Page 2 of Ice Around the Edges

“Because you got shot, idiot.”

I squinted at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “What could it be?”

“I have no idea.”

“I needed to see you.”

“You could have just called.”

“Yes, I could have.”

Taller than me, broader, more muscular, he was a swimmer just like I was. We had swum on the same team in college; it was how we had met.

He was not the kind of man you noticed right away; he grew on you instead. It took hours of listening to his low husky voice, days of noticing the way his lip turned up in the corner when he smiled, and months of having the heavy-lidded gaze leveled on you for the slow heat to build to recognition. When I was eighteen, it had taken me an entire semester to realize that it wasn’t air I needed—it was Dixon Bain.

He was sexy and hot, but not necessarily handsome. Ten years looked good on him. He had laugh lines now, his copper-colored hair was cropped short, and the eyebrows, dark and expressive, were no longer hidden under heavy bangs. I used to push his hair out of his face to trace down the long nose, the full lips, so I could see him, kiss him. There had been more-beautiful-than-him men in my bed over the years, but never one as sensual or one I loved quite so hard.

“Evan.”

“Sorry, tell me why you didn’t just call?”

“Because I wasn’t sure if you’d talk to me or not.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He shrugged broad shoulders.

“You don’t need a reason to call me. You can just call.”

“I thought I did.”

I smiled at him. “’Cause you’re an idiot.”

“This is not news,” he said, reaching for my hand, and I let him take it.

“You look good.”

“I wish I could return the compliment,” he said, taking a deep breath in as he leaned on the bed. “You look like shit.”

I cracked a grin, and my lip hurt because it was split. “Nice.”

He squeezed my hand gently. “So I don’t see anyone around.”

“Meaning?”

“Is there a guy in the picture?”

“Not right now.”

“Why not?”

“You know me.” I grinned lazily. “I’m difficult.”

“You just want to save the world, is all.”

“Yeah, well, that’s really annoying to most people.”