“You’re never decent,” he tells me, making me smile back. It’s another fleeting glimpse of a simpler, more playful life we could have had. His smile fades too quickly, though, and we fall back into the life that’s actually ours. “And you can’t really be considering her proposal.”
“Of course not,” I scoff. “But it isn’t as easy as leaving, you know that. Anyone else we accept help from will want something. Everyone wants something from me.”
I don’t realize how true the words are until I say them out loud, but once they are said, they are undeniable.
I stretch out under the covers and turn to face the wall my bed is pressed up against, hearing him shuck his own boots off before the mattress gives as he crawls in next to me.
I still feel the lie hanging uncomfortably between us even as he
