I open my mouth. Close it. She sees the crack in my armor and barrels through it.
“Just think about it,” she says, shrugging one shoulder. “There are places around here that would be perfect for a little bookstore. You could make it cozy. Add a corner for tea and muffins.”
“This town is small,” I say, but my voice lacks conviction. “Who would buy books here?”
She scoffs. “This town? Maybe not many. But the one next to it? And the one after that? They’re big enough. The onlybookstore around is two towns over and it looks like a sad garage sale threw up inside it. If people had the option, they’d buy. What else are they going to do around here in the winter? Besides drink, read, and fuck?”
She says it so matter-of-factly I almost choke on a laugh.
“I’ll think about it,” I say, trying to keep the heat from rising in my cheeks. “But I like the idea.”
Her hands clap together once as she bounces in place, all giddy. “That’s the spirit! Risk is where all the good stuff lives.”
I shake my head, grinning despite myself.
I’ve been telling myself it might be smarter to take Ghost’s money and disappear. Start over somewhere far away, with a clean slate and no shadows. But then there’s Ria.
She’s got a heart made of fire and glitter, and somehow she’s become the first real friend I’ve ever had. And not just any friend. The kind who would march into battle for me. The kind who doesn’t waver when I fall apart, but helps me piece the wreckage into something that looks like a possible future.
I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to run away from Ghost if it means running away from her too.
Maybe it’s pathetic, how quickly I latched on. Maybe I am starved for affection, like Ghost said, and Ria just happened to show up with open arms and muffins. But I don’t care.
I want to be her friend and I want her to keep being mine.
Ghost
Ria’s not with her this time. My eyes widen. The guard dog is gone, this is my chance to finally break that wall of indifference.
I push off the lamppost I’ve been leaning against and start moving, slow enough that she can see me coming. Startling her right now would be a very bad idea.
“Adora—”
It’s the only thing I get to say before she stops and swiftly turns around, marching straight back inside the building she just came out of.
Shit!
Raking both hands through my hair, I start pacing.
I’m slowly going insane.
Kidnapping her a second time wouldn’t be good, right? Right?! Ria would definitely involve the cops. She’d kick up a stink so big it would smother the entire club. Then I’d be back in prison, and still nowhere near Adora.
“Fuuuuck,” I groan, throwing my head back, eyes squeezed shut.
I’m running through my shrinking list of possibilities when the front door opens again. My head snaps toward it.
She’s back.
Adora stops a few feet away and, for a split second, I think she might actually look at me.
But I’m wrong. So fucking wrong.
She lifts her arm slowly, gaze fixed ahead, not even sparing me a twitch of her brow.
There’s ataserin her hand.
She gives it two sharp shakes, like my stupid eyes need to memorize the weapon and feel the sting without her even pressing the trigger.
