AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Something like that. Coffee would be great.” This comes with a weak smile that lodges in my chest.
Not good.Sonot good.
I return a stiff lip-twist and continue to the kitchen before my soft heart does any more damage.
He’s a criminal! A felon. He killed another person and ran like a heartless coward.
He. Hurt. You.
Yes, but right now everything in me wants to hold him.
I clench my fist and stalk toward the cabinet to remove the bag of coffee beans.
“Isabel, I know…” He stops, and my fingers tighten around the handle of the carafe. I glare at him while he scrubs a hand over his head. “I know you don’t want me here. I promise I will do everything I can to find a new place. I just… don’t have a lot of options right now. My parents—”
“Disowned you. Yeah, I know.”
He winces, and I focus back on filling the carafe with water. Polite conversation required a different response but I’m still too conflicted by this uncomfortable mix of loathing and sympathy. Ihatehow he triggers the opposite of what I want to feel. I want anger, not compassion. Repulsion, not attraction.
I want to not want him. The last time I did, it was so much it almost broke me.
It did break you.
“Yeah. The black sheep, right?” he says with a weak smile.
“Guess that’s what happens when you kill someone.”
He flinches again, and even I cringe at my harsh statement, but I don’t take it back. I can’t. I’m not wrong, and I owe him nothing.
He’s studying the worn linoleum when I look over, and I try to subdue the pinch in my chest.
“I’ll do my best to stay out of your way,” he mumbles as he turns away.
Tristan, wait.
But I don’t say it. I just stare after him, watching the tense muscles in his back ripple with every step. Strong and beautiful and… marred by wide jagged scars I’ve never seen before. What happened to him in there?
He made his own choices.
I force my gaze back to the coffee pot. It’s probably better if I don’t make extra after all.
He’s Kim’s problem.
Not. Mine.
