Page 131 of Dark and Dangerous

“Yeah, me too,” he says, his gaze dropping. “Anyway. Connie—I guess she must’ve noticed some signs since she’s around me more, and the other day, she pulled me aside and asked if I’d ever been tested.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “For, like, an STI?”

He lifts his gaze, shaking his head. “For autism, I guess.”

“Oh.”Oh, God.It makessomuch sense, and I don’t know why I didn’t pick up on it earlier. All his idiosyncrasies… all these little nuances that make him who he is… the parts of him I had to learn to accept, then later embraced with every part of me.

“So, I researched it… and it kind of explains some things, like…” he trails off.

“Like?”

“Like how I didn’t quite understand why giving you that money was wrong. I guess I owe you an apology.”

“Jace…” I tilt my head back as I watch him get to his feet.

“Anyway, I should go,” he says, and I ignore the immediate pain in my chest. “I told my grandpa I’d visit him today. He probably doesn’t remember, but still…” He makes his way to his van, saying over his shoulder, “He’s teaching me to play chess.”

My eyes narrow. “You know how to play chess.”

He turns, starts walking backward. “Yeah, but he doesn’t know that.” And then he smiles, so childlike and free of the pain he’s suffered.

I smile back… and replace my heartbreak with his happiness.

82

Jace

Harlow’s out in her yard, lying on her stomach, talking to the grass…

And people thinkI’mweird.

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, coming up behind her.

She turns to me, startled at first, and then she smiles, one eye squinted to block the sun behind me. “Come look,” she says, waving me over.

I stop beside her, look down at the grass. There’s a little baby turtle.

Sitting up, she carries it in her palm and holds it out between us. I rear back, and whatever look takes over my face has her giggling. “It’s a graduation present from my dad.”

“A turtle?” I deadpan, squatting down beside her.

“I wanted a pet to keep me company while he was gone. Dogs are too active, and I’m not really a cat person, so… I wanted something more my pace.”

“So you went for one of the slowest animals in the world?”

“Have you ever seen me run?” she asks, then offers the turtle to me.

I shake my head, pull back farther. “Absolutely not.”

Harlow laughs, touching her fingertip to the turtle’s nose orwhatever. She’s in another dress today, pale yellow with the sleeves down to her elbows. She’s worn dresses a lot lately, and it never fails to catch my eye for a little too long. She pouts now, putting on a voice when she says, “But Penelope’s adorable.”

“Penelope?” I inch closer. Then move back again. Yeah,no.

“What’s up?” she asks, and now she’s patting the turtle’s shell. “Stop glaring at her. You’re going to give her a complex.”

I sigh. “I was going to ask you a favor, but you seem busy.”

“I’m just out getting some sun. A trusted source once told me that sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D.”

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