Page 33 of Bound in Ashes

That told me everything I needed to know.

Should have been the end of any question.

Still, I watched him go, unable to turn my eyes away, my heart felt like ice in my chest at the thought that one day I’d see him do that for the last time.

Jack

“You looking for me, Levi?”

I found him in the shed, the one that we turned into one of the caches where we kept supplies.

“Yeah. Asia tell you that?” he asked.

“Yeah. You told her to, though, didn’t you?”

The old man, who had been tying rope into a manageable bundle, stopped and then looked at me. “What are you up to?”

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“You and Asia.”

“What about us?”

Us.

That fucking word slipped out before I could swallow it.

Her face flashed in my mind. The beautiful smile I would carry with me forever. I pushed it away.

I couldn’t afford for there to be an us.

Evan couldn’t afford it.

“Is this a conversation I need to be having with you?” I said, not pulling the edge out of my voice.

“You best believe it,” Levi said.

I said nothing for a moment, weighing what to say next.

I didn’t ever appreciate anyone making demands, but also knew that I owed Levi, and this was his place.

“It’s…complicated.”

The word tasted weak on my tongue. Levi saw it, too. His eyes probed, making me feel like he noticed things I hadn’t even admitted to myself.

But I didn’t look away.

“Don’t have to be,” Levi said.

“Maybe not, but it is,” I said.

“Then let me help you uncomplicate it,” he said.

“Meaning what?”

He tilted his head and looked me up and down.

“Meaning I’ve been watching, and I need to remind you of what I said before.”