Page 24 of The Fall Risk

She didn’t argue. Because she knew I was right.

“Not that he’s into me,” I mumbled.

“He is.”

I sat up on my elbows. “How do you know? Did Gabe say something?”

“No. I couldn’t waterboard it out of him—I think he wanted me to try.”

I scoffed and flopped back down.

“Because he’d be an idiot to not be into you,” she said. “And as for George, I know you don’t think so, but you’re ready for that sick motherfucker. If he ever shows up again, he’s going to rue the day he messed with you.”

“You think so?” I said, rubbing my forehead.

“You’re lethal. And I know this because I made you that way, and I’m very fucking good at what I do. You just need to believe it the way I believe it.”

I blew a breath out. I did believe it. Objectively.

Could I take down an attacker or put a bullet between his eyes? Yes. In theory. But what I was trained to do in a controlled environment on soft wrestling mats or shooting ranges without any of the variables of a real-life encounter was very different from actually doing it.

I didn’t know if I could.

George terrified me. And the terror made me weak.

I couldn’t honestly say who I’d be if I came face-to-face with him. Would I freeze? Or would I fight?

I hoped I never had to find out.

“So what do I do about Gabe?” she asked. “The usual stuff isn’t scaring him off.”

“Why do you want to scare him off? Maybe he’ll make you happy. Don’t be like me, condemned to a life of celibacy and loneliness.”

“The celibacy is optional.”

I bobbed my head. “True.”

“I can always ask him for money,” she said. “That usually works.”

“Ha.”

We went quiet.

“Izzy?”

“Yeah?”

“Red flag guys aren’t your type. They’re your pattern.”

There was a long pause. “Why’d you have to come for me like that?”

“Because I love you. I want to see you happy. I think you pick toxic men because it’s what you think you deserve. And then you chase them off, or they prove they’re exactly what you think they are, and they leave you, and you think you deserve that too. You don’t. You are very worth loving. And sticking around for.”

Silence.

“I love you too,” she said. “I’m probably still going to chase him off, though.”

“Why?”