Page 72 of Entangled

There we go. Nice and neat, tied with a bow on top and everything.

And when exactly do you plan to stop lying to yourself, El?

Yeah, yeah.

I roll my eyes at my own internal commentary and turn to walk to the door, coming to a screeching halt when Jace rounds the corner and stops at the sight of me. He darts his eyes from side to side, the guilty look on his face making him look like he just got caught sticking his hand inside the cookie jar.

“Wha-You—” I sputter before putting two and two together. “Did you just pick my fucking lock?”

He tilts his head and squints his eyes at me like he’s trying to guess at the right answer to a math problem. “No?”

“Jace!” I march forward and smack his arm. “You can’t pick my lock if I won’t talk to you!”

“I’m sorry!” He holds up his hands to ward me off. “I’m sorry, okay?! I heard some kind of banging and might have gotten a little carried away.”

Oh. My hopping.

“Regardless!” I give his arm another smack for good measure before walking back to the counter and picking up my wine.

“I’m sorry, okay?” He sighs and drops his hands, eyes shining with concern. “I’m a little edgy right now and I was worried.”

I narrow my eyes and take a sip of my wine, letting him sweat it out for a minute and see the way his eyes drop to my bare legs. “Eyes up here, Dawson.” I snap my fingers by my head. “So since you’re here, are you going to explain?”

That hopeful expression fills his face again and he takes a step toward me before I narrow my eyes further in warning and tilt my head up, letting him know he’s not getting back into my good graces that easily.

Jace comes to a halt midstep and sighs again, bringing a hand to the back of his head and looking down to the floor. “I didn’t want you to ever be involved in this. My past.” He lifts his eyes back to mine, expression pained. “I thought it was done… that I had closed that chapter and left it behind me.”

I cock a brow at him. “I’m pretty sure the fact I’m standing here is proof that the past is never really gone for good.” Setting my wine down, I cross my arms. “Plus, I think it’s pretty clear from today that I’m already involved no matter whether you or I want me to be.”

“Yeah.” He nods and swallows visibly. “Yeah. I realize that now and I’m sorry for the way I acted today. That wasn’t fair to you, and I should have been more considerate of your feelings. I just… freaked out.”

I fight against the twitch of my lips and lean back against the counter. “How much of that did Andrea tell you to say?”

He cringes. “A good bit.”

“Listen,” I sigh, bracing my hands on the counter behind me. “If anyone understands what it means for the past to hold power over you. It’s me.”

“That’s not how I live though. Not what I believe.”

“That may be.” I give him a nod. “But it still shaped you into who you are today. Even if you don’t let it hold power over you because you’re some kind of zen master the rest of us can only aspire to be.” A small grin pulls at his face and I let my lips twitch up just a bit in return before continuing. “But you still have to be real with me. You can’t just shove it to the side. Especially when it’s coming full circle and now concerns me. I can’t…” I dart my eyes away, taking a deep breath to center myself. “I can’t trust you, can’t let you in without understanding all of your pieces. I need an explanation, Jace.”

“That’s fair.” He nods. “More than fair.” He pauses, eyeing me for a minute in consideration. “But does this explanation thing go both ways? Because I’m not the only one holding out here, Blondie.”

I look into his uncharacteristically serious eyes and know I’m going to have to give a little bit of my terrible tale. He’s right. It’s only fair since that’s what I’m asking for from him. But I’m still a little injured, a little broken where my story is concerned and I selfishly need to know his pain first, need to know it compares.

“Eventually.”

A small grin flashes across his face before he dips his head in acceptance. “Alright, Delacroix. We’ll play it your way.”

His words spark the memory of another time, another place, another man agreeing to play it my way and I shove the sense of déjà vu away. Reminding myself that this situation is entirely different. I’m entirely different this time.

He lifts his brows and nods toward the living room. “Want to sit for this?”

“Sure.” I grab my wineglass, taking one last sip before setting it down and walking to the living room to take a seat on the couch.

Jace sits down a little bit away from me as I bring my knees up, settling in and getting comfortable. He’s just far enough away that we’re not touching and as I see his eyes shoot nervously to the empty space I know the move is intentional. He’s respecting my boundaries and giving me the space to decide his fate once I hear his explanation.

“So,” he begins, reaching down to tug on the lip of his boot before leaning back into the couch and bringing his eyes to mine. “I told you I got mixed up with a bad crowd after my mom died, right?” He waits for me to nod in confirmation before continuing. “Well, Trey Morrison was one of the people in that crowd, along with his older twin brothers Kyle and Kurt Morrison. The Morrisons were always bad news, everyone in town knew it, but they quickly pulled me and my cousin in deep and in the end… we were the ones at the core of it.”

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