Page 32 of Haunt Me, Maybe

I leaned in once more, close enough that I wouldn’t be overheard.

“Don’t,” I said.

Her breath caught, but she still wouldn’t look at me.

“I’m not⁠—”

“You are,” I cut in, because I knew what she was going to say.

She was going to spew little lies about being fine, or tired, or that I was imagining things. But her avoidance wasn’t going to work on me. I had her attention now. Her eyes flicked to mine, seething and guarded. That spark that was present every time I pissed her off gleamed back at me from behind eyes a shade paler than her hair.

There were no illusions hiding her today.

“You’re finding reasons to pull away,” I continued. “Listing all the ways this attack was your fault and stowing them away in that pretty head to panic over later.”

She swallowed. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

I almost smiled. She didn’t know how obvious she was being. Besides, it took one broken part to recognize another.

“Sure it isn’t.”

I shifted on the bed, angling myself so she couldn’t look away without physically moving. I refrained from reaching out, from cupping her face or outright gripping her chin to make her look at me. She wouldn’t appreciate my touch right now, but I didn’t need to use my hands for her to understand.

“You don’t get to disappear on me just because you got scared,” I said quietly. “Not like that.”

Her shoulders tensed. “Wes⁠—”

“I’m not asking you to fix it,” I interrupted. “I’m not asking you to promise anything, and I’m definitely not asking you to stop being scared. But this?” My thumb ran down her spine again, reminding her she was still in my arms. “This whole pretending-you-don’t-need-what-you-very-clearly-need thing? It’s not going to work. Trust me.”

Her jaw tightened, and the silence stretched. She was so stubborn! It was sexy as hell when she used that obstinance to continue a kiss she definitely wasn’t ready for, but right now? No. Not cute. I exhaled slowly and tried to force the edge out of my tone.

“You can deny it,” I said, softer now. “You can sit right there and tell yourself that I have no idea what I’m talking about. I won’t drag it out of you. But I’m not going anywhere,” I swore. “And I’m not letting you convince yourself of whatever horrors have you looking lost like that.”

Her breath stuttered, but she still didn’t say anything. That was okay. I could tell my words got through to her. At the very least, she took them seriously. But in case she didn’t, I settled back against the headboard and left my arm where it was, a steady weight at her back.

I didn’t chase the words she obviously buried, and I wouldn’t force her to acknowledge mine. I’d made my position clear. She could build her walls. I’d be right here once she realized they weren’t keeping anyone safe—they only kept her alone. I refused to let that be the end of it.

I’d had a taste of her. A taste of a new life. And I wasn’t going to let either of them get away that easily.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Wes

When had I stopped being so angry?

Aven moved around the room, getting ready for her shift at the café, and I watched her every step. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, I tried to remember the shape of the anger I used to carry. The certainty of it.

Magic was a lie spun by frauds, a performance dressed up in smoke and mirrors. A performance that cost me my life.

False. False. True.

I knew it was real. Worse—I knew it was dangerous.

There was a warlock hunting Aven. A predator circling the town I’d been haunting for decades. It was proof, finally, that everything I feared was justified. So then, where was my anger? Aven double checked the attic’s wards; careful with her hands, her eyes flicking to the window like she expected it to bite.

There was nothing arrogant about her magic. Nothing indulgent. She treated it like a loaded weapon she never wanted to carry. That should have made me distrust her more, but instead, it did the opposite.

She wasn’t drunk on her power. She wasn’t reckless. For fuck’s sake, she was terrified of it, yet still tried to build a quiet life, unseen. And that’s when it hit…