Page 138 of Roaring Flames

I laugh out loud. “You make it sound as if I used to be a monk.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway…” She focuses on the plate in her hands before lowering her gaze to her feet. “Would it be horribly nosey for me to ask you what happened?”

“There’s not much to tell. I started dating her my freshman year of high school. When I discovered I was a lone wolf, I broke things off.”

Izzy frowns and finally meets my eyes. “Did you love her?”

I gauge her expression carefully, searching for any signs of jealousy or discomfort, but all I find staring back at me is genuine curiosity.

“I did,” I confess, unwilling to lie to her again. “But I was a different personback then. Would we have stayed together if things had been different? I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Yes,I think I loved her, but in the way a young boy loves his first girlfriend. We weren’t perfect. We argued a lot and had different dreams for the future.”

I used to think about this often.

Would I have stayed with Lacey if we had lived different lives?

I would like to say yes, but…

I’m honestly not sure.

A part of me believes we would’ve grown apart over time, when we no longer had school connecting us. But what do I know? Maybe we would’ve been married by now with a white picket fence and two point five children.

“And now?” Izzy takes a step closer until the tips of her shoes touch mine.

“Now”—I place my lips by her ear—“I realize I prefer blondes.”

She snorts-laughs, and my heart lifts at the sound.

I lower my gaze to her pink lips. Attempting to rein in any laughter, I use my thumb to wipe away some sauce sticking to the bottom one.

Izzy’s eyes widen. “Are you telling me I had barbecue sauce on my face this entire time?”

“It was cute,” I insist, smirking. Then my smile fades, and I lean toward her. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

She pushes up on her tiptoes until our lips are only an inch apart. The world goes still, suspended in a superficial tranquility. All of the voices fade until they’re nothing but a distant murmur.

And I realize that I lied to Izzy before. Not intentionally, of course. I told Izzy I wasn’t sure if Lacey and I would have remained together ifthings had been different, but now I know without a shadow of a doubt we wouldn’t have. Lacey nevermade me feel like this—like I would go out of my mind if I didn’t get to kiss her, touch her, caress her soft skin.

Even if I were a human, I would still choose Izzy. It isn’t even a contest.

Just before our lips can touch, Izzy’s gaze flicks towards something—or someone—over my shoulder. Darkness descends over her expression like bloated thunderclouds.

“Motherfucker,” she hisses, taking a single step back.

I follow the direction of her gaze and scowl.

Ethan, Emery, Ashton, and Reid have finally arrived. I’m honestly surprised to see the latter. I can’t remember the last time he attended one of these parties, but maybe he wanted to come and pay his respects to Minnie, his co-worker and friend.

And to seeAshtonout and about? I wonder what my father threatened him with.

However, the appearance of the four douchebags isn’t what causes anger to burn low in my chest.

It’s the sight of Desiree standing between all of them, like a pampered princess being protected by her adoring knights.

Izzy’s expression falls as if she’s been punched in the stomach. “Are you kidding me?”

A myriad of emotions flicks across her face, all of them appearing and disappearing too quickly for me to catch. She settles on anger as she grabs my arm and tugs me towards the group.

“Izzy, what are you doing?” I whisper.

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