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I drop my voice to that demanding tone. If she really does want to submit to me, she'll listen to it. "No."
She presses her back against the car. It's as much space as she can take right now.
"Get in the car."
"I do like you, Mal. I want you to talk to me."
"And when I asked about your ex?"
Her lips press together. Her eyes turn down. "Okay. You admit one ugly thing, I admit one ugly thing."
Tension creeps into her shoulders and neck. She wants to tell me. She's terrified to tell me. Both things are in her eyes. In her posture.
I want to tell her.
Fuck, it's scary, the thought of her really knowing me.
But I don't run from scary.
I take a step backwards. "Get in the car and I'll tell you."
She does. She looks up at me as I close the door. The confidence falls from her expression.
She's nervous.
She's still ashamed.
Whatever it is, she'll feel better if she tells me. Shame and honesty are mortal enemies.
I slide into the car and pull the door closed. The air is cool, but it's still. It makes the tension heavier. More obvious.
Lacey plays with her seatbelt. "You go first."
"It's complicated."
"Mine too."
I stare back into her brown eyes. I don't know how to explain this. I'm not even sure what I think of it.
But I want to tell her.
I can't believe how much I want to tell her. "My parents bailed when I turned eighteen. Ethan was fifteen. Piper was twelve. I'm their dad as much as I'm their older brother. And now… Piper's engaged. She lives with Kit. She stays over during school some nights, but the house isn't her home anymore. She doesn't need me anymore. Ethan doesn't need me anymore. He didn't even need my advice with the proposal. I would have told him that Vi is reserved and she would hate a public thing. But I would have been wrong. She was happy." I swallow hard. "They're grown up. We'll never have the relationship we used to have."
"You miss them."
"Yes."
"That doesn't make you a bad person."
"I'm not happy about my brother's engagement."
"Still." She climbs out of her seat and shifts onto my lap. Her ass hits the steering wheel. Her chest presses against mine.
She's inches away. It should put me off, the champagne on her breath, but it doesn't.
Her fingers curl into my hair. She brings her lips to my ear. "What did I tell you about this car not being big enough?"
"I'm not going to fuck you."
