After a moment, he breaks our held gazes to look at his hands. His voice low, he says, “I want to ask you a favor.” “You’re in no position to be doing that.” “It’s not just for me. It’s for us both.” He lifts his gaze to mine again, and now his eyes are tortured. “I want you to stay away from me, Maven. I want you to promise you’ll stay away.” That’s so unexpected, I forget to be suspicious of him. “Why?” He looks at my face as if it’s the last time he’ll ever see it, then says gruffly, “Because I’m not strong enough to stay away from you.”
