Page 16 of Fire
Evan blinks, realizes I’m offering both of us a do-over, and shyly puts his hand in mine.
“I’m Evan Kelly. It’s nice to meet you.” He gives me a hint of a smile that I wish I could have more of. “I’m grateful you’re here to keep me safe, and I’ll cooperate in any way to make your job easier.”
“I appreciate that,” I say, shaking his hand and cementing our new boundaries in place.
Boundaries that willstayin place as long as I ignore how perfect his hand feels wrapped up in mine, as long as I don’t admit to the sparks running through my body at the sensation of his skin on mine.
I release his hand and take a few steps back.
Fucking boundaries.
I’m sitting on Evan’s couch, going over last night’s feed from the security cameras for any suspicious activity, when I hear Evan’s door open.
“I have a proposition for you,” Evan says, coming out of his room and carrying his phone.
My body fires up with lust at his words.Boundaries, I remind myself—boundaries I’ve carefully observed by staying on opposite sides of the room from Evan and only keeping up polite, careful conversations. Evan has done the same, and I hate it. Despise it. I’d rather him go back to screaming at me passionately than talk about the weather with him for one more goddamned second.
Evan freezes mid-step when he realizes what he just said, and his face turns red. “I…I meant I need to talk to you about something important.”
Fuck, it’s hot when he gets all flustered. I’d love to tease him. Encourage that blush to travel across his entire body and then slowly trace its path with my tongue.
Boundaries, I repeat to myself, so sick of the goddamned word. “What are you trying to talk me into?” I ask, my voice rougher than I’d like.
Evan comes to stand in front of the couch where I’m sitting. I move the tablet to his coffee table. “You know the Freedom Festival?”
I stand up so he’ll feel the full force of my answer. “Hell no.”
The Freedom Fest is a huge music festival hosted in Lexington, Kentucky, to raise money for civil rights causes. This year, it’s getting even more attention because rockstar Jonah Reeves is headlining. Hoping to cash in on all the publicity, Digger Mcree plans to take over the stage and announce his run for governor of Kentucky.
That would be enough for Evan to want to cover the story, but Evan is also aware that Cash and company are planning to sabotage Digger’s political ambitions. Knowing how dangerous Digger will be if he manages to bribe and strong-arm his way into public office, they’ve devised a plan to discredit him in front of the massive music crowds and media presence at the festival.
I should have known Evan would be plotting to cover Digger’s downfall in person.
“But—”
“Fuck no,” I interrupt because there is no reason for him to waste his breath trying to talk me into this insane plan of his. “No way you are attending Freedom Fest. All it would take is one person to recognize you, and I won’t be able to keep them from getting to you.”
The idea of not being able to help Evan no matter how hard I fight for him sends my body into fight mode. My fists clench with the need to defend Evan, and my heart races from adrenaline. I really need to get back to my yoga routine and the centering techniques I’ve neglected since I started watching over Evan.
“We may be outmaneuvering them at every turn because we are a hell of a lot smarter and sneakier than they are, but in numbers and firepower, they’re the winner, hands down.”
“What if I can be sneakier than them,” Evan asks. “Dream came up with an idea I wanted to run by you.”
“Dream? You mean Dream, theartist, came up with an idea that I’m gonna think is good enough to let you walk into the fucking lion’s den?”
“From what he told me, he managed to get away from the Reivers on his own, so maybe you should give theartist’splan a listen-to,” Evan snarks back, getting his back up a little over my comment. He and Dream have bonded, and he’s protective over his new friend.
I snort a laugh. “Yeah. I heard that story from both Grave and Cash. When Dream was hiding from the Reivers, he ran straight to the clubhouse to ask for directions out of town.” I shake my head at Dream’s lethally bad sense of direction. “If Cash hadn’t found him in the parking lot, he’d be a goner.”
“Dream is really sharp and smart, and you could at least listen to the idea,” Evan insists, with a restrained calmness that I’m impressed by. When I told him no, I expected tantrum-throwing Evan to make a return guest appearance. Maybe even looked forward to it a little. Seeing him hot and bothered and focusing all his frustration on me.
Stop it, Luca.
“Dream is cool, and I’m glad you two are becoming friends. But I won’t be taking security advice from him any time soon.”
“Cash thought it was a good idea.”
I round on Evan, closer to losing my cool than I’ve been since I got here. He looks at the expression on my face and takes a step back. “So.” I close the distance he just made between us. “You thought you’d bypass me and get Cash’s okay?”
