Page 163 of Axis of Fire

Train me.

Guide me.

And I didn't want the tension between us to keep sharpening until it became something impossible to ignore.

“Then let's go,” Airis said simply.

Without waiting for my reaction, he headed for the door.

“We're leaving in an hour!” Dwayne called after him.

Then he immediately turned back to me.

“So.”

He leaned against the doorframe.

“What exactly do you know about Lars?”

I stared at him.

For a moment, I genuinely wondered whether he'd been listening to a completely different conversation than the rest of us.

I rolled my eyes.

For the first time all day, I felt myself relax.

“Dwayne, you're absolutely impossible.”

Under his expectant stare, however, I surrendered.

“I know his name.”

Dwayne stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Then I'll have to ask Airis.”

“I wonder how quickly he'll tell you to fuck off.”

“Actually, Airis is surprisingly patient with me.”

Dwayne nodded.

“He answers all my questions.”

“Even the stupid ones?”

“Especially the stupid ones.”

I raised a brow.

“So you admit your questions are sometimes too much?”

“No idea what you're talking about.”

He shrugged without a trace of shame before looking me up and down.

“Get ready.”