Page 106 of Fire of the Fox

Italy.

Luca Romano.

My future.

Rune just made it all possible. He was giving me a choice and no longer holding his cards close to his chest. They were spread out before me, and it was my move.

I could take the money and wish him well on his trip without spending an entire week in a house full of Fox Fae, trying to figure out how to confess to him that I was Water Fae. I’d be safe here and able to spend every moment fantasizing about my study abroad adventure.

When I saw the emotion embedded in Rune’s gaze, I knew my mind was made up.

I squeezed the envelope to my chest. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. But I still want to go with you.”

His eyes brightened. “You do?”

“Italy means a lot to me. This trip to your hometown means a lot to you. I’m not backing out. I want to be there for you.”

Deal or no deal, going along with this wasn’t about the money anymore. It hadn’t been for some time now. Sure, it had started that way. But somewhere along the way, things had changed. We’d changed. There was more between us now than just a business deal. There were real feelings, and it was my love for him that now fueled my desire to go through with this, despite my newfound Water Fae situation.

“I’m glad you still want to go,” Rune said. “You’re a pretty great girlfriend.” He winked on the last word.

Laughing, I went back to painting, and he rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes. His words from the moment we’d sat down here played on repeat in my head. One message lingered now. If I wanted something, I couldn’t sit idly. I had to reach for it myself.

“Rune.”

“Hmm?” He opened an eye to look at me.

I swallowed hard. “I knew what I was saying.”

“What?” he asked, sitting up on his elbows and quirking a confused brow at me.

I set my painting aside and faced him. “That night when we … well, you know. You said I was saying things I didn’t mean. I did mean it. I do mean it.”

His chest stilled as he stopped breathing. His gaze held mine for many unbearable seconds. Finally, he sat up all the way, but instead of saying he felt the same, he hung his head. My heart sank with it.

“Bria,” he started. “I thought you understood this was all pretend.”

A sharp pain pierced my chest. “I know. I just thought that—” I took a deep breath. “I thought you were starting to like me, too.”

He closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. “How I feel doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean how you feel doesn’t matter? Of course it does!”

“No, it doesn’t, because I won’t act on it.”

Biting back my hurt, I leaned toward him. “Why? I know you have an anti-dating code, but is that really the only reason?”

He met my eyes, his face pinched. “I won’t let you in more than I already have. Saying it out loud, trying to make this into something more, would do just that.”

“Why are you so against letting yourself love somebody? Not just me, but people in general? The guys all see it, too. You try so hard not to let yourself feel anything about me, girls in the past, and anyone else who may care about you.”

“Loving people only sets you up to get hurt in the end.”

He looked up, and when his eyes found mine, it was like the months we’d spent together vanished. His walls were up again, stronger than ever. His eyes were devoid of anything.

“How can you think like that?”

“Letting yourself grow to care about someone, letting people take root in your heart. It leaves you aching and broken when those people leave. I’ve lost enough people to know firsthand what kind of scars that leaves behind. The kind of wound you get from lost love never heals, so I refuse to let myself get attached to anyone now. That means you, too.”

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