Page 203 of Toxic Kiss

“Are you going to juggle for me next?”

“Only if you have a clown fetish, I don’t know about. Then I’ll rent an outfit, complete with the big red nose.”

That makes her laugh even harder.

“It’s tempting to say, yes, just to see you do that.”

Haven nibbles on the bacon until there is a single bite left. Then, she holds it out for me. Fuck, she is sexy and alluring without even trying. I suck her fingers and the piece of bacon into my mouth, licking her fingers clean as her eyes darken with desire.

“Do you need me to help with anything,” she asks, picking up one of the pill bottles I left out.

I hold my breath waiting for her to say something, but all she does is read it and set it back down.

“You can cut some fruit.”

My eyes follow her as she walks across the kitchen, pulls containers out of the fridge, and places them on the counter.

“So how did you find this place?”

Haven glances at me out of the corner of her eye.

“I own it.”

“No shit.”

She pops a strawberry into her mouth and smiles.

“I rent it out most of the year. I have ten rental properties spread out across the country. And no, my father didn’t pay for them.”

“I wasn’t even going to suggest that. Why real estate?”

She shrugs as I pull out a bowl and crack some eggs before grabbing a whisk.

With a sigh, she turns and looks at me.

“I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to come back.” A heavy silence falls between us. “It’s always been my dream to run LG Records with my dad, but so much has happened, and not just with you. My mom left me money in a trust. I got it when I turned twenty-one, and I invested in a New York condo. It did well, and that was ground zero for what I have now.”

“Jesus, Haven…you always find ways to amaze me. The band owns a fancy place back in Cali, but other than that…I have the clothes on my back, and I blow through my earnings as if there will always be an endless supply.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

Haven turns back to the fruit, washing and cutting. I expect her to explain her comment, but she doesn’t, forcing me to ask.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you’ve always been like that. You’ve always partied too hard, spent too much, and treated your body, friends, and everything else like it’s all expendable. You do everything in extremes, fuck the consequences. It’s part of the reason we’ve always clashed. When I tried to reel you in, you hated me for it. But, looking back, I think you’ve always hidden behind the Cyrus Vale rockstar image because it’s easier than dealing with the hard stuff like your emotions.”

Smack. That is what it feels like. Haven just gut-punched me with words that are far too true. I turn back to what I’m doing. She so easily claws at the ugly parts of me, exposing the truth of who I am at my core.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”

“Don’t apologize, you’re right. I did, I do, and I’m not sure how to stop being that person.”

“Do you want to change?”

“Yes.”

Haven touches my arm as I push the eggs and vegetables around in the pan. I stop to look at her.