Page 101 of Lance

“James.”

He sighs, sinking back into the cushions and resting his head against the back of the couch so he’s looking up at the ceiling. “He told me about youguys.”

“Oh.” I don’t really know how I feel about that. “What, uh, did he say,exactly?”

“That you were together. That he cared about you.” My heartbeat picks up a little bit at that. So he didn’t tell him about the fight. What does that mean? But then James says something that pushes the fight from my mind entirely. “I punched him in theface.”

“James!”

“He had it coming,Willa!”

I pull myself into a sitting position, ignoring his yelp of dissent. “You can’t go punching people just because you don’t want them dating me! That’s like, crazy personbehavior!”

“He’s not just people, Willa! He’s supposed to be one of my best friends! Intrigue is a family. And he went behind myback.”

“Oh, because you would have been so supportive if he came to youfirst.”

James scowls at me. “He isn’t good for you,Willa.”

“That’s not up toyou!”

I figure he’ll argue, remind me that he’s my big brother, but instead he grimaces. “That’s what Lance said.” He clears his throat. “He also said…that I don’t knowyou.”

That throws me. “Hedid?”

James nods, still staring up at the ceiling. “He said I didn’t respectyou.”

“And…uh, what did you think aboutthat?”

He finally turns to face me and his eyes look almost haunted. “Of course I respect you, Willa. I respect you more than anyone I know. You’re my freaking hero. You know that,right?”

I draw in a shaky breath. “Uh, no. I don’t knowthat.”

He stares at me, his dark eyes swimming with some emotion. “Willa, I think you’re the smartest, most talented person in the world. I’m so fucking proud of you. How do you not knowthat?”

“Because you’ve never told me that,” I say through a shaky laugh. “You always just call me a freakand—”

“No,” he says, sitting up fully and reaching for my hand. “No, Willa. That’s just joking around. You know that, don’t you? I joke about it because…well, because I’m in awe ofyou.”

My eyes fill with tears and I look away, blinking hard. “Thank you,James.”

His voice is gruff when he speaks again. “Apparently I should have said it a long time ago. I just thought you knew.” He squeezes my hand. “You’re supposed to be the genius, afterall.”

I laugh at that and he does too, and some of the tightness in my chest seems to disappear. But I can’t just let that be it, just because he said something nice. Things have to change, and that won’t happen unless I can be honest withhim.

“Lance did have a point though,” I say, my heart beating fast now. “You don’t alwaysactlike you respect me. You don’t treat me like anadult.”

He stares at me. “I guess…it’s hard for me to not think of you as my littlesister.”

“I get that. But you have to let me make my own choices, James. You can’t try to controlthings.”

He scowls. “And I guess by that you mean I have to be okay with you datingLance.”

“No. By that I mean you have to remember that I’m a smart girl who puts a lot of thought into my choices—too much thought, most of the time. So you should have some faith inme.”

He makes a sound that’s nearly a growl and it’s so James I have to laugh. “Fine,” he grumbles. “I’ll have faith.” He reaches over and grabs one of the many pillows from beneath my shoulders and shoves it behind his neck. “So where is the little cretin, anyhow? I figured he’d be over here trying to worm his way into ourafternoon.”

I fidget with the edge of my blanket. “We, uh, had a fight. We actually might not be dating afterall.”