Page 164 of Burning For You

“I lit it on fire to destroy it. I wasn’t paying attention and it landed on the carpet and caught, then it started to spread to all the other shit in the house and I panicked.”

“It never occurred to you to wake us up? To put it out?”

He shrugged. “I did what I’ve always had to do. I took care of myself. I considered it fate. If it was meant, then everyone would get out.”

This just made her so ill.

But what didn’t make sense though was why the fires started just now.

“Was seeing me again a reason to do what you’ve been doing? Starting all those fires? First in the cars, then the buildings?”

“You’re thinking too highly of yourself. That first fire happened before I even saw you in town.”

“Then why do it?”

“Don’t you want to take notes for your next big story? Make sure you get it all out there?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’d never been about that for me, but it was for you.”

“Come on now, Skye. We made a great team when we were kids.” He was almost mocking her.

That voice that she’d tried to forget in her youth was right there again, flooding her bones with the fear she’d lived with in that house.

It was all coming back again. He was coming back. He was just so sick in the head.

“What kind of team was that?”

“You know. You’d taunt me, I’d taunt you back. You’d tattle on me and Mom wouldn’t do anything, but you didn’t care, because you always came back for more. You wanted that attention, regardless of how it was dished out. Or even who dished it out.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We were kids. You were a bully. And you treated me the same as you did others. I fought you back and it didn’t matter. I went to Mom and Dad and it didn’t matter. Nothing did. But we were all the other had. And sometimes, I just thought maybe you needed the attention and if I gave it to you another way, you’d stop being so mean.”

Why did she remember none of this until now? Any of it.

That she and Sean didn’t talk after they were in high school because she couldn’t really stand him.

Not the way he treated her or anyone else.

All that bound them was blood.

“You tell yourself one story, but I know the truth.”

She’d come this far.

“Then tell me your truth. Tell me exactly what happened with the first fire and why. All of it. You want your story? I’ll give it to you.”

She pulled her phone out and slapped it on the table, and hit record. Not that she needed to because this whole thing was being recorded and all the people she loved and who loved her were in another room witnessing it.

“Guess you want to play after all. Why not? That first fire, it was an accident. Just like I said. Sara was pissing me off hinting at an engagement ring again. I’d gotten off work and rather than go home, I was driving around. I stopped by that run-down car. No reason for it, but it looked like a good spot to disconnect. I just lit a cigarette and tried to be alone.”

“That’s it? That car accidentally caught on fire? You expect people to believe that?”

“Unlike Mom, I wasn’t greedy enough to suck it down to the filter. I flicked it away when I was done and it went into the grille of the car. I searched around to see if I could get it out and saw it, but my fingers couldn’t reach. I had a receipt in my jacket pocket and thought I could push it out and it caught fire, then hit the oil and shit in there and it was too late.”

“You didn’t think to call for help or anything?”

“And get in trouble? It was just a broken-down car. I left. But as I was walking away and it caught more, I remembered the house fire and I thought maybe I’d just watch this one this time. Just to see, you know. See it to the end. And when I did. It just felt… freeing. I was me again. Not this meek asshole not showing the world who I wanted to be.”

All an act.