Page 147 of What We Bury

“I didn’t meet anyone named Stephen.”

“You sure?”

“Holden, I barely knew Brock’s friends. I knew Tyler because he and Amy were dating. The rest were just . . . there. I barely spoke to them.”

He nods. “And Tyler?” he says, eyes on my mouth. “Has he been around recently?”

His gaze slides back up to mine, pupils blown. Why does this feel more like foreplay than the procedural conversation it is?

I squirm a little in my seat, pressing my knees to ease the throbbing between my legs. “He, uh, came by Tuesday night with Amy. Picked up some of her things.”

“How was he?”

“Suspicious. Hostile. He asked if Milo was the guy I dumped Brock for. Milo called him Stephen, actually—is this why?”

Holden nods. Slow.

“What about your roommate? Has she said anything?”

I shake my head. “Not really. She’s been . . . off. Busy. Apologetic, but weird about it.” I hesitate. “Tyler’s become kind of a gatekeeper. He doesn’t really like her being here.”

“Why?”

I shrug. “I think he blames me for Brock leaving.”

“You think.”

“He hasn’t said it with words. But he’s been weird with me since Brock went missing.”

Holden’s face doesn’t change but something in the angle of his jaw does.

“If he comes by again,” he says. “If he says anything that makes you uncomfortable. If he so much as looks at you sideways. You call me. Or Knox. Or any of us. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“I mean it, Sage.”

“I said I got it.”

He holds my eyes another beat. Then he collects his things. “That’s all I need. I’ll be in touch.”

He’s up and crossing to the door so fast I almost miss the moment—almost miss my body following him like part of me can’t stand the idea he might vanish before I solve whatever this is between us.

He’s at the door when he pauses, muscle ticking in his jaw.

“Take care, wildcat,” he says, quiet but so fucking heavy it almost floors me.

He reaches for the door handle, hesitates and does a 180, eyes burning straight through me.

“Holden?”

His eyes move to my mouth. “Fuck it,” he mutters, closing the distance so fast his mouth crashes into mine.

For half a second I’m too shocked to move.

Then I grab his shirt and kiss him back.

Although, it’s not a kiss. It’s a fucking siege.