Page 51 of Under Water

As we drive up, I hear Rune suck in a breath. “Is this North and Leo’s new place?”

“Yeah. I texted Leo and asked if he minded us dropping by.”

Rune is really quiet, and then he says, “I’m not exactly in the mood to socialize right now.”

“Oh. He’s not here,” I tell him with a small laugh. “North’s at the station, and Leo’s currently in California doing some shit with his publishing house. Don’t ask me what. I never understand him.”

Rune settles a bit more into his seat. “Was that a really mean thing for me to say? I like Leo. We’re friends.”

I snort as I pull into the driveway section that sits alongside the house and turn off the SUV. It was an easy drive—very comfortable with a lot of gadgets I assume are for Elio. I’m still reeling a bit from everything that happened, but Rune hasn’t said much of anything until right in this moment, so I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing.

“Leo’s a very honest guy. If he was here and you told him to fuck off because you needed space, he’d totally understand.”

“I’d never tell him to fuck off,” Rune says quietly.

I offer a wry grin. “That’s just for me, right?”

“I…” He goes quiet. “Sorry. For all of that before.”

I wave him off. “Not now. Maybe not even today. We can talk about all that shit later.”

He blows out a puff of air, but when I try to reach for the door handle, his arm shoots out, and he snags me by the wrist. We both freeze, and he looks like maybe he didn’t mean to actually do that. Then he slowly draws my hand to his lips and kisses the center of my palm.

I have no idea what to do with the hurricane in my body right now. I swallow heavily, past a lump in my throat.

“Thank you,” he murmurs.

I nod. It’s all I can do without unsticking my tongue from the roof of my mouth, and it doesn’t seem to want to cooperate.

Rune lets me go with a slow drag of his fingers, and it’s only when he’s fully pulled away that I find the strength to turn and get out. My feet hit the ground with a soft crunch of pea gravel beneath my shoes, and I feel a little shiver.

I’ve always loved that sound. That and walking through crispy, dry, autumn leaves.

I shuffle my feet a bit, then come around to find Rune shutting his door, and he reaches up to untie his hair, dragging his hands through it a few times before tying it back up.

“Why don’t you leave it down?”

He turns and shrugs. “It irritates my neck.”

“But you don’t want to cut it?”

He shakes his head and doesn’t offer me another answer, and I leave it at that because it’s not my business. I ruffle my curls absently, then turn and jerk my head toward the side of the house.

“It’s around here.”

“Oh. Uh…not inside?” he asks, following me at a slower pace.

“Trust me, you’ll get it in a second.” The gazebo isn’t visible from the house either. There’s a small gap in the trees and then about fifty feet of path before it opens up. Rune sticks close, though not at my side as I lead him along the packed dirt, and he slows down halfway to look up at the canopy of leaves.

“Gorgeous.”

“Yeah. Leo fell in love with this place right after he and North got together. He thought North was going to make him give it up.”

“North,” Rune repeats with a snort. “The guy who talks to crows? Leo thought he was going to give up a house in the fucking woods?”

I shrug. “Leo’s got…insecurity issues. And you know, a TBI that doesn’t let him think rationally all the time.” I do my best not to think about that, mostly because Leo’s away, and it’s been a long time since he and I had any real distance from each other. Not since the accident.

I’ve been doing everything in my power not to think about how he’s across the country on his own, and if anything happens…