He goes still. "How do you know that?"
"Because Chloe told me, and she knows because Pyro can't keep his mouth shut when he's annoyed."
"It's complicated."
"Everything with you is complicated."
He sets down his wrench and finally turns to look at me. His expression is guarded but there's heat underneath.
"Why are you here?" he asks.
"Because I'm tired of pretending I'm not thinking about you."
"You should be thinking about someone else."
"There you go again, telling me what I should do."
His jaw tightens. "Your dad's suspicious."
"My dad's always suspicious. That's his default setting."
"This is different. He knows someone's watching you and he's trying to figure out who."
"Let him figure it out."
"Everly—"
"What? You think I'm scared of my dad finding out I kissed you? Or almost kissed you? Multiple times?"
"You should be."
I push off the workbench and walk closer. "Stop telling me what I should feel. I'm getting bored of it."
He doesn't back up but I can see him wanting to, can see the war happening behind his eyes.
"You're playing with fire," he says.
"I know. That's the fun part."
"This isn't a game."
"I never said it was." I stop right in front of him. "But you're the one acting like it is—all this back and forth, all this I want you but I can't have you bullshit."
"It's not bullshit."
"Then what is it?"
He doesn't answer. I'm close enough now to see the pulse jumping in his throat, close enough to feel the heat coming off him.
"You know what I think?" I ask.
"What?"
"I think you're waiting for me to give up, waiting for me to get tired and walk away so you don't have to make a choice."
"That's not what I'm doing."
"Isn't it? Because from where I'm standing it looks exactly like that."