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“Don't fucking call me slick.” That was Dallas’s old nickname for me, although he hadn't used it in years.
Back when I was in high school, the nickname fit for the very guy Jane dismissed while I barely noticed her. “I'm not that guy anymore,” I added.
“I know you're not. But Jane is the first woman you've been serious about,” he said, his tone shifting from teasing to somber.
“I know. Maybe you should call Thea. She and Jane are friends, so she might have some advice.”
I groaned while Dallas chuckled in response. “Nice chatting,” he offered right before we ended the call.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. I idly stared down at my phone screen. Calling my sister meant I needed to be prepared. She would have an opinion. First, I needed to eat because I was fucking starving, and I could hardly think straight at this point.
ChapterTwenty-Six
Jane
“You told him you needed a break?” Audrey prompted.
“Yeah, just—” I paused abruptly and rolled my shoulders back to ease the tension tightening between my shoulder blades. “Audrey, I've had four reporters call me inside of an hour. I feel like I'm flying blind. He knew this whole thing was going on, way back when we got together over Christmas.”
“It’s not like he could tell you he was a whistleblower on a major investigation.”
“Well, he could have said something big was happening that he couldn't talk to me about.”
“At first?” My friend eyed me skeptically.
“Well, no, but when we started getting serious.”
“I get being frustrated, but Ian was in a tight spot. He was a whistleblower against three people with lots of money. They've been criminally charged with felonies, and they're looking at serious time. He’s lucky he's not the only whistleblower, so it takes some pressure off. I’m not sure you could expect him to say something. I know I’d have asked questions if he tried to be all vague.”
“I know.” I sighed, my shoulders sagging with it. “I feel like I'm emotionally ahead of him.”
“Because you love him? Have you told him how you felt?”
“No. Are you insane?”
“Last I checked, no,” Audrey offered dryly.
I let out another sigh. “I know you're not crazy. It's just—” I paused abruptly, taking a gulp of my coffee. “We're still pretty fresh.”
“What do you mean by fresh?”
“I mean, what started out as just—”
“A holiday fling,” Audrey interjected helpfully when I stuttered over what to say.
I laughed. “Okay, a holiday fling. And now, I don't think either one of us planned on this. I don't even know how fast relationships are supposed to move.”
“I don't think there are rules on that. I think if he was brand new to you and you didn't know him, four months would be different. But you've been spending every weekend together. And it's not like you haven't known him for—”
This time, she paused, and I interjected, “As long as I can remember. We weren't exactly close when we were younger, though.”
That got me a hard eye roll. “We all hung out together all the time. He was one of Thea’s older brothers. My point is, he's not a stranger. We know he’s not a secret serial killer by now.”
I threw my hands up in the air and glared at her. “I know he's not a secret serial killer. But he had this major thing happening, and I didn't know about it.”
“He couldn't tell you,” she said, leaning forward.
“He could have told me something was going on.”
