Page 103 of Wish You Were Mine

“What is it?” he asked.

I scraped my teeth over my lower lip. I needed to make him aware of the consequences of his actions while not giving him a reason to wallow in self-blame.

“When you ran toward the burning house earlier, I was terrified. Please don’t do something so reckless again.”

He hesitated for a long moment, but then his jaw firmed. “I can’t make that promise. I’ll do my best to be sensible, but if someone I care about is in danger, I can’t just leave them there.”

48

ASHER

I pulled Summer into my arms before she could respond, unable to deal with her wide eyes or the fear etched in the lines of her face. I held her against me and breathed her in, but instead of her usual scent, I inhaled the sharp tang of smoke and sweat.

“I’m sorry,” I told Summer. “I should have believed you earlier. It just seemed so far-fetched that someone might be deliberately screwing with me.”

She glanced over at me. “Don’t worry about it. Now we know we need to be careful.”

Despite everything, I smiled. If we’d been in this situation a couple of months ago, she’d have given me an earful about not listening to her sooner. We were making progress.

I held her hand as we walked to the vehicle, and I was grateful as she took the lead and drove us to her parents’ place. I didn’t trust myself to concentrate on the road right now. She pulled into the drive and parked right outside the house, where someone had generously left an empty parking space.

As I got out of the car and waited for her to lock the doors, I buried my hands in my pockets and shrugged my collar further up my neck.

The snow had picked up, and an icy wind whipped at Summer’s hair as she turned toward me.

“I’m amazed the fire could start at all in this weather,” she called between chattering teeth.

“They probably used a shit load of accelerant,” I yelled back.

We huddled together and made our way to the doorstep. The door opened before we knocked, and Heather whisked us inside.

“You two must be freezing,” she said, fussing over us. “I’ve laid out a change of clothes for each of you in the bathroom. Have a shower and only come out once you've defrosted and are ready to face everyone. Okay?”

Summer’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Thanks, Mum.”

Perhaps she was as reluctant to face the inquisition as I was. No doubt our family would have even more questions for us than the police had.

Heather guided Summer and I to the bathroom door, then left as we closed it behind ourselves. I don’t know how she’d guessed we might want to shower together after the crapshoot we’d just been through, and nor did I want to think about it too much, but I was grateful to her.

Summer turned the shower on, and I stripped off. My jacket, sweater, T-shirt, and jeans hit the floor, and a puddle began to form around them. Summer undressed and put one of her hands beneath the water, which was already steaming.

“It’s fine for me, but you might want to check too,” she said.

I tested the temperature, wincing as the heat gave me pins and needles in my too-cold hand. I reduced the temperature slightly. It would hurt either way, but at least the contrast should be less now.

I stepped beneath the spray of water first, wanting to double check the temperature before Summer got in. I hissed as the blood rushed to the surface of my skin everywhere the water touched.

Summer’s mouth pinched. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I muttered. “Just stings a bit.”

She joined me, and I shielded her from the stream of water, holding her against my body until she warmed enough that the water might not be so painful. I moved aside, and she sighed with pleasure as it flowed down her arms and legs.

She ducked her head beneath the water and tilted her neck back as it soaked her hair. I gulped, mesmerized by the smooth, golden skin of her throat. She lathered shampoo in her hair, then turned to me.

“Did you burn yourself?” she asked, her teeth peeking out from between her lips. “I should have asked earlier.”

“I’m fine. The fire hadn’t reached the back of the house yet.”

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