckingwantyou here. If I could drive you to Arizona myself,I would. But we’re stuck with each other for at least a day, maybe longer. And I honest to Christ cannot handle this…thing.” He motioned between us. “The fighting and the… fuckingremembering.”

“You make it sound likeIam the one who’s forcing you to—”

He glanced pointedly down at my hands on his arm, and I let go immediately.

“Here’s how this is gonna work, Parker. For the entire time that we are stuck in this house, we are not going to wander down memory lane. We are not going to have deep, painful conversations. In fact, it’d be great if we could go on the way we have been for the past eleven years and five months. Polite strangers.”

“If that’s your idea of polite,” I began.

Jamie cut me a look and I snapped my teeth together.

“Fine,” I agreed.

“Fine.”

“Super.”

“Excellent. Can we leave the truck now?”

“The sooner the better.” I shot him a smile and a death glare.

“I’ll get your suitcase.”

“So kind.”Despite your shriveled little heart.

“Can you manage the box?”

“With one hand free!”To throttle you.

“Be careful jumping down,” he called as I opened the door.

“So thoughtful of you to warn me!”Like I’m an idiot who can’t—

Okay, in retrospect, I maybe should have paid more attention to the descent, but I was a tiny bit distracted.

Jamie came around the side of the truck a moment later and found me lying flat on my back with the box on the ground beside me.

“Seriously?” he demanded.

I sighed. There was no way I was gonna come out of this looking like anything other than a giant dork. And I hated fighting. “The view is really nice,” I told him.

Jamie shook his head. “Did you hurt yourself?”