Page 67 of Burn for You

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk about last night?”

Fuck, here we go. “What do you want to talk about, March?”

She frowns over at me at the nickname that she hates. “That can’t happen again.”

“Am I that out of touch that I misread the signals last night? I was under the impression that you were thoroughly enjoying yourself.” She scoffs. “Am I wrong?”

She rolls her eyes bigger than I’ve ever seen. “The question isn’t if I enjoyed it or not?—”

“So that’s a yes.”

She cuts me a glare. “It can’t happen again,” she repeats.

“Yeah, you said that. What I can’t figure out is why.” I should have known this was coming. I shouldn't have even let myself so much as touch her last night, let alone let her soft lips fall in between mine.

“I don’t do repeats.”

I scoff. “Repeats?” She nods. “So, you just hit it and quit it, then?”

“I wouldn’t quite put it like that, but if that’s the way you want to word it, then yeah, I guess.”

I run a hand through my hair. I don’t know why I expected anything different. I’ve seen what she’s like with other guys. I should never have opened up to her yesterday. Here I was thinking that we were breaking down some barriers.

“So you’re just gonna go back to your cottage, go back to Ruby Cove and pretend like this never happened?”

She just looks away, telling me everything I need to know.

“Okay,” I say. “I’m gonna go load up the truck.” She doesn’t say a word as I stand and fold my chair up, taking it with me.

I trudge back to the cabin, feeling more affected than I shouldbe. I’ve never cared when any other woman has blown me off. Usually it’s me calling it quits, so why am I letting this affect me?

I shake my head as I shut the cabin door behind me, trying to shake off the feeling. She’s young, she was just looking for some fun, nothing more. I’m stupid for even imagining this would play out in any other way.

I pack up both mine and May’s stuff into the bags, not worrying about handling her delicates considering last night's events.

The door opens behind me after ten minutes. “What are you doing?”

“Packed for you.” I shove her bag into her arms.

“Oh, thanks.”

I just raise my eyebrows in response, grabbing my own bag and opening the door behind her. “You ready?”

“Uh, yeah I guess.” I don’t know why she’s acting weird now. This is her arrangement, her rules. I’m just following them.

“Let’s go then.”

I thoughtthat the car ride here was awkward. I apparently didn’t know the true meaning of that word until now. May hasn’t said a single word since we left the cabin. There’s just silence, except for some girl singing through the radio. It sounds like something May would listen to, but she’s not giving an inkling that she can even hear it. No foot tapping, no head bobbing, she’s just sitting there stiff in the passenger seat, with her gaze locked out the window.

I want to know what she’s thinking, want to pry her mind open with a crowbar and watch her brain turn over the last twenty-four hours.

She agreed to helping me with Olive&Vine, but I don’t know ifthat offer still stands. I don’t know if I want it to, considering the tension in this car right now.

The sound of her window rolling down breaks me out of my mind. She sighs as she leans her head out the window, resting it in the crook of her elbow. She seems like her mind is somewhere else. I just want to know where, and if I can follow.

chapter twenty-five

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