Page 61 of Burning For You

When he walked in the back door and put the dinner on the counter, Corbin looked up at him and tossed him a beer.

“I was hoping you’d bring food. What the hell is my sister getting herself into?”

“What do you know?” He pulled the subs out, grabbed his Italian and let Corbin serve himself.

Corbin brought over two paper plates and glasses, so he poured his beer and took a sip before he bit into his dinner. He needed it after today.

“I know she got an email from someone claiming to be setting all these fires. Almost baiting her now. That he gave her quite a story. She’s going to sink her teeth into this. She’s going to want to know more and maybe be in the way more than helpful.”

Ash sighed. “I thought that too. I’ll keep an eye on things the best I can with her.”

“I figured as much. We’ll get to that too. What’s going on with her questioning her parents’ fire?”

“I don’t want to betray her.”

“It’s too late. It’s out. You said it in front of Tate. It’s made the rounds in the family.”

“I didn’t say it. She did,” he argued.

“Because Tate wanted to know why you were there. Is that the truth?”

This really wasn’t a lie. “It is. She asked me the other day, I looked into it and went over to tell her.”

“How did you know where she lived? How did she reach out and talk to you about it?”

He took a bite of his sandwich, chewed and thought this through.

Lying would serve no purpose. He knew that much.

But he didn’t want to get on the bad side of his best friend either.

“I ran into her at Fire Mission last week. I was waiting on my dinner and having a beer, she was picking up. We talked a few minutes, then ate our dinners together at my place.”

Corbin lifted his eyebrow. “Why am I only hearing of this now?”

“Because it was a spontaneous dinner. We were friends, you know. We chatted some. She asked me about the fires.”

“So, all for her story?”

He didn’t want to think that. “That was some of it. Then she told me about her thoughts on the fire when she was a kid. I knew where she lived because she told me and once I looked into it, I went back to give her the information.”

“Rather than call her?”

“What do you want to know, Corbin? Did I have a thing for your sister years ago? Before she was even your sister? You know the answer to that. Because I told her I’m the one who asked for your family to take her in.”

“Wow. And she wanted to know why?”

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“As much as I felt comfortable with. When she moved in with you guys, she pushed me off.”

Corbin laughed. “She was pushing you off long before that.”

“That’s right. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel for her. Then I just backed off and she moved away and end of story.”

“But it’s not the end, is it?”