Page 25 of The Sleight Before Christmas

“I’m not scared of your parents, Serena, but they’ve been good to me, and I don’t want to shit on that.”

“Shit on it how?”

“You know good and fucking well how. Don’t play ignorant.”

“I really don’t,” she taunts innocently. In a flash, I grip the wrist holding the joint and press it against the wall behind her. Her eyes spark and ignite, spurring me on as a smirk upturns her perfect lips.

“Yes, you fucking do.”

“Tell me anyway, Handy Man.”

“You like playing with fire, but there’s all different kinds of fires. You strike me as a girl who’s too fucking smart not to figure out what kind of flame she’s messing with, and we both know I shouldn’t be here.” I state, ill at ease at the idea I won’t get invited back.

While I’m a few hundred short of finally getting the fuck out of Nashville, the Collins’ house is truly my only refuge. Though, my future consists of leaving everything and everyone here in the rearview. Only giving the people in my future a one-sentence summation of where I came from before burying my past six feet—the subject never to be broached again. All my memories and the city tainted by the people I share a name with.

“Did you go to school here?” She asks.

“For a while, yeah.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” I deny the joint again when prompted. “That at one time, I attended school here and then stopped.”

“Jesus, you’re a hard shell to crack.”

“Not really. I’m just not a fan of your line of questioning.”

In an instant she’s practically pressed against me. “Well then, let’s just be quiet.”

“Whoa,” I whisper, getting lost a little by the glazed look in her eyes. “You’re beautiful, truly, but this isn’t right.”

“And it isn’t that serious, Thatch. We’re just having fun.”

“Fun,” I press my lips together as I crowd her a little more. “What do you take seriously?”

Her chest heaves as she stares up at me. “I don’t know. School. My health, and anyone who fucks with my family.”

“Finally, some conversation with substance,” I say, snatching the joint from her fingers and stomping it out with my boot while keeping the space between us scarce. The feel ofher inches away alone enough to catch some of the static. “Now you sound like Ruby and Allen’s kid. That I’ll stay for.”

“What is your fascination with my parents?”

“You don’t have any idea how good you have it, Serena.”

“How good do I have it?”

“You’re beautiful and intelligent, have the world at your fingertips, and an incredible family. As far as I can tell, you’ve got everything you need.”

She frowns. “And you don’t?”

“I have this thing I’m starting to love,” I tell her honestly. “And this guy who’s teaching me a lot about it.”

“My dad,” she concludes.

“Is it so hard to understand that I don’t want to fuck that up? Because the truth is, there’s not a lot of people around here that will take the time to teach me.”

I dip lower, and in response, her eyes start lighting a path straight into me. Every cell in my body ignites for a second, third, hell fucking fourth time tonight as my brain continually wills me to walk away. I’m so fucking close to my exit. A matter of weeks. She’d be a complication, or maybe she’s just the distraction I need to make it through.

No, fuck that. Allen deserves better, and so does she. I won’t be that guy.

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