Page 144 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“No.”

“Dylan?”

His expression hardened.

“Of course you'd make it about Dylan.”

“Then what?”

Elliot stared. Ronan waited. The silence stretched until it became an answer of its own.

“I can't tell you.”

There. Ronan's chest tightened. Not nothing. Not you're imagining it. I can't tell you. The first honest thing Elliot had said all night. Ronan lowered his voice.

“Why?”

“Because I can't.”

“That's not an answer.”

“It's the only one you're getting.”

“Does it have anything to do with Mason?”

Elliot froze. Ronan felt the world tilt slightly. Tiny. But real.

“Lucas?”

Nothing. Ronan stared.

“Elliot.”

“No.”

The answer came too late. His stomach dropped.

“Which one?”

“What?”

“You hesitated.”

“I didn't.”

“You fucking did.”

“You're seeing what you want now.”

“Then tell me what I should see.”

Elliot's eyes flashed.

“Maybe someone who is tired of being watched.”

Ronan laughed.

“Watched?”