Page 21 of Bryce

“Oh, you know what it means.” He waved both hands my way in a dismissive gesture that boiled my blood. “You know because you’re a dragon. You know how it is. They see things in black and white. If I didn’t fall at your feet and wrap my arms about your legs and beg you to stay, it means there was never anything real between us.”

My palm tingled with the memory of slapping him and the desire to do it again. Harder this time. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“No, that is precisely what you wanted me to do. To beg you to stay.”

“No! I wanted to be treated decently. As if I mattered. As if I warranted a goodbye. Why is that so difficult for you to understand? Are you that cruel?” My voice cracked again, like it had before, and I pressed my lips together as tight as I could. As if that would keep emotion from leaking out and giving me away.

His forehead creased. “For the life of me, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Didn’t you—”

“What’s taking you two so long?” Leslie. I didn’t know whether I was glad to see her or wished she’d waited another thirty seconds before coming to look for us.

I turned to face her as she approached, the slap of her boots against wet leaves and needles louder now that the rain had eased. “We were talking. Catching up.”

Her brows lifted. “It sounded like a great deal more than that from where I was waiting. As if you were arguing, in fact.”

For once, hold your tongue. Just hold your tongue. I managed to smile. “It’s over now. It’s all over.”

“When the rain slowed, and you still hadn’t returned—”

“I said it’s over. I want to go back to the tent now. My socks are soaked.” I didn’t look at either of them before stalking away, straight to the tent and inside without saying a word to Gate or Logan.

I trembled hard enough to make my teeth chatter, not from the rain, not from the cold. At least he knew now. He knew that he’d hurt me. I’d had my say.

Just not as much of a say as I would’ve liked. Drat that Leslie.

“What was that all about?” She’d followed me, naturally, and zipped the tent flap shut behind her. “You can’t fool me, no matter how you try. You’ve been sniping at him all day. What happened between you?”

“Nothing.” I plopped down on my sleeping bag and unlaced one boot, then the other.

“What is it? Why are you behaving this way?” She sat across from me, leaving little room between us. “This isn’t like you.”

“I’m not feeling quite myself.”

“Obviously.” When I neglected to look up from my feet, she nudged me. “Enough with the boots for now. Stop avoiding me.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“You could start with the truth. I happen to love you. You know it. And whatever is happening can’t possibly be more important than the years we’ve been together. Our entire lives.”

I knew what she meant, though it certainly felt important to me. A bruised heart and broken dreams certainly felt important.

But that did not mean she deserved my bitterness. “Forgive me. I’m all out of sorts.”

“I know that. I want to know why.”

“Because…” I had to look away. It pained me too much to look her in the eye.

“Because the two of you were together on the island and it didn’t end well. Is that it?”

A bomb could’ve gone off, and it would not have shocked me more.

My head turned slowly, my eyes bulging. “How…?”

She tilted her head to the side, her expression softening until I thought she might cry. “Did you truly think you had me fooled? Do you believe yourself a master of deception? You aren’t.” A laugh bubbled up in her throat. “I hope you weren’t considering a new career as a spy.”

“Not recently.”

She reached out, her fingertips brushing my knee. “Why did you want to keep it from me? What were you so afraid of?”

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