Page 61 of The Lunatics

“Never.”

“Perhaps your Goddess is real after all. I can’t imagine someone better designed to test me.”

I laughed and took our exit off the highway. “Come on. Isn’t it nice to be able to drop your guard, just a little?”

“I’m not sure thatniceis the word I would use.”

“Ouch.”

“I don’t mean it as an insult. It’s only that…” He fell quiet, and I could sense him gathering his words, choosing them with care. “Until this point in my life, I’ve cultured a certain image.”

“The untouchable ice king?”

“Something like that,” he said. “It’s unsettling that I’m unable to mislead you. The fact that I find it unsettling and that my default is to mislead others has turned me rather introspective.”

“Hiding from everyone around you all the time can’t be fun.”

“It isn’t,” he said. “I expend so much energynotreacting that I fear my natural instincts may be altered. Who knows, perhaps I was born with a temper and I’ve since trained it out of myself.”

“I’m sorry, born?” I asked. “I’m having a hard time picturing you as a child right now. Are you sure you didn’t just appear on the earth one day, clad in Armani?”

“I assure you, I grew up the same as you did.”

“Umm…” I glanced at him in the rearview mirror of his bulletproof SUV.

“You know what I mean, Layla.”

“Sure I do.” I couldn’t picture him as a baby. Or even a toddler. Until I saw photographic evidence, I decided to treat his childhood like a myth. “You do have a temper, by the way. You just suppress it. And I think you may even have a sense of humor hiding in there somewhere, too.”

“Do continue,” he drawled. “You’re so handy with the compliments.” His expression was miffed, but beneath it burned a small ember of warmth. Michael liked it when I said nice things about him.

I grinned. “See? There’s that snark.”

In response, he rolled his eyes. It was the most expressive I’d seen him yet, and I counted it a huge win. Maybe I could break him out of his shell after all.

The remainder of the drive went by quickly. The highway wound through the White Mountains, and after taking the exit, there was less than ten miles to go to my parents’ house. Michael spent that time picking up his paperwork and closing down his laptop. I spent it preparing to act like everything was normal around the two people who knew me better than anyone else in the world.Right. Should be a total piece of cake.

“Welcome back,” Mom said not long after.

We stood in the doorway, hugging, while I struggled not to cry. Coming back to something so familiar after everything that happened in the past few days lifted a massive weight off my shoulders, but it also reinforced the fact that this no longer felt like home. Neither did the city. It made me feel like I’d been set adrift. I was so sure I couldn’t remain in Boston, but now I didn’t know if returning to New Hampshire was the right move, either.

Mom and I broke apart, and Michael, feeling my unrest, set his hand on my lower back. The warmth and steady weight of it suffused me, giving me courage. I did my best to blank my expression. Mom no doubt sensed how upset I was, but if I kept up a tough front, maybe she’d assume it was because I’d missed her and Dad.

“This was a quick turnaround,” she said.

I forced a smile. “And just when you thought you’d finally gotten rid of me.”

“Nah, we knew you’d come back. Like cancer.”

“Mom!”

Behind me, Michael coughed.

“Please ignore her. She doesn’t understand that dark humor isn’t for everyone,” I said.

I turned to see that he was openly smiling. He must have taken our conversation to heart. The fact that he was making such aneffort for her drove the lingering anxiety from my mind and made me want to hug him.

Mom blinked at the sight of his dimples. Ha! It wasn’t just me they worked on. “Michael. It’s nice to see you again so soon.”