Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
He stares at me for a moment. Then a small smile creeps up his face. “You like me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“You think I’m nice.”
I think I blush, because my face goes hot.
“Not only that, you need me. More than I need you.” His eyes squint a little here. “Which is making you nervous.”
I shrug. He’s not wrong.
“But it’s more than that, isn’t it, up-city Clara Birch.” This time when he says my name like that, it’s not an insult. I can tell the difference now. “I’m all you’ve got.”
I roll my eyes.
“And you think I might leave you here.”
Now I look at him again. Because I am afraid he’ll leave me here. Surely, he’s got friends, or places to be, or something.
And just as I think this, that phone thing of his starts making a noise. But we’re still looking at each other and he doesn’t let the interruption change this. “I’m not gonna leave you here. Ya know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re pretty.”
I laugh out loud unexpectedly.
“So you were right. That’s the real reason I’m curious about you.” He pulls the phone out without breaking eye contact. “I’ve got to take this.” Then he taps it and puts it up to his ear. “Did you get my message?”
There’s a pause while he listens to a faint voice. Then everything about him changes. “Oh, sorry. I forgot. I’ve been busy all day. Rain check then, yeah?” He listens for a few seconds. “Sounds good. Talk soon.” He taps the phone again and slips it back into his pocket.
“What was that?”
“Stayn.”
“Did he ask about me?”
“He doesn’t know about you, Clara. I didn’t tell him.”
“Then why was he calling?”
“Because I was supposed to be at his house for dinner tonight and I didn’t show. Forgot. Plus, I got a better offer.” He doesn’t wait for me to smile here, though I do. “The good thing though is that he didn’t ask about it. The vagrant, I mean. The whole thing has been forgotten as far as he’s concerned.”
These words rattle around in my brain for a few moments. It feels like a win, but there’s something dangerous about it too. “I owe you.”
Tyse grins. “You absolutely owe me.”
My laugh comes out as a huff. “Well, that’s not coy.”
“There’s no need to be coy. I saved you.” He leans back and stretched his arms out along the top of the booth, still grinning. “Twice? Three times? At any rate, your debts are piling up, Miss Birch.”
I don’t know what to say to that. Is he… flirting with me? Because he’s got a kinda flirty look about him. Those eyes and that smile, in combination with that rugged, handsome face, give off an impression of flirting.
Or is he seriously keeping track of how much I owe him? I don’t know him well enough to tell the difference. And he does come off as rather dangerous. Just because he’s been helpful doesn’t make him nice. And if he is keeping track—
“Oh, stop, Clara.”
“What?”
“I’m joking. I mean, ya do owe me.” He grins again. “But I’m not expecting much. Not expecting anything, actually.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He shrugs. “Helping people is something you do because you want to. Not because you get something in return. Mostly because people just disappoint ya, so zero expectations is really the way to go.”
“Wow. You really are cynical.”
He doesn’t react. Just stares at me. And after only a few seconds of his full, undivided attention the mood between us becomes heavy and awkward.
The funny thing is, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with me. Somehow, we’ve stopped talking about me and moved on to him. And I think he just realized that he gave up some information about himself that he didn’t actually mean to.
I don’t lower my eyes. I meet his gaze, heavy as it is. “You know what I think?”
“Can’t wait to hear.”
“I think… I would like to be the one person who doesn’t disappoint you. The one person who exceeds your expectations.”
“Now why would you wanna go and do something like that?”
I lift up one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “Because I can relate.”
“Did that boyfriend of yours disappoint ya, Clara?”
I nod as I try and stop the frown, but there’s no way I can.
“He sent ya into that tower? Sacrificed ya? For a god he’d never even met?”
I suck in a breath, but my throat is tightening up with an oppressive sadness. “He didn’t even try.” I feel the tears welling up in my eyes, and I have a very strong urge to stop them. To pull myself together. To handle this heartbreak with grace, the way I was taught to handle all the other things that came with being a Maiden. But I have to face this truth eventually. Not just let it stew inside me, knowing it’s true, but never admitting it. So I keep going and let the tears fall where they may. “That’s what hurt me. It wasn’t the god or the tower. It was him. Because if I were Finn and he were me, I would’ve tried. I would’ve…” I exhale loudly with frustration. “I would’ve done something daring to try and save him.”