Page 24 of Bitter House

“What happened?”

“We just…couldn’t make it work. We were dumb kids.”

“So, this was…in high school? Did I know her?” I run through the roster of girls he brought home.

He shakes his head, draining the rest of his glass. “Forget it, B. It’s not a big deal. It wasn’t love, anyway. It was just a crush.”

I stand up, setting the photo album back in its place and chasing him across the room. Now the heat I feel is purely embarrassment. I was vulnerable with him, and he’s telling me nothing. “Wait! That’s not fair. I told you mine, you have to tell me yours. Did I know her? Was it one of the girls you used to bring here?”

He laughs without looking back. “No.”

“Then who?”

Spinning on his heels so quickly I slam into him, sloshing the alcohol down both of our arms, he catches me, his hands on my waist, the touch so featherlight I almost don’t feel him at all.

Except I do. I’m so incredibly aware of him, it seems impossible. The heat from his palms is searing me, but I don’t want to pull away.

Why don’t I want to pull away?

His gaze flicks to my lips, then back up. “You okay?”

His dark eyes once felt so empty, but now I see they’re galaxies waiting to be explored. There’s something deep and comforting about them, about the way he uses them and takes his time to rake his gaze over my body. There’s a heat there that matches my own. “Why did you stop so quickly? You knew I was behind you.”

“You shouldn’t have been following me so closely.” The corner of his mouth twitches.

“You shouldn’t have been running away!” I squeeze his arm, my fingers tingling from the connection. “Tell me who it was.”

He rolls his eyes, dropping his hand away from me. “Oh my god, you’re impossible. Let it go, B.”

I drop my hand, too. “No. You asked the question, and now you’re too embarrassed to tell the truth. Tell me who it was. I know her, don’t I?”

He scrapes a hand through his hair. “I was making conversation. I didn’t ask for you to go into detail. You chose to do that. It was a yes-or-no question, and I answered that. Just drop it, okay?”

I sigh, tossing my head back. I can’t believe I let myself get so carried away. What I was feeling for Cole was not desire, it was the simmering disgust that has always been there. “Now I see why Vera left us the house. Clearly, she was hoping one of us would kill the other.”

He grabs my hips without warning, pulling me flush against him. “To be clear…”

My body combusts, flames ripping through me, and I swear I have a headache from the whiplash going through my emotions right now. How is he doing this? He squeezes my hip, the other hand sliding across my collarbone, thumb against my neck. When his gaze falls to my lips, I give in to my desire. This is it. He’s going to kiss me, and I’m going to let him.

He opens his mouth, and I feel his warm breath on my lips. I part them slowly, silently begging him to do it.

“I wouldn’t kill you. Just seriously maim.”

The words wash over me like a cool breeze, and he drops his hands away from me, stepping back like I’m a flame that has just burned him.

“Phew,” I mutter, my voice barely a whisper. “Good to know.”

His eyes flash back to my lips again and then he’s gone without another word. My heart beats so loudly in my ears I can’t hear anything else.

When I make my way back down the stairs a few minutes later, the front door is standing open, and Cole is on the porch, another letter in hand. This envelope is marked with a number two, letting me know we’re getting closer and closer to discovering the full truth.

“You found another one?” Any heat I felt moments ago is washed away in an instant.

“It was on the mat,” he says, his eyes finding me with a strange bitterness. “I stepped out to get some…fresh air.”

“We’re going to have to install a camera,” I tell him, the thought just now occurring to me. “And figure out how to change the gate code.”

He nods, holding out the letter to me. “I’m assuming you want to be the first to read it.”

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