Page 110 of What Burns Between

I nod. "Although not so different when you think about it. Kane looks a lot like your dad, hey?” Calling him that—her dad—pushes the thorn of betrayal a little deeper. "Maddie..."

"Babe." She stops me with a brief touch of her fingertips to my collarbone. "Stop. I know you spent a long time in there talking with them after what Daddy suggested last night."

I can't stand for this; my legs threaten to buckle. She continues while I find my way back to the seat.

“Daddy left the office for a bit, but West stayed on. So?” She lifts her eyebrows. “He make this official, or what?”

I swallow, the answer stuck on the tip of my tongue. Velcroed to the micro-bumps that feel as dry as a desert.

She smirks. “Yeah, I know the truth, Rae. Saw it in his eyes when you fell off Charlene’s bike. I could tell that, at least for him, this whole thing ain’t pretend.”

“And you’re okay with it?” I finally manage to croak.

“Weirded out,” she says with a grimace, “but glad he’s happy and glad you’re taken care of.” She shrugs. “Maybe it was fate, me bringing you here.” Her brow dives at my poignanthesitation. “You know you can still say no, right? There'll be another way to keep you safe. Don't let them bully you into anything you don't want to do."

That's the problem, though. "I do want to do it."

She lifts her eyebrows again, folding her arms.

I eye the exit, aware that I don't understand Maddie well enough to know how she'll react when threatened on her own turf. Will she come at me? Attempt to smack some sense into me when she finds out that it’s not just Digger? It’s Tyke, too.

“My uncle making you his old lady for the run, then?”I wish.She draws the most logical conclusion. He's part of the President's family, so carries the clout required to keep threats away from me when out in public.

"No." I stare down at my hands, picking at the rough skin of my cuticle before I force my chin up. She deserves my full attention, no matter how uncomfortable that makes me feel. "Your dad wanted to know if I could imagine myself with him." The silence from her hangs heavy, so I blurt out before I lose my nerve. “Instead of your uncle."

The longer time passes with no response from her, the tighter my muscles get. Seconds on the clock, but an eternity for my poor, battered heart.

"Typical," she finally breathes. "I can imagine the two of them fighting over this make-believe role, trying to get the best reputation out of it."

"I don't think it's like that."

"It’s a shame because Digger really did like you,” she steams ahead, dropping to the stool. “But Daddy will want the prestige as President, saving some poor girl. Although, I think Digger will fight for it so he has purpose worthy of his title as Vice.”

I bristle at her dismissal of Digger, at the way she so casually seems to discount his place in the club. "Maddie?—“

"Don't stand for it, Rae. Just tell them you won't be a chess piece in their stupid game."

"I'm not, though?—“

"They're like two toddlers, sometimes. Always getting into trou?—“

"Stop!" I fist my hands, smacking them on the top of my knees. "Listen to me." I soften my tone. "Please."

She rears back, eyes wide. "I'm all ears, then."

"They're not fightingoverme." I sigh, rubbing the heels of my hands into my eyes. "They want to share me."

"Come again?" Her lip curls toward her nose on the left, the knee-jerk disgust seemingly too strong to hide.

I wince and eye the exit again, then rub the center of my chest. "They've agreed tobothlook after me."

“Look after you, how, Rae?” Her eyes haven’t relaxed in the slightest—still critical and borderline maniacal.

“As their woman.”

"As their woman.” She sputters. “What the fuck you trying to tell me? That you want to fuck my Daddy?” Her head rapidly shakes, finger tapping the air. “That’s a step too far, Rae. Fuck.”

I shrink into the seat. I've never felt so shit about overstepping a line as I do now. Even with Connor, I didn't feel as though I purposefully put myself somewhere I wasn't welcome.Hedragged me there. He was the one who forced me to sit at that table and eat dinner with his father. The one who trapped me into staying to watch the fateful show after.