Page 64 of Melting for the Firefighter
“I don’t want to be your responsibility.”
“You aren’t.”
“Then what am I?”
His lips part.
No answer comes.
That hurts more than Vanessa’s words.
I look down at the green ribbon around my wrist.
The key has felt like a promise since the moment he placed it on the kitchen table.
Maybe that was unfair.
Maybe I heard something he was not ready to say.
My fingers shake as I untie the ribbon.
Lance watches every movement.
I place the key in his palm and close his fingers around it.
“I won’t beg you to want me.”
His face goes hard, but I see what it costs him to let me step back.
Tessa moves beside me.
“You can stay with me tonight.”
I nod because speaking would break what remains of my composure.
Lance’s hand closes around the key.
For one terrible second, I wait for him to stop me.
He does not.
I walk away before he sees me cry.
Chapter 8
Lance
IletCoratakethree steps before the key cuts into my palm.
She asked me to choose her.
Not protect her. Not give her options. Not decide what would be best once her shop was rebuilt and she no longer needed my house.
She asked me to tell her I wanted her to stay.
I stood there and gave her every answer except the one she needed.
Fear dressed itself up as selflessness, and I let it hurt the woman I love.
