Page 83 of Under Water

My laughter dies down. “In front of the station? Where people can see?”

“I don’t give a shit who sees that I have the hottest boyfriend literally ever.”

Boyfriend. We didn’t talk about that. We talked about feelings and crushes and…and other things.

But boyfriend?

The shock of it is almost too much.

“You want that?” I ask in a near whisper. “Me as your boyfriend?”

He shrugs. “Yeah. You want me?”

I curl my fingers around the back of his neck and tug him into a fierce, demanding kiss. “Yes,” I say, right against his lips. “Yes. Fucking absolutely yes.”

SEVENTEEN

EASTON

Rune’s in the shower, and I’ve made him a sandwich for lunch since I can’t do the pancake frittata, and now I’m pacing the floor, trying to wind down from my panic attack. I feel like a moron for not calling North the moment I started worrying that Rune was never coming back. And he must have been certain I was working myself up into a full fucking lather because he was very calm and pacifying when he told me what was going on and that Rune was at the police station, giving a statement.

And yeah, in hindsight, maybe it was a terrible idea to drive down to the police station to meet my wayward lover, but I also got a really nice, really hot kiss in front of the building. And a boyfriend too.

Apparently.

I almost bit off my own tongue when I called him that, but he didn’t panic. He didn’t shove me away. He didn’t tell me that this was meant to be just a bit of fun before we had to get back to our real lives.

No. He held me tighter, and he kissed me, and then he followed me home in his now untracked car.

I want to pin him to the couch and suck his brains out through his dick, but he asked for a shower, so instead, I made him a massive sandwich with some of the new sourdough that North had baked, and it’s sitting on the coffee table waiting for him.

And it’s taking everything in me not to burst through the bathroom door and drag him out.

“It’s fine. You’re fine. You can stay calm and relax and not ruin this before it even gets started,” I tell myself.

Dragging my fingers through my hair, I feel immediate regret as some of my curls puff up. God knows what I look like right now. It’s a literal wonder he’s interested in doing more than just some casual fucking.

DING-DING, DING-DING!

My annoying-as-hell doorbell goes off, making me jump half a foot. I do have a package coming, so I don’t think twice when I walk to the door and fling it open.

But it’s not a delivery driver.

It’s fucking Neal.

“You have some horse-sized balls, dude,” is the first thing out of my mouth.

He clears his throat. “Is my husband here?”

“Your very soon-to-be ex-husband isn’t here,” I say flatly. I hope to fuck Rune plans on taking a bit longer in the shower.

Neal snorts. “His car’s out front.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” I say with a sweet grin and lean against the doorjamb. “We found your tracker.”

Neal’s face goes a bit pale.

“Yeah. And the fact that you found my house makes me think I should check my car too.”