Page 60 of Burn With Me

“Yeah, I don’t want to suffocate her, but I don’t want her to be alone either,” I say honestly.

“I’ve been telling her for years that she needs to get an alarm system for the farm and her home, but she always told me I was being dramatic. Telling me that it’s a small town and that it’s safe.” He pauses and takes a deep breath.

Sam is the happy-go-lucky friend, and very rarely does he get upset. It’s plain to see how much he loves Amelia.

“I told her we were going to look at alarm systems tomorrow. I’ll convince her to get one for the farm and her house if it’s the last thing I do,” I say.

He cocks his head to the side as he watches me finish packing. “I know I give you shit, but you’re serious about her, aren’t you?”

Turning to face him, I sit on my bed and run my fingers through my hair. “Yeah, man, I am.” I pause, thinking about how great our day was going until she realized something was wrong with one of the tanks. “She told me everything about her ex today. I don’t think I’ve ever connected with another person like I’ve connected with her in such a short amount of time.”

“On a good day, she’d be a tough sell on a full-blown relationship, and she’ll push you away if you start to smother her. But after today.” He shakes his head. “You’re going to have to put the work in.”

“Fuck, I know. I felt it in the car on the way back here. It’s part of why I want to stay with her for a couple of days, to show her that I just want to stand by her and not hold her back. I feel if I give her too much space, she’ll use that as an excuse to push me away,” I say.

He looks at me for a solid minute without saying anything before his jaw drops. “Holy shit, you love her.”

I rub my chest and shake my head. “I don’t know. It seems too fast for that, but I do care about her. Enough to help her figure out what’s best for her and her business and prove to her that we make a great team.”

“Well, thankfully, she makes her own schedule, and between all of us, we can make sure she’s never really alone. She needs to see that we stand by her and that we care because she’ll start to push us away. Well, not Pam and me, because we won’t let her. It’s everyone else she’s befriended that will have to pass the trust test, but I have a good feeling about her new friends. Her friends in DC were fake as fuck,” he says.

“Speaking of friends, you weren’t here this morning when I came to change. Did you happen to stay at a pretty waitress’s place?” I say with a smirk as I stand and double-check that I have everything I need.

“I had no way home, and I wasn’t going to make her drop me off and drive home or stay here. So I slept on her couch,” he says without making eye contact with me.

“Mm-hmm. Even I felt the tension there last night. What did you do to piss her off?” I ask.

“Nothing, man, I have no idea why she hates me. I’m a nice fucking guy,” he says, trying to defend himself.

“Whatever you say. I overheard Pam and Amelia talking, and they threatened laxative-spiked treats if you do anything to Abby.” I laugh when his face pales. “Well, by that look, I’m guessing that’s happened before.”

“God, back in high school. I fucked one of their friends, and she stopped talking to them when she realized I wouldn’t date her. Am makes the best cookies, and I didn’t think anything about it until I almost shit myself during gym class,” he says, laughing. “I don’t think I ate anything either of them made for months after that.”

“Well, I heard them talking about it, so watch yourself,” I say and pat his shoulder as I walk by.

A weird look crosses his face as he says, “She hates me, man, so no one needs to worry.”

He actually looks sad that she doesn’t like him, but before I can think too much about it, he shakes his head and turns to follow me to the living room. That’s something to look into once I figure out my own love life.

“Okay, I’m going to stay with Am for a couple of days, but I’ll be at work, so I’ll see you tomorrow, dude,” I say, grabbing the keys to my truck off the counter.

“Keep me posted if she needs anything, and make sure she calls the girls. They were all really worried that she kind of just left like a zombie.”

“I will. I’ll keep you posted,” I say and close the door and lock it.

Once I get into the truck, I shoot Am a text that I’m on my way and will text her when I’m at the door. She lets me know that the cops are still there, going over everything, and I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding knowing that she isn’t home alone. I back out and head toward my girl’s house, thinking about the conversation I just had with Sam.

Am I in love? I don’t know.

Other than my parents, I’ve never loved someone before, and what I feel for Am is very different from what I feel toward my parents.

By the time I pull into her driveway and text her I’m here, I’ve come to the conclusion that I might be in love. I can only hope she likes me enough to try and fall in love again. With a deep breath, I grab my bag and walk up to the front door.

Twenty-Five

Ameila

Noah met the on-duty deputies to look around my house, take my fingerprints, and ask me who else would have had access to touch the window. Once they left, I plopped down on the couch because I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else.

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