“Later, Luke.” I wait until he backs out of the narrow lane and do the same, heading toward town instead of away from it.

“Wanna tell me what that was all about?” I try to keep my voice even, but I don’t think I’m particularly successful with the way her head snaps up.

“Excuse me?”

“Seems like you two have some history.”

“Is that your indirect way of asking me a specific question, Ethan?”

I don’t know where the spike of anger comes from, or why I can’t seem to manage it. “Did you date him?”

I can feel her glare as if it were lasering its way through my cheek. “We hung out in high school during senior year a bit. Mostly in second semester, after you dumped me.”

“So that’s a yes.”

“He asked me out before I was ready to date. We went to a few parties as friends, but he wasn’t interested in anything platonic. He gave up and moved on, started dating Stephanie Murphy until she went away to college. By that time I was already with Avery. And then I got married. A few months after Avery and I separated, Luke asked if I wanted to go for coffee, just to talk. I said yes because he’s a nice guy, and I was lonely and needed a friend. We went for coffee a few times, but I just wanted to keep it platonic because I didn’t feel that way about him.”

“He sure seems to feel that way about you.”

“He does, and he’s made that very clear, but I couldn’t manufacture feelings for him and I wasn’t in any kind of headspace to start dating. Any more questions?” Her hard tone implies she expects the inquisition to continue, and she’s definitely gearing up for a fight—one I don’t want to have right before I leave for two days. It’s a bad omen, and I don’t want that hanging over my head while I’m away from her, so I back down. “Sorry. No. No more questions.”

I pull into her driveway, and before I can even shift into park she’s out of the truck and heading up the front walk. I cut the engine and follow after her. Her movements are jerky as she shoves the key in the lock, throwing the door open.

Merk comes running, tongue lolling and tail wagging. He stuffs his nose right in her crotch. “Stop, Merk.” She gives his head a pat but pushes him away, turning for the stairs.

“Hey.” I reach out, clasping her wrist to keep her from running away.

She yanks her arm free and crosses them over her chest. “I need a shower. I’m a mess. Maybe you should go home and do the same.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll wait until you’ve cleaned up, but I’m not leaving with you mad at me.”

“I had a life, Ethan. My world kept turning just like yours.”

“I know you did. I get that.” I run a hand down my face. “I know I’m the one who left and that I ended things. But I won’t lie and tell you it didn’t kill me to know that there was a mile-long line of guys waiting for a chance to ask you out as soon as you were available.”

“So you figured you’d have a pissing contest with one of them? Luke is a police officer.”

“That you dated and who’s still interested in you.” That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Lilah gives me a hard glare, her teeth clamped together. She runs her finger down the bridge of her nose. Shit. She’s really mad. To the point of tears.

“That’s not the point, Ethan. We were fucking in the middle of a field, in your truck, like goddamn teenagers!”

“Are you embarrassed that we got caught, or upset that I acted like an asshole?”

She throws her hands up in the air. “Both! You acted like a jealous boyfriend.”

I blow out a breath, trying to figure out how to smooth things over. Truth is probably the best option. “That’s because I am a jealous boyfriend.”

“There’s nothing to be jealous of.”

“You can’t tell me he didn’t make a point of rubbing in the fact that there’s history between you, or that he didn’t make it seem like it was recent, or maybe even current.”

Lilah grits her teeth. “I can’t help how he reacts, but you can certainly help the way you do. I stayed here, and you left for almost a decade. I dated. That’s what people do. Or at least I did. I have no idea what the last eight years looked like for you because you’ve never talked about it. I don’t know whether you worked through an endless stream of puck bunnies, or if there was someone you cared about, but I can’t and won’t apologize for any of the relationships I’ve been in while you were off living your life without me.”

“I’m not asking you to apologize.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, her frustration gathering steam instead of losing it. “Then what are you asking? You already know I never got over you. Shouldn’t that be enough for you? I’m not interested in Luke. I never really was, not back in high school, and not last year, and definitely not now.”

I step closer, lift my hand and drag my index finger along the bridge of her nose.

She bats it away. “What’re you doing? Don’t do that.”

“I’m trying to calm you down so I can explain myself, and so you’ll actually listen to the words instead of that angry white noise up in your head.”

“I don’t want you to calm me down! I want to be angry! I have a right to be mad at you.”

“I totally agree.” I clasp both of her hands in one of mine and bring them to my lips. They smell a whole lot like sex. This fire, her refusal to back down, is something I’m glad she never lost. “Do you remember the first time I kissed you?”

“Of course I remember. What does this have to do with anything?”

“I’m getting to that. Do you remember what precipitated that kiss?”

Lilah shrugs. “I don’t know. You were in a bad mood. We were walking home from school through the forest, and you just laid one on me. I hadn’t been expecting it.”

It’s amazing how memories shift and change with time, or how one person’s recollection of events varies so greatly from another.

“You were wearing jeans and a button-down shirt that was a purple, green, and black plaid. The first three buttons were undone and the black camisole underneath came down a little low, so you had to constantly adjust it to avoid flashing cleavage.”

“Is there a point to this?”

“Yes.”

“Wanna get to it, then?”

I smile at her irritation. Before she can go off on me for continuing to be a jerk, I press on. “You were standing in front of the school, waiting for me. I remember thinking how beautiful you were and how unaware you seemed to be about all the attention that outfit was getting you, how many guys I’d had to stare down between classes, how freaked out I was because all the stupid posters for the Halloween dance had gone up that day, and you were so damn excited to go to your first high school dance.”

I can see the moment when the memories start to click into place for her. “I was talking to Luke.”

I nod. “I interrupted right when he was asking if you were going to the dance.”

“You came up behind me and scared the crap out of me.”

“That’s right.” I did a lot more than that. I’d staked a claim when I’d come up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lifted her off the ground while I stared Luke down. My expression had said everything. She’s mine. Don’t even think about it. “When we were walking home, all I could think about was how some guy was going to get the balls to ask you to go to that dance and how I’d have to kill him. And that was the moment I realized I was in love with you, and there was no way I was letting anyone come between us.”