The Flight of the Silvers (Silvers #1)(118)

“I was just going to say things may have changed.”

“Well . . . don’t.”

Theo rolled off her, then shot a dark gaze at the ceiling.

“I haven’t had any bad dreams since Saturday. They stopped when we started.”

He checked her expression. “Is that okay for me to say? Or does that freak you out too?”

“That doesn’t freak me out, Theo.”

“So, any response to that?”

Hannah turned away from him, grim-faced.

“I guess our friendship comes with all sorts of benefits.”

That morning, Theo’s handphone beeped. The display announced nine new texts from a person only listed as A. Fact. Each message was fifteen characters or shorter. Theo couldn’t delete them without being forced to read Evan’s whole nasty dispatch.

She will never

Love you, Theo.

She simply

Isn’t capable.

Save yourself.

Get out now.

If you won’t

End it,

Azral will. :(

After lunch, they soaked in the hot tub. Theo rolled drops of water down Hannah’s shoulders. He didn’t need Evan to cast a cloud of doom over their relationship. With each passing hour, he felt a cold wall of grief drawing toward them like a tidal wave. He wasn’t sure if he was suffering premonitions or merely jitters.

“What was your longest relationship?” he asked her, out of the blue.

“Nine weeks, more or less. Why?”

“How did it end?”

“I mostly dated actors,” Hannah replied. “Typically I’d lose them to another woman, another man, or Los Angeles. As it stood, I lost Nine Week Boy to a woman in Los Angeles. Why are you asking?”

“Just being nosy.”

“Okay. Fine. My turn. How did you and your girlfriend—what was her name?”

“Rachel.”

“How did you and Rachel break up?”

After a brief silence, Hannah slid off his lap and faced him from the other side of the tub. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“We didn’t break up,” he replied.

“So she died.”

“Yes.”

“When everyone else did?”

“No.”

Hannah chucked her wet hands. “This is turning into Twenty Questions.”

“I’d rather it turn into No Questions.”

“So you get to delve into my past, but I can’t delve into yours.”

“I’m choosing not to answer. You could have done the same. It’s not like we need to know everything about each other. We’re not a couple.”

Hannah could have frozen the whole tub with her stare.

“Are you just venting right now? Or are you trying to sink the whole ship?”

“We’ve been sinking from the start, Hannah. I’m just putting on a life vest.”

She climbed out of the water and wrapped a towel around her waist. “I’ll let you stew for a while. If you have any interest in preserving what we have—”

“We can’t preserve it. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

“We have weeks, Theo! We could enjoy each other for weeks!”

“Until what? I become discouraged enough to leave you for another woman? Another man? Los Angeles? Aren’t you getting sick of this pattern?”

She glared at him in hot exasperation. “Are you trying to make me hate you?”

“No.”

“Then look to the future and see where this gets you.”

She slammed the patio door behind her. Theo looked out to the other four towers. He could only imagine that Evan was sitting on one of those balconies, grinning as he watched their bubbling troubles through binoculars.

They kept their distance from each other for the rest of the afternoon, and avoided eye contact during dinner. While the Silvers ate their desserts on the balcony table, Hannah crawled back into the hot tub. Her companions spent most of the evening talking about Gothams and Peter Pendergen, as sure a sign as any that the vacation was over.

Once the others retired for the night, Theo finally dared to face Hannah alone. He saw her through the crack in the bedroom door, staring somberly at a small item in her hand, the driver’s license of Ernesto Curado. She spotted Theo and quickly hid the card behind her.

“So. Is this going to be a reconciliation or another fight?”

He took a weary perch on the cedar desk. “In the spirit of you and me, I think it’s going to be something in between.”

“I never lied to you, Theo. I told you from the start what I wanted.”

“Yes. You did. It’s my fault for not being able to handle it. But in retrospect, it was silly for us to think we could have something casual in the middle of uncasual circumstances.”

“That’s exactly why I wanted it casual! I thought it’d be easier to enjoy each other without all the emotional baggage that comes with relationships. Why do I keep finding the few men on Earth who can’t grasp that concept?”

“I don’t know. Why do you keep resenting the fact that we want more than sex from you?”

She shook a brusque finger at him. “Don’t turn this into a head-shrink session. It won’t end well.”