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“For being small. Kids are assholes sometimes. Ave is pretty tough, and it doesn’t tend to bother her. Ellis is a little more sensitive about it.”
Lance drags his eyes away to the garden below. “Hmm. Maybe Ellis and I will get along better than I thought.”
“Probably.” I keep my gaze on him, greedily watching him as he watches the kids.
When he came downstairs this afternoon, I could see the pain written across his face. He took his medication and seemed to be more relaxed during dinner, but I can’t help but think he’s still doing too much.
Sensing my stare, he brings his focus to me.
Our eyes meet and hold.
They’re exactly as they were when he left. His face has aged like my own, small promises of wrinkles that now form with each fractured smile we exchange, but his eyes, they’re as green, as vivid, as I remember them.
Catching myself, I drop my gaze, then look up and out across the estate. Anywhere but into his eyes.
“You must be happy. Having Mason and the children all out here on the estate.”
I smile. “Hmm. I never believed it would happen.” Silence settles between us as I take a moment to be reminded of how much life has changed. How fortunate I am to have what I do. “It makes everything worth it.”
He doesn’t say anything, just waiting for me to finish.
“It felt like I’d be stuck in that quiet forever.” I even accepted it after a while, knowing I’d likely be alone here without family eventually. “I used to tell myself and everyone else that I loved it, that I was happy with life back then. But I think I was just used to it.”
“It was all you knew.”
I cave, turning to look at him. I nod. “Having them here feels right. As it should be and always should’ve been.”
His lips curl in a slow, easy way that makes my stomach flip. “I’m happy for you, Scar. Truly. You deserve this.”
I smile and shrug. “Maybe.”
“No. You do.” His features harden, and I almost look away. Almost. But it’s Lance. “In my eyes, there’s no one else on earth who deserves all that you do.”
I shake my head. “There are people who have lived, or are living, through far worse than me. You’re—”
“I said in my eyes,” he cuts in, his pinkie reaching out to brush mine.
Instinctively, I run my hand down my arm, the hairs standing on end. He follows the motion, his stare trailing so intensely, it’s as if I can feel him there, gliding slowly across my skin.
He swallows and flicks his eyes back to mine. “Because there’s no one else I see.”
I roll my lips, desperately needing to look away.
I should look away.
“So,” I say gently, fighting with everything in me not to fall at his feet. “I should add delusional to the list?”
He chuckles, caught off guard, the tension between us dancing away in those fine lines around his eyes. “The list. That thing’s still going?”
“Indefinitely,” I tell him, letting out a deep exhale as the moment fizzles out.
“Indefinitely…” He grins. “Fuck, that’s a good word.”
I laugh and elbow his bicep. “Stop smiling.”
“I’m not allowed to smile?”
I try with all my might to conceal my own. “You’re messing with me.”
