Michael looked away instantly.
Trigger muttered something under his breath and disappeared toward the kitchen.
Cowards.
Leaving me here alone with the emotional disaster I’d just created.
Hersh stared at me like I’d knocked the air out of him.
And maybe I had.
Because he swolled once before he finally spoke.
“Flick…”
Nobody called me that anymore.
Nobody except him.
The sound of it nearly shattered the last wall I had left.
I stood abruptly. “I need some air.”
Absolutely not.
I saw the refusal in Hersh’s face before he even moved.
“You’re not going outside alone.”
Frustration finally burst through my fear. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“I do when somebody might be hunting you.”
“You barely know what’s happening.”
“I know enough.”
“No,” I snapped. “You know the girl I used to be.”
That landed.
Hard.
Pain flashed across his face before he buried it.
But I saw it.
God help me, I still saw everything when it came to him.
The tavern suddenly felt too small.
Too warm.
Too full of memories that hadn’t belonged to me in sixteen years.
“I need a minute,” I whispered.
Hersh stepped closer slowly.
