Page 13 of InfraRed

I place my hands on either side of her, resting them against the bar, and enjoy the flush of her sweet face. Watch as perspiration dots across her freckled nose. Count the beats of her pulse fluttering in her neck. Appreciate how her chest rises rapidly with stilted breaths. “Now,” I breathe in her ear, “that should be enough to get that mouth of yours to work.”

“Wh-what?”

I grin. She caught the double entendre quickly.

“Words, Sunflower. Use them. What do you need from my dad?” God, why does it bother me so much that she would go to him? I’m the one who made her feel like she couldn’t come to me. It was my idea for Dad to pretend to fund her life. Which is why I know this is about money. Though she cares for Dad, I know if this is regarding anything other than that, she would go to Liam.

“Graham, really, it’s nothing you can help with.”

“Then I can relay the message.”

“No. Th-that doesn’t feel right. I…” Her lips pull to the side, and I can almost see the guilt building. What in the world does shewant that makes her feel guilty? “I need to be the one to speak with him.” Her eyes dip to the floor.

Time to try a new angle. I dip my head to meet her eyes. My smile softens along with my voice. “Try it out on me.” I slip my hand behind her, gently cupping her neck. “Like you used to when you wanted to ask for something.”

She bites her lip, fighting a grin, then rolls her eyes with a huff. “Fine.” I lean back when she relents before she becomes acutely aware of how she affects me. “I wanted to let Maxwell know he doesn’t need to renew my lease.”

My chest rumbles. It is a good thing she doesn’t seem to notice it or how my muscles tighten. Sometimes, her oblivious innocence is a blessing. “Why not?” I ask, trying to hide my irritation. “Is something wrong with it?” If something is wrong, and no one told me, someone will pay.

“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just as beautiful as ever. I love it. I even love having all that space to myself now, but with Lily living with Dad, her dad won’t be splitting the lease any longer. Not that she needs him to now. But that would put the entire amount on Dad and Maxwell, and I don’t want that.”

“Is that all?” I grab my neck, rubbing the knot that was already forming, and breathe a little easier. “Casey, it’s fine. I promise.” It is fine because my dad doesn’t pay for her apartment at all.

But the moment of relief passes when I notice her expression doesn’t change. She looks as determined as she did when she said it. Her chin tilts up a bit, and her shoulders straighten. “No.” She shakes her head, her hoodie-covered arms cross her chest, and I notice, for the first time, the hoodie looks like… It’s mine from when I went to Princeton. I’ve been so transfixed by her beautiful face that I didn’t even register the hoodie beyond it being black. I always wondered where it vanished to.

Minutes ago, I was jealous about who it belonged to. Now…

Fuck it all. My dick pulses behind my zipper. The moment I notice her wearing my clothes, it becomes so hard it could punch through steel. If she looks down, the secret won’t be so secret anymore.

“No?” I challenge.

“I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but I told Maxwell after Mom… Well, I don’t want to take more from him. It doesn’t feel right, and I don’t like the idea that it hurts my dad. I asked him to stop paying my tuition already, but he assured me it was the money Dad gave Mom all those years. He said she never knew he set it aside. I stayed in the apartment because of the lease, but it’s up in a few months.”

At least Dad sold the story about the child support. It’s not true, of course, but when he called me last year to tell me she wanted him to stop paying, it was all I could think of to make sure she kept taking the money. Casey would finish school if I had to hand the money to the school itself, then drag her there and tie her to the seat. The same goes for all her extra dance classes.

I should have seen this coming, but for some reason I didn’t. “So, what are you thinking? A smaller apartment in the building?”

“No.”Fuck my life, of course, she says no.“I’m not sure what my plan is, but that building will be way over my budget.”

Her budget?She teaches four-year-old dance classes three times a week. Her budget won’t afford a shoebox, much less an apartment.Jesus, Sunflower, what are you thinking?

She is going to make me confess to everything. I can tell. Then, she will raise hell when she learns the truth. Liam will, too, but I have a feeling he will be on my side. Except for the part where I lock her in the apartment because Casey is not living in some run-down shit hole with people she doesn’t know because of hersense of guilt or pride or whatever the hell is motivating her. And she is not moving to Jersey. Not that she could afford a shoebox there either.

“Casey, you can stay where you are.”

She shakes her head as she pulls her buzzing phone from her—my—hoodie pocket. “No. I’m not taking anything else from Maxwell. Or Dad.” She glances at her phone, and her brows pinch as she silently curses under her breath. “I’m late.”

“A date?”

She nods, and I can feel the vein between my eyes pulse as my jaw clamps down. I catch her by the elbow as she walks past me, inhaling deeply, so I don’t throw her over my shoulder because I don’t want her going on a damn date. Not that it matters. It won’t go beyond that. “Have dinner with me tomorrow. We’ll discuss it more.”

“I already told you we shouldn’t. Besides, there’s nothing to discuss. But if you don’t mind, can you let me tell Maxwell?”

I nod but don’t let go. The urge to throw her over my shoulder grows. It takes genuine effort to force my fingers to unwind from her arm.

I watch, fuming in silence, as she walks to the door. She pauses, looking over her shoulder, and in typical Casey fashion, says, “Thanks for listening, Graham.”

“Anytime, Sunflower.” Her eyes tell me she doesn’t believe I mean it.

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