Page 56 of Crossover

“You have to.” I couldn’t take seeing him on a daily basis.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ivy,” he said with finality, as if he didn’t care about the turmoil he put my heart through.

I wanted to scream, pound my fists on the dashboard, surrender to my anger. But I took a calming breath, tapping into a different tactic.

“Please,” I whispered, screwing my eyes shut. “I cannot endure being near you.”

It’s too confusing.

When I opened my eyes, I found Grayson’s face hardened, like my words landed a punch.

“If I could turn back the clock, I would,” he said. “But right now, you need to push your feelings for me aside and focus on protecting yourself and your mom. Like it or not, you can’t do this alone. We need to work together to bring Daniel down. As much as I wish I could, I can’t give you back your dad, Ivy, but I can give you this.”

That was the problem—Grayson, the protector, willing to sacrifice his life for my mother and me, working to take down theman who’d caused it all. It tempted me to see him differently, but I couldn’t let those dangerous feelings take root. They were weeds that could strangle the revulsion I needed to hold on to.

Anything other than pure loathing for Grayson betrayed my father. His death was a web of lies and secrets, but it didn’t change the fact that he was gone, and Grayson stopped his heart. I could never let my feelings for my father’s killer be anything other than anger and hate.

“Once that’s done,” Grayson continued, “you can go back to hating me, and I promise, I’ll disappear from your life for good; I will no longer be the reminder of all you’ve lost.”

But even as he said those words, I couldn’t ignore the way my heart clenched at the thought of never seeing him again. It was a dangerous feeling, one I couldn’t afford to entertain. Not now, not ever.

I tore my gaze away from him, focusing on the road ahead.

Damn him for making me feel this way. And damn me for letting him.

“Until then,” Grayson said, “we can’t have any more complications that jeopardize our location.”

I swear the universe laughed and said,Challenge accepted.

30

IVY

The car slowed, the turn signal clicking rhythmically as Grayson veered off the road.

“Why are we stopping?” I asked.

“You said you had to use the restroom,” Grayson replied flatly.

“Andyousaid I should’ve thought of that before I called Detective Mitchell.”

When he smirked, I had to admit it; I didn’t entirely mind the sarcastic banter we’d eventually settled into, as it made the time more bearable.

“Well, lucky for you”—Grayson looked at me pointedly—“now, we need gas.”

He navigated the car into the creepiest gas station I had ever seen. The pumps looked like they’d been installed a thousand years ago, the casings beat to hell so badly, I wondered how this place could pass any kind of safety inspection. And then there was the “roof” overhead that looked like a decaying piece of Swiss cheese, stained with mold.

“Can’t we go to a Shell or a BP?”You know, a gas station that doesn’t look like it’s run by serial killers.

“It’s called staying off the beaten path, Kitten.”

I glared at him for using that pet name.

“Let’s see if you can make it five minutes without causing another problem, shall we?” Grayson challenged, his tone dripping with condescension.

I shoved my car door open, stepped into the bitter air, and scanned the building.

Great. By the looks of it, their bathrooms would come with a side dish of a bladder infection, but seeing as how I couldn’t hold it for even a second longer, I’d have to put my mad hovering skills to the ultimate test.

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