Page 41 of Burn for You

“I’m sorry.”

I rear back like he’s hit me. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. You can do whatever you want with whoever you want. It’s just, god why do you do that?” His voice raises with that last sentence.

I roll my eyes. Here we go. I turn back around. I’ll grieve for my clothes later.

“Why do you let any man touch you as if you’re just anyone?”

That stops me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He runs a frustrated hand through his wet hair. “You’re worth more than an endless string of one-night stands, May!” I frown harder than I think I ever have before. “Will you just get in the truck?”

“No way. It was a nice attempt at an apology, but I still don’t want to live with you. I might get that hotel that you mentioned.” I go to turn away, but he takes a hold of my arm again.

“Marina will kill me if she knows I let you go like this.”

“You say that as if that’s not in my best interests.” Right now I’d dig the grave myself if it meant never seeing this prick again.

Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes before they meet mine. I could almost trick myself into thinking I see sincerity shining in them through the rain when he says, “Please?”

He holds out his hand for my remaining bag, and I hesitate. I don’t want him to get what he wants, but I’m so exhausted. So tired of fighting, and I really, truly have no idea where I’m going, so ignoring my better judgment, I hand it over to him.

He picks up the bag he dropped in a puddle and throws them into the truck bed before opening the door for me.

I slide into the passenger seat, and it is so uncomfortable. Rafael silently jumps in his side and turns on the ignition.

“Are you cold?” He asks.

I nod, and he turns on the heaters. The sound of the warm airblowing from the vents is the only sound apart from the squeak of the windshield wipers sliding back and forth the entire ride home.

I can feel Rafael looking at me, but I keep my eyes locked straight ahead for the hostile drive back to his house. I don’t have anything else to say. Not tonight, anyway.

chapter sixteen

RAFAEL

Bright flames arethe only thing I can see.

Wood crackles from in front of me and I have to remind myself of the fact that I’m in my living room, lighting the fireplace to warm us up, not in Rosemary Cottage.

I look back to where May is seated on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like it’s her life raft. After getting home, she changed into a matching oversized sweat set, but she couldn’t get warm enough after being out in the rain. Her eyes are glazed over as she looks into the flames in front of me.

“Sorry,” I say, recognizing the way they flicker every time the flames spark.

“I haven’t been around any fire since that night,” she laughs, but it’s humorless. “I haven’t even put the kettle on.”

“Is that how it happened?” I never knew. No one filled me in on the cause of the fire. Not that I was around the days after. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about that night, so I just avoided everyone.

She nods, not meeting my gaze. “I was so stupid.” She shakes her head.

“It was an accident. You were sick.”

“That’s not an excuse for lighting the whole place up.” I go tospeak, but she interrupts me with her hand out. “Sorry, can we not talk about it?”

“Okay,” I nod before looking back to the fire. I don’t really know what I was going to say, anyway. I never do. I don’t know how to talk to May unless we’re bickering.

I guess that’s because I don’t actually know anything about her. All I know is that her favorite hobby is a tie between pissing me off and sex.

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