“Your sisters aren’t the problem here,” he said.
“I know. It’s my parents. But I also know that if I can get my sisters on my side, it will be easier to influence them.”
“No, the problem isn’t your parents either,” he argued. “It’s you. You don’t want me to meet your parents. You keep saying that it’s because you know they’ll give me a hard time, but I’m beginning to wonder if there’s more to it than that.”
Astra frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re ashamed to be with a vampire.”
She gaped at him. “What? No, I’m not.”
“Then, why haven’t I met any of your friends? You’ve met Clay and Dylan. As soon as Torin returns to town, I plan to take you to his restaurant. But I haven’t met anyone close to you except two of your sisters.”
“That’s because I don’t have any friends,” she snapped. “My entire life for the last decade has been work.”
Astra forced herself to stop and take a deep breath. She didn’t want to fight with him. Fighting wouldn’t solve this. Only a calm, rational conversation would.
“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, but what you’re saying isn’t true. I haven’t introduced you to my friends because I don’t have many and the few I do have are rarely in the city. I’m also very close to my sisters and parents, so it’s important to me that we do this in a way that won’t lead to ugly words and hard feelings.”
“I understand that, Astra, but you’re sitting there telling me that you want me to begin my relationship with your parents by lying to them. That’s not ideal either.”
She blinked. She hadn’t thought of it like that.
“Why are you pushing back so hard against me meeting your mother and father?”
“Because I don’t want the drama—”
He shook his head. “That may be a reason, but it’s not the main one. You always tell the truth, except about this. Why are you putting this off? Really.”
“That is the reason.”
He only stared at her. It was as though his eyes could see straight into her soul. “You’re lying to me and to yourself. Be honest.”
“I told you—”
“Dammit, Astra! Stop making excuses and tell me.”
Her lips were numb, and her chest felt tight. It was the first time she’d seen Rune truly upset and it was because of her.
Finally, she said, “Because I don’t want you to leave me because of them.”
“If I weren’t a vampire, would you have already introduced me to them?”
“No,” she answered, her voice dull.
Her chest ached, growing even tighter, and she realized she wasn’t breathing. She inhaled, slow and shaky.
“Astra, I love you. I can see this is hurting you and I hate that. But I can’t force you to let me into your life. You say that your parents will do their best to run me off, but you haven’t even given me a chance. You’ve decided I won’t stick with you before anything has even happened.”
His words pierced her heart with the same cold fire as a blade would carve on her skin. Though he hadn’t said the word, he’d all but called her a coward.
And he was right.
She was a coward.
Rune waited a beat for her response, but when there was only silence, he walked over to the stove and turned it off. Then, he gathered his keys, phone, and laptop bag and came around the bar to stand in front of her stool.
“I need more from you than a few stolen hours after work or on the weekends. I want more than that for my life. And I think you do, too. The ball is in your court, Astra. If you decide to play it, let me know and I’ll be there. If not…” he trailed off, silent for a long moment. “Well, then maybe it’s better if we end things now before they get any messier.”
