Page 69 of Finding A Way Back Home

“Didn’t expect it to escalate that quickly,” I pointed out, smirking as I begrudgingly rolled onto my hands and knees and crawled up to him. It was impossible to miss the way his pupils flared as he tracked the motion, but my attention locked on the bed when I threw the comforter back. He had two hot pads neatly laid out under the comforter on my side of the mattress, little red lights illuminated on the controllers. Blinking, I glanced to his side of the room, and when I didn’t spot any cords, jerked my gaze back to his. “What’s this?”

He shrugged a nonchalant shoulder as though the gesture warranted no explanation. “You don’t sleep if you’re cold. It’s going to snow tonight, and these windows are terrible.”

“You… you pre-heated the bed for me?”

That made him chuckle, his hand finding my hip as I scooted under the blanket beside him. “Seventy-two degrees or higher for a happy Elora pastry.” I nestled in right next to him, practically purring when the heat from the pads hit my skin. Damn, that was cozy. My eyelids instantly became just a little heavier. “You sure you can get away with sleeping here, Pix?”

It was officially hard to keep my eyes open. “I usually work from the coffee shop in the mornings,” I said with a yawn, stretching before nestling into his side as he scooted down to cradle me against him. “I figure as long as I pop in with my laptop long enough for the baristas to remember me coming by, then nobody will be any wiser.”

“Okay. I’ll wake you up with me.”

“Mmmkay.” My eyes sealed shut, head lolling against his chest, muscles melting between the snuggles and warm bed. Voice barely audible, I mumbled, “Whatcha’ reading?”

“Brandon Sanderson.”

“Dragons?” Even my ears thought I sounded drunk. Could you get drunk on happy?

“Sometimes,” he chuckled. “Goodnight, Pix.”

“Tell me about the dragons tomorrow?”

“Okay, baby.” The heat of his palm settled against my cheek, pulling a contented little hum from my chest as he pushed the hair away. “Sleep well.”

TWENTY-THREE

BRODERICK

“I don’t know. Maybe I just gotta swear off women,” Axel groused as we packed our nasty gym clothes into duffle bags. After a whopping six months, he and his most recent flame fizzled out, and he was less than pleased at the prospect of getting back in the game.

“Famous last words,” I declared, smirking over at Jameson, who scowled because it was true.

“Maybe stop dating women half your age,” he suggested, stuffing his hoodie deeper into the black space and sliding the zipper closed.

“Christ, dude, they’re not half my age. I’m not a pedo.”

“Just saying–did you meet this last one in homeroom?”

“What can I say? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Worked out just fine for you and Rhyett.”

“First, the apple thing is for kids, not brothers. Second, fucking watch it,” Jameson growled. But Axel’s jab earned a round of laughs from Charlie and Jake.

“Don’t give him a complex,” I muttered, slinging my bag over my shoulder and palming the basketball from where it sat on the wood bench. “Took a great deal of effort to make Noel stick.” There’s honorable and then there’s insufferable. Jameson was so bent out of shape about the eight-year difference he almost threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. Last thing I wanted was these bozos making him second guess that, so I opted to redirect their focus. Turning on Jake, I asked, “What about you–any prospects on the horizon?”

“Gotta be looking to have prospects. Haven’t bothered to look since…I dunno, Sterling was born?”

All of us halted, collectively turning to pin him under incredulous eyes. At five-foot-eleven, Jake was the smallest of the group. While he possessed those signature Rhodes eyes, their youngest cousin had light brown hair, olive skin, and a baby face. It was Axel to vocalize the collective thought.

“I mean, I knew it had been a minute. But…you haven’t dated in seven years?”

Fidgeting under our focus, he shrugged. “I mean, a couple of hookups.”

“You’re not even thirty,” I pointed out.

“And the dating scene blows. Women are fucking crazy.”

All of us weighed his words before turning for the door as Jameson muttered, “The good ones are out there. Might have to go off island to find one we’re not related to, though.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “In your case, that’s true. You Rhodes pop up like rabbits.”

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