Page 141 of What We Become

I look at her. We both burst out laughing.

For the next while, we’re just two girls in a tiny apartment, eating junk and making each other laugh, just like we were when it all started.

THIRTY-THREE

ELI

“Hey,” Sage says, tossing her house keys into the bowl on the shelf.

I’m halfway through a court report, the kind of thing that usually makes my brain itch, but the sound of her voice blows all the words off the page at once.

She walks over, leans down, and gives me a quick, soft kiss—too quick. I put a hand on her jaw and slow her exit, deepening it enough to make her moan into my mouth.

“How was lunch with Amy?”

“Good. She’s doing . . . well.” She smiles, eyes crinkling at the edges.

I set the file down and tap the cushion next to me. “Come here.”

She drops onto the couch, flopping sideways with her head in my lap. I run a hand through her hair, and she closes her eyes, melting further into the cushions.

“Where’s Knox?”

“He went straight into the garage when we got home,” she says, opening her eyes. “What’s all this? Schoolwork? I thought you weren’t going back.”

“I’m not. Not until after Stephen is found. I need to be available for you, and I’m not risking bringing whatever follows us into a school full of kids.”

Her expression softens. “I’m sorry you’re stuck in the house because of me.”

“Don’t,” I say, sliding my hand from her hair to her cheek, thumb tracing the line of her jaw. “You’re not keeping me from my life, Sage. You are my life.”

She blinks up at me, gray eyes catching the afternoon light from the window. “Eli⁠—”

I lean in and kiss her again, slower this time, letting my mouth linger against hers until I feel her tension ease.

“That’s not how you win an argument.”

I grin. “I didn’t even realize it was one. I just thought we were trying to blame ourselves for things outside our control.”

She gives me a slow smile. “It’s possible something like that was happening.”

I press another light kiss against her lips. “Why don’t you help me with something we actually can control?”

I gesture to the coffee table, where the file sits open. Her eyes scan as she leans over and flips the pages. Photos. Case summaries. Odin’s coded headers across the top of each one.

“New assignments?” she asks, twisting her body so she’s back to facing me.

“Odin wants two targets selected before Tuesday’s meeting. We need to run two teams now.” I turn one of the files toward her. “Three and three. You’ll be with Knox and me. Then Holden leads Milo and Micah.”

She picks up the file. Reads. Her face goes still.

“Swim coach?” she asks.

“Yep.”

“Seven girls.”

“That we know of.”