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“Do you?” I challenged. “Because it looks like you need all the help you can get just to stay eligible.”

It was a low blow, and I knew it, but I had to do what needed to be done. I couldn’t just let him live in denial anymore. He needed to see this for what it was so he didn’t screw up the career he had been fighting for.

He shifted defensively. “Watch your words.”

“Your English grade,” I said, refusing to back off. “You’re struggling, but that’s what tutors are for.”

“I know what tutors are for.”

“Then use one,” I said. “Or better yet, stop playing and start focusing on your classes again.”

The words hung there, and I knew they were wrong from the moment they left my mouth, but I didn’t back down. Trace just looked at me, letting me know I had trampled the line he hadn’t known was there until I walked right over it.

“Quit?” he muttered incredulously.

“If you can’t handle both, that might be the best option.”

“I can handle it.” His voice was low and controlled in a way that felt far more dangerous than yelling ever could. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

“Then prove it without using any shortcuts.”

Trace exhaled sharply and shook his head. “You don’t get it.”

“You keep saying that, but you never help me understand.”

“I don’t have time to explain my life to you! I’m trying to build something and to do it fast because that’s the only way this works.”

For the first time since I met him, I was actually starting to understand what this meant to him. I could see how strong his feelings were for his family and how hard he was trying to make them proud, but that didn’t change the facts.

“Fast doesn’t mean right.”

“No, but it’s necessary.”

“At what cost, though?”

“At a cost I’m willing to pay.” And the look in his eyes damn near stole the ground from under my feet. In it, he gave everything and nothing.

But not even that could make me back down. He might have been weaseling under my skin, but nothing was going to stop this story.

“Yeah?” I pressed on. “And how are you going to sleep at night with all that money, knowing what you did to get it?”

The silence that followed grew teeth. He tried to stare me down, but all it did was stoke the fire in my chest.

“What are your sisters going to think when they find out how you got there?”

That was all it took for me to snap him like a twig. A shadow passed over his face, and turned his annoyance into something far more treacherous.

“I don’t ever want to hear you talking about them again.”

“I get to talk about whatever’s relevant,” I said, and this time there was a slight tremor in my voice. A sudden loss of confidence brought on by the distinct touching of a sensitive nerve.

“This isn’t relevant, Dakota. It’s crossing a line.”

“You’re the one who’s putting them on the line. Not me.”

Trace stepped forward and closed the distance between us in a way that made the air feel tight. It was so intense that it took my breath away, but still, I stood my ground.

“You have no idea what I’m dealing with.”