I narrowed my eyes as I watched her try to avoid looking at me, but her gaze kept flicking back, as if she had no control over it.
Then understanding hit home like a hard crack to the back of my skull.
Lissa hadn’t run because she felt nothing… she’d run because she felt too much of something.
And given the chance, she’d keep fucking running.
“You had sex!” Riley’s sputtered declaration dropped like a bomb.
Lissa’s head snapped to her best friend, eyes wide, nails sinking into Riley’s arm.
She wouldn’t make it easy, but it was time to cut the bullshit. Starting with me. I’d told myself Lissa leaving in the middle of the night and cutting me off didn’t bother me. I was a lying son of a bitch.
It bothered the fuck out of me. Had for months.
And looking at her now, I knew I wasn’t the only one.
She was just as affected by that night as I was, and now that there wasn’t a state between us, I wasn’t about to stand back and let her ignore that fact. She’d melted under my body, moaned my fucking name. Damned if I was gonna let her pretend like it never happened. I wasn’t prepared to let her run again, not without an explanation, because I knew it then and I still knew it now… one night wasn’t enough.
I wanted her back in my bed, and if that wasn’t what she wanted, she’d have to tell me that shit to my face this time.
I wouldn’t push it tonight—a gamble, given that the girl was a known fucking flight risk—but there was only so far she could run from me in Claremont. And if she left the state again, I’d chase her ass and haul her right fucking back.
“I need a drink,” I murmured, then stalked off in the direction of the alcohol, wagging my head.
Nothing about my snow queen was ever fucking easy, but I was suddenly buoyed, my body lighter than it had been in months as a slow smile worked its way over my face…
Because that might just be what I liked most about her.
***
“Wanna keep the fucking n
oise down?” I groaned from my position, bent over the tabletop in Beat’s Burgers. I had my arms crossed over my head, trying to drown out the noisy bastards around me.
The incessant droning ceased for all of two seconds before Danny said, “Fuck no, we don’t. Your hungover ass wasn’t even supposed to be drinking last night. Fucked up our travel arrangements, jackass. Have some of this.”
My eyes squeezed closed, arms pulling tighter when he started banging cutlery off the table like a fucking kindergartener.
“I fucking hate you,” I mumbled, every clang splitting my head open.
When he didn’t quit, I jerked up and snatched the spoon from his hand, smacking him with it.
He grinned, tossing the fork to the table. “Nice of you to join us, sleeping beauty.”
Grabbing a handful of fries, I launched them at his face, then leaned back and scrubbed both hands over my cheeks. I diverted my attention to Jason, who was ramming a burger the size of my face down his throat and kicked his calf under the table. When his head popped up, I met his stare with an inquisitive one of my own.
“Did you and the stepsister ever get your shit together?”
“Christ, don’t fucking bring up the stepsister.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed, his head twisting to Dan as he muttered around a mouthful of burger, “Fuck you, asshole.”
“He fucked it up.”
Jase dropped the burger onto his plate and used his free hand to sink a fist into Danny’s arm.
Danny sniggered.