Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 54520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
I shake my head, confused. “That never happened.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“I’m not fucking lying!”
“Then why would he say it?”
I throw my hands up. “I don’t know. But I’m telling you, I never went out with her. I was at the station the day you left. When I got home, you were already gone.”
The fire in her eyes flickers, a sliver of doubt sneaking in, before she shakes her head. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
She turns to leave, but I step in front of her, blocking her path.
“The hell it doesn’t,” I growl, hauling her against me. “Look me in the eye and tell me none of it mattered, not then, not now. If you can do that, I’ll walk away and never bring it up again. But don’t you dare lie to me, Harlow.”
Her chin lifts, pride hardening her features like stone.
For a second, I think she’ll do it, that she’ll cut me down with the lie and leave me bleeding in this parking lot.
But the act doesn’t last.
Her tough façade crumbles, the fight draining out with unshed tears.
“Why are you doing this?” she chokes. “Why can’t you just let it go?”
I lay it all out, refusing to hold back. “Because I’m done lying to myself and everyone else. I’m tired of pretending to hate you when it couldn’t be further from the truth. Like I don’t think about you every goddamn second I’m not with you.”
The expression on her face shifts, not with surrender, but with something far more dangerous…hope.
It’s the smallest crack in her armor, but it’s enough.
My hand lifts to her face, brushing the soft curve of her cheek. “And I’m really damn tired of pretending I don’t want to touch you every time I’m near you.”
Her eyes fall closed, a tear slipping free.
“I’m sick of it all, Harlow. And I think you are too. But if I’m wrong, if that night meant nothing to you, if it was just weakness, then tell me now, and I’ll go back to pretending. But I want the truth. I deserve that much.”
She opens her eyes again, and this time, there’s no guard, just pure vulnerability.
“It mattered,” she breathes. “Too much. That’s why it can’t happen.” Another tear slips free, carving a path down her cheek. “Nothing good can come from this, Linc. We’re too volatile. Like fire and ice, we’ll only destroy each other. And I have nothing left to break.”
There it is, the truth she’s been holding back. She’s scared. Everyone in her life has let her down, including me, but that ends here.
“You’re looking at it all wrong, Goldilocks,” I murmur, brushing away a stray tear. “Fire and ice only counteract when they’re pitted against each other. But when they work together, they not only balance—they can hold the whole damn world in place. Together…they’re unstoppable.”
She blinks up at me, almost bewildered. “Seriously? That’s what you took from everything I just said?”
Amusement fills my chest. “Hey, I know this shit. I’m a firefighter.”
The smallest smile cracks her lips—one I’ve fucking missed these last two weeks.
“Let me prove it,” I press, clinging to the moment. “Give me one chance.”
She drops her gaze, shaking her head, but the fight in it is weak.
I see it—the resistance, the war she’s waging with herself, but more than that…I see the part of her that wants this just as badly as I do.
“Don’t make me use that favor you owe me, Goldilocks.”
Her head snaps up, eyes narrowing. “You wouldn’t dare.”
My mouth curves. “Oh, I would. And I am.”
She stiffens. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I’m calling it in,” I tell her. “I want a date, Harlow. A real one. No games, no banter. Just one night to prove you wrong.”
Her chin tips up, defiance sparking. “And if I say no?”
I shrug, casual yet certain. “You could. But we both know you won’t.”
She arches a brow. “What makes you so sure?”
I lean in close, so close that I can see the pulse thrumming at the base of her neck. “Because despite being a stubborn pain in the ass, you always keep your word.”
Her jaw tightens, knowing I’m right.
My smile lingers at her ear, my next words deliberate. “Cancel whatever plans you have for Sunday. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
Before she can argue, I brush a kiss across her cheek, her quick inhale the last thing I hear before I walk away.
We've been circling this fire for years, and I’m done playing it safe. I'm jumping straight into the flames, and I’ll be damned if we don’t rise from the ashes, burned and branded as one.
I stand in front of the full-length mirror, scrutinizing every detail of my outfit, as if I’ll magically look different from the last fifty times I've checked.
Nope. Same outfit. Same hair. Same foolish Harlow who thought it was a good idea to make a deal with her lifelong enemy.