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I cross the room, rising up onto my toes to kiss Tell in greeting, just on the edge of his lips.
“Shall we?”
“If it’s cool with you…” He glances at Gavin.
“Why is he looking at me?” Gav asks, grimacing.
“I have no idea.” I almost choke on a laugh. He'd better not be thinking what I think he’s thinking.
“Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean—” Tell scrambles.
Before things can get any more awkward, I slip my arms around Gavin’s neck, kissing his cheek and brushing my nose against his stubble. May as well put the nail in the coffin of awkwardness. See what Tell does with it.
“I’ll see you tonight?” I linger for just a second, enjoying one massive arm around my waist.
“Damn straight. Have fun.” And go Gavin, he pulls me in for another hug, burying his face in the side of my neck.
“Oh. Okay. Cool.” Tell grins, nodding like he just got a perfectly reasonable explanation. Well, then. “We’ll all have to get together and hang out sometime.”
My brain is spinning as he waves, and I drag him along toward the car. Not how I expected that to go.
In minutes, we’re heading down the coastal road back to town. I’ve gotten so used to taking the back way through the woods that I had forgotten how beautiful the drive was.
“You know, now that I’m with you, I feel like I did not plan the day out well enough,” Tell admits, chewing his lip.
I can think of a few plans for those lips…
“I thought the plan was to hang out, me and you. No need to overthink it.”
“I overthink everything,” he grumbles.
“Me too. So let's keep it super simple. Take me to your favorite place in Sanctum. Then we can get food. I’m not picky.”
“Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?” It’s actually nice to hear him sound unsure. Like he’s off his game and not always the smooth operator.
Unlike some statuesque, dark-haired control freak whom I work for who never shows a sign of weakness or error…
I resist the urge to check my phone to see if he’s messaged me.
It’s my day off. No work stuff!
Soon, the tree-lined roads Tell takes heading east start to look unfamiliar. After about ten minutes, he turns off through a gate that he suspiciously opens with a button and heads up a single-lane, paved track. It winds up along a ridge, switching back a few times before depositing us at an overlook, a series of old wooden buildings sitting back in the trees.
“Where are we?” I open the car door, following him. The view is unreal. Sanctum Harbor stretches out below us, all the way to the bay, just past a crystalline blue lake I couldn’t see as we drove past it. “And how is it not packed with hikers and tourists?”
“Well… that is because it’s mine. Sort of.”
“You own this property? That’s incredible.”
“My family owns this property. Used to be a retreat, cabins for rent. Went bankrupt back in the ’90s. No one has offered to rent the place from us since. I think everyone just forgot about it, my dad included.” The tone of his voice shifts when he mentions his dad, a subtle dip that has me reaching for his hand resting on the railing. “So…”
“So, what?”
“Did I pass?” He takes my hand, leading me along the walk that runs the length of the ridge for several hundred yards.
“Pass what?”
“The scary roommate test.” He laughs.
