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“About what we’re doing. We just shared some really personal shit, Viper. Granted, I don’t have a lot of experience with relationships, but even I know this isn’t just sleeping together.”
“You want it to be something more?”
I looked him in the eyes. “Do you?”
“I asked you first.”
“Right,” I muttered. “I’m supposed to tell you how I feel about all this, hanging out on a limb all by myself. And then you’ll saw off the damn tree branch and I’ll fall to the ground.”
“You can still get out,” he said quietly. “The cartel war that’s coming…it’s gonna be bad, Sutton. People are gonna fucking die. That’s what happens in war. Good men, bad men, innocent people who have nothing to do with any of it…no one is safe. You can get out of all this. As soon as you’re in the clear, you can take your insurance check and get out of town. Hell, it’s probably smarter for you to do that.”
“You want me to stay,” I said softly. “Don’t you?”
“Don’t expect a declaration from me. I’m not the kind of man who will pour it on thick. Women have come and gone in my life, and I’ve never wanted anything more from any of them. But you…”
“Me?” I prodded.
He sighed. “You’re different. And I can’t bullshit anymore. I like you. In and out of bed.”
“Likeisn’t enough to stick around for the long haul,” I said. “Especially when shit is gonna go hot.Likeis not enough to build a life on. And what am I even talking about? Building a life. I’ve known you the better part of a week. You can’t catch feelings that fast.”
“Yeah, you can.” He leaned forward and wrapped his large hand around my ankle.
“I have no real experience with this stuff,” I muttered. “I have one ex-boyfriend.One. I fell into bed with you because I wanted to, but sex is not love.”
“No shit, sex isn’t love,” he agreed.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Makes two of us.”
“We barely know each other,” I protested.
“You know more about me than some people I’ve known for a decade.”
My lips softened ever so slightly and then I snapped my spine straight. “Do not woo me with your words.”
“I don’t woo.” He cocked his head. “Admit it, Sutton. You’re afraid to get close to anyone.”
“So are you,” I lashed out.
“Afraid is the wrong word,” he said. “I choose not to. It’s easier.”
“Lonely,” I murmured. “It’s so lonely living that way, Viper.”
“So, don’t live that way anymore.”
“What are you saying?”
He let go of my ankle, but only so he could grasp the camp chair and haul it toward him. “What if we do this?”
“Wearedoing this.”
“No end date,” he said quietly. “What if we really try this?”
“My, how quickly the tables have turned.” I grinned, but it quickly slipped. “You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
