Page 129 of Bad Blood

She rolls her eyes and throws her hands in the air. “Never mind. Be at Liam’s appointment tomorrow.”

“That was my intention.”

“Goodbye, again.” She steps into her foyer as I clear the distance between us. She goes to close the door, but I grab the handle and jam my foot inside.

My hand brushes against hers, and her eyes drop to the invisible current spreading from the point of contact that radiates outward.

But she doesn’t move it.

The hairs on my arm stand up, and my heart stutters over its next beat when we make eye contact, and I say, “Point.”

36

Wise Words

Brighton

Tuesday, June 6 th

12:13 a.m.

There’s a literal and figurative way to look at almost anything. And when it comes to Dax, I can never decipher what to do with him. He’s a hurricane of demands and expectations, sweeping aside all boundaries like a force of nature. He’s so damn pushy. And I literally can’t say I expect anything less.

He grins at me as I open the door, inviting him in.

“Don’t get any ideas. I want to go over something.”

His grin grows. “I’m up for anything.”

“Not that sort of something.”

He waggles his brow with a sly grin. “Like I said, up. For. Anything.”

I promised myself I wouldn’t let my frustration get the better of me when I saw him, and I’d stay in control of my emotions. I should have known better. Being around him makes me forget why I was mad in the first place. And I have every right to be angry.

A moment of panic sets in. Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Did I take things too far?

I sneak a peek at him. His returned gaze says the complete opposite. He seems a little smitten with the situation he’s found himself in. He glances around the foyer and past me into the hall.

I snap my fingers, drawing his attention back to me as I grab my bag and pull out my laptop, trying to fend off his presumptuous attitude. “If you had the chance to understand what Liam’s going through, would you take it? Or do you prefer to settle for sidekick?”

A frown creases his lips, and a deep V settles between his brows. “I’m not the sidekick.”

“You’re going to have to prove it.” I offer him my laptop, and he hesitates to take it. I can’t say I blame him. I’ll have to explain a lot, but this may open his eyes. And I need him to get this. I didn’t get this opportunity with Grady, and I don’t want to leave Dax with any chance of regret.

His eyes bounce from one side of the screen to the other and back again. He traces a line with his finger and scrolls up on the page. I give him a couple of minutes to process what he’s reading. I’m going to have to fill in a lot of blanks.

All the color from his face vanishes as his eyes leave the screen and meet mine.

“Do you know what this means?” I ask.

He shakes his head, swallows, and pinches his brow. He glances over at me. “Is this bad?”

“It could be worse.”

The white tone of his face changes to an ashen color, and his eyes gloss over. I take the laptop from him and slide it back into the bag next to me on the stairs, grabbing his arm and leading him into the front room on our right.

“I had a feeling he wasn’t being completely honest with you.”

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