Page 44
“You need to go get the stuff out of your safe. I know Neal can’t get into it, but if he throws it out…”
I’d nearly forgotten about that. It was my own fault for keeping important paperwork in that fucking apartment, but in my defense, I thought Neal was gone for good. I didn’t realize he was going to pop up again and make things complicated.
I didn’t realize he was going to try to stay. I didn’t realize that whatever life he’s built himself in the last few years had gotten mundane enough that he’d decide to come fuck up mine.
“I’ll go over there this evening. What time are you leaving for the airport?”
“Not until midnight,” she says, then reaches over and pulls me into a hug.
I stiffen, but only for a second, and then I lean into her arms and take a deep breath. I’m pretty sure I’d have figured out how to do all of this without my parents, but I don’t like to think about how quiet and lonely and hard it would be if they weren’t in my life.
“Thanks,” I mutter.
She pets my hair a little before letting me go. “Seems like you’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Maybe do something for yourself today.”
“Maybe,” I murmur quietly. I’ll get Elio off to school, and then…
Who the fuck knows.
All I really want to do is go back to last night. To the station. To that pitch-dark room, nestled in the tiny bunk with Easton’s soft, strong arms and rock-hard dick and gorgeous mouth.
“Honey,” my mom says, “are you okay? You look a little flushed.”
I try not to choke as I pound back my coffee and turn away so she can’t see anything else on my face. “Fine. Just tired. I’m going to go wake Elio.”
And for the moment—though I know it won’t last long—Easton is forgotten.
“Can we go to Dunkin?”
I glance in the mirror at Elio. “Are you serious?”
“I want coffee.”
“Try again in five years.”
He groans and knocks his head against the window. “I can never do anything fun. One of these days, I’m going to crack and go on some kind of spree.”
“Like a donut and coffee spree?”
He snorts. “Yeah. Stuff my face full of gluten so my intestines explode out of my butthole.”
“I don’t want to keep this conversation going. You’d better be rich with a well-paid caregiver because I am not cleaning that up.”
He bursts into laughter, which makes my chest feel a bit lighter. I haven’t heard him laugh like that in a while. We’re trying to pretend like all of this is normal, but it’s hard to relax when I feel like Neal could pop up around any corner to fuck up my day.
“What are you doing after this?” Elio asks as we approach the car line.
“I have to go to the apartment and steal back the safe full of paperwork. Then I might go to the gym. Or for a run at the park.”
“Don’t fall into the pond,” he tells me.
I roll the SUV to a stop and then look back over my shoulder at him. “Yeah. We’re not joking about this yet.”
He blinks back, unrepentant. “Why don’t you do something else? Something less boring.”
“Like what? Download Valorant?” He brightens, and I shake my head. “No. I love you to the end of the universe and back again, but I don’t love you enough to subject myself to the people on that game.”
His head flops back against his headrest. “Fine.” Drawing his lower lip between his teeth, he suddenly sits up a bit. “Why don’t you go ask Easton out on a date?”
