Page 46 of Bound in Ashes

Something in his gaze shifted as he assessed me, and I realized what it was.

Satisfaction.

And a promise we’d revisit this discussion later.

“I’m fine, Asia,” he said, his response to my unspoken question.

“You’re so fine that I managed to get a mug of coffee out of your hands before you could react,” I said.

He smiled faintly, but then the expression dropped.

“First time for everything,” he grumbled.

“Here you go, Thorne,” my uncle said, handing him a plate with steaming eggs piled on it.

“Not gonna try to fight him?” I said.

“I’m not a dummy, Asia,” he responded. I took a sip of his coffee, and he shook his head and frowned. “Got ice water in your veins, huh?”

I just smiled and kept sipping.

“This coffee is amazing, Uncle Levi,” I said, glancing over at Jack.

He didn’t look at me, but I saw the small shake in his shoulders.

“We gotta talk about⁠—”

I cut him off. “You have to go to sleep.”

“She always been this bossy?” Jack asked.

“Don’t pull me in your mess, Thorne,” Uncle Levi said.

“Go, get rest. We can handle it,” I said, looking at Jack.

I reached out and rubbed my hand over his. His fingers twitched beneath mine, then he turned his hand, tangling his fingers with mine.

But only for a second.

He pulled away and grabbed his plate, eyes not meeting mine.

“Need to check the perimeter one more time,” he said a few minutes later.

He finished his eggs, washed his hand in the sink, and stopped, looking at what was now my cup of coffee with lust in his eyes. He stood rigid, muscles tense, at the ready. But there was faint redness in his eyes, a dip in his shoulders that would have been imperceptible to almost everyone, but I saw it.

“Sleep, Jack,” I said.

I stood directly in front of him and locked eyes with him. Not a conversation I wanted to be having right now, but if Jack forced the issue…

I tensed. The moment thick.

And even though everyone else was suddenly very interested in their plates, I knew they were all waiting.

“Fine,” Jack said, brushing his hand over his hair. “Two hours.”

I nodded, then watched him walk away. He headed to the back bedroom, the room that all the kids got when they first came to the farm. I’d have to tell him that he was in the equivalent of a juvie cell when he woke up. And thank him for keeping up the image, though I was sure everyone knew where he actually slept on those nights he let himself do so.

“No one bother him,” I said. I looked at Miles, who’d come into the house. He smiled sheepishly. “Especially you, Miles.”