Page 37 of Linger

“I said we were done with that,” Dare cut in, but I continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“It makes life easier to deal with—especially this life. It also helps me focus when going into life-or-death situations because then I’m not stressed the fuck out. Because I might not be the planner, but I execute them. And when I’m having a good fucking time, I execute those plans flawlessly so people like you don’t die.”

“Diggs,” Maverick warned as I went on.

“And I won’t get into the fact that nearly everyone needs me in order to do their jobs—because that’d be fucking awkward to need the guy who doesn’t take life seriously—but a small part of my job is taking in our surroundings at all times. Every movement. Every smell. Every word. Which means I know Henley’s out of state promoting their upcoming album—which you should know too, considering that’s why Maxon left early last week.” I sat back and shrugged as I reached for the leftover silverware to play with. “But what do I know, Einstein? I don’t ever offer anything helpful.”

Her eyes rolled as she tapped on her tablet. “Are you done being an arrogant asshole, or do you want to show the size of your dick some more?”

“I always love showing—”

“Stop,” Maverick seethed. “Just stop.”

A heavy breath left Dare as he reached for his phone. “I’ll let Kieran know. We’ll move our stuff from one house to the other in shifts in case we’re being watched.”

“I’ll go last since I don’t have kids,” I offered.

Dare grunted and then nodded toward my brother. “Then the two of you go first. Einstein can pick the locks at Holloway and get her systems set up before the rest of us start bringing the kids over. Let me know when you’re settled.”

Maverick looked like he wanted to say something, to maybe apologize or reprimand me—could’ve gone either way with how he was watching me. But he just bit back a sigh and placed a hand on Einstein’s shoulder to lead her out of the booth, all while she stayed focused on her screen.

“She knows,” Dare said when I stood, preparing to climb over him to get out of the booth. When I hesitated and dropped back into the seat, he added, “Einstein knows what you do and what you’ve done for us.”

A condescending breath escaped me. “Yeah, really sounded like it.”

“She’s scared.” He dropped his phone to the table and twisted to focus on me. “You know how she gets when she’s scared—defensive and hurtful. This shouldn’t be new territory for us, but it is because we have kids to think about, and this is directed at all of us. So, on top of worrying about their daughter, you are scaring her, so she’s gonna take it out on you.”

“Me?” I asked, choking over the confirmation with a short laugh. “Why’s that?”

Dare studied me as if waiting for me to explain it, or maybe he was searching for something. I wasn’t sure.

Finally, he admitted, “Einstein said you’re distracted—that you’ve been distracted—and it’s going to get you or someone else hurt.”

The fuck.

“Maverick unwillingly confirmed it and told me what’s been going on with you.” Dare leaned close as his tone lowered. “Maverick shouldn’t be unwilling to tell me anything. None of you should be keeping anything from me. Especially a girl.”

“I didn’t—”

“I don’t give a shit if you were trying to deny your feelings or keep yourself from her,” he said, already knowing what I’d been about to say. “Your internal battle over this girl is the root of every problem here. Understood?”

I nodded.

“End it.”

“We never really began.”

“End your battle,” he said gravely.

I hesitated before eventually nodding. Just as he began standing, I asked, “When you first started seeing Lily, before you knew she was Holloway or part of our world, how did you handle knowing you were bringing her into our world after everything you’d seen?”

Dare rubbed at his jaw as he considered the question. “This girl a civilian?”

Civilian.

That word had held different meanings for me throughout my adult life.

For a little while, it’d been the people I’d sworn to protect in the military. For much longer, it’d encompassed the people so far removed from our world that their biggest problem was getting a wrong coffee order or finding out their date didn’t look anything like their picture. And yet, civilian fit Tree so perfectly.

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