Page 52 of Say it Ain’t So

Kolton shrugged, turning back around and fitting the cover over all his electrical work. “You know, since we’ve been working our asses off and are nearly done with this entire office move.”

Van chuffed. “I know what we’re celebrating. What are you thinking of doing?”

Kolton leaned against the rungs, body twisted slightly as he peered back at Van. “My sisters were talking about this ax throwing place that opened up a few months back.”

“Ax throwing?” I let out a laugh. “That sounds like something Rylan would love. Adventure’s his favorite.”

The minute the words left my mouth, I wanted to shove them back in. I wanted to curse myself for opening my big mouth.

These moments—these little snippets of Rylan that he gifted to me on tiny slips of paper—weren’t meant to be shared. They were mine and his. They weren’t…

All my cursing and fretting evaporated as Rylan turned his face in my direction, one of his eyebrows lifting on his forehead.

“Fucking yeah!” Van tossed his pile of wires into the box at his feet and pushed off from the floor. “We should go. All of us.”

My heart wanted to beat right out of my chest. That is, once it restarted itself. Being the subject of Rylan’s full attention always made me flustered, and now was no different. His gaze was intense. Every piece of me lit up like a Christmas tree, or like…anything that lights up in the world. I couldn’t even follow my train of thought long enough to figure out a way to describe it. All I knew is that every cell in my body felt like fireworks going off.

Without turning an inch from the foot of the ladder where he stood, Rylan tilted his head. “What do you think, gorgeous?”

What did I think?

I had tried so hard to stay away, to keep my distance after what I’d done. Though Rylan had been a steady presence since he came back into my life, the anger that had simmered under his skin when he accused me of lying and stealing was never far from my mind.

And with it, remnants of the fear Peter had beaten into me.

Could I do this? Put myself in a position where there was nothing between us to keep him away?

Nothing, but the other two men staring at me like I was the dumbest thing in the world.

Van’s lip quirked. “Don’t be scared, Joss. The axes get thrown at targets, and cages separate everyone so you can’t get hit. It’s perfectly safe.”

“I’m not scared,” I told him, though the way my voice wavered, I couldn’t blame him for thinking my fear was about that.

My fear was solely because of the man who hadn’t stopped staring at me, who had my entire body burning with the same desire that I’d felt for him in Vegas.

My fear was that I’d fall for him all over again.

Van leaned on the counter. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Kolton closed in too. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never done it either. We can learn together.”

The tilt of Rylan’s lips was all I could see. That, and the way he dragged his gaze up and down my body. He rubbed his hands together, approaching the front desk. When he reached it, he leaned over and snagged the little paper from my fingers.

I was torn between crying out and stealing it back, or just standing there and letting him take it. I’d kept every single one of the notes he left me. I had them all stashed in an old shoebox under my bed. I wanted that one back. I wanted to keep it with the others, this little piece of him that was different from the rest.

“Sure,” I said, eyes locked on Rylan’s blues, “I’d love to come.”

When he smiled, it felt like there was more to it than a simple tilting of his lips. That made me want to move toward him. Let him wrap me in his arms while I curled into his chest.

But I couldn’t. Not only was there a desk between us, but Kolton and Van were still standing right there.

“All the wiring for the security system is done,” Kolton said, going behind Rylan and Van and rounding the corner of my desk. I scooted out of his way as he squeezed in toward my computer. “The last bits are done on here. Once this is set up, I’m good to go.”

Van turned back toward his mess of wires. “I’m about done with this nonsense. I’m beginning to think we should have listened to you, Kolton. Would have been easier to run the sound system through the intercom rather than installing something separate.”

Kolton and Van had perfected bickering like an old couple, and they went right back to it as they continued their work. With my desk space in use, I was left with nothing to do to occupy my hands. I reached for my hair, pulling it over one shoulder and running my fingers through it until the cool I was searching for on the back of my neck turned molten.

Peeking over my shoulder, I found Rylan standing so close I could touch him if I so much as breathed too deep. His attention wasn’t on what Kolton was doing. It wasn’t on my face. Instead, it was directed right where that heat pooled at the crook of my neck.