Page 70 of The Wrecked One

He nodded in agreement.

I let go of a sigh, not looking forward to that conversation with my father. “I just hope Steve’s family is okay. It’s hard to be mad at him for giving up our locations to save his mom and sister.”

After all, he didn’t go through with killing Easton and Teddy like they’d ordered him to. He didn’t take a life to save his mom and sister. I knew Oliver had to be thinking about that, too. Those thoughts would percolate, and I didn’t want him to slip back into that dark place, not when I felt like he was making progress after opening up to me at the lake.

“I’m sure Steve assumed you’d keep me safe, and he knew Wyatt would be nearby to help Gwen, despite giving up our locations.”

“He’s lucky you’re okay. Gwen, too,” he said tersely. “What was Wyatt doing there?”

“He wasn’t there-there. Close, though. Wyatt rented a house for his family near our place in Maine so he’d be close if Gwen needed him. He wanted to keep tabs on everyone. You know how he is. Overprotective.”

“He has a reason to be. She winds up getting herself into trouble as much as you do.”

I resisted an eye roll since he was technically right.

“Also, I thought Carter wanted to keep Easton in Dubai at Diana’s lab. Something happen there?”

“Easton relocated back Stateside about a month ago.” A lot had changed since Oliver took off. “Remember Bahar?”

“The Turkish scientist working with Diana. Yeah, of course.”

He was massaging the sole of my foot, which was resting on his thigh, and I had to hide a moan of pleasure when it almost escaped with my reply. “Well, Bahar and Easton dated for a few months. It didn’t work out, and Easton wasn’t comfortable being so close to her. I was rooting for them because I’d like to see them both happy, but Diana said the vibe wasn’t there. Too many differences for even an opposites-attract romance to work out.”

“A lot has changed since I’ve been gone, huh?” He’d read my mind, not a surprise.

“Yeah, I?—”

“Hey,” a deep, male voice called out, cutting me off. Fortunately, from the sound of it, he was in the hall, not the bedroom. “Just making sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah,” Oliver shouted back, his hand going still on my foot. “Just cleaning up. Everything good?”

“Your dad will be here in about an hour.”

“Okay, thanks. Be down then,” Oliver answered, then switched to my other foot.

He moved his shoulders side to side, probably using the pressure from the jets to try and search out relief from the pain. I hated he was hurting, most likely from having to deal with my dead weight post free fall.

“You weren’t in Canada alone,” I said a few seconds later, the thought settling in and taking over. “You’ve had people. Like them, right?” I lifted my chin in the direction of the bedroom. “I guess that makes me feel better, but also sad you didn’t choose to be with me, to let me help you.”

He set my foot off to the side of his body and sat taller, the bubbles clinging to his hard chest. Dragging both hands through his hair, he let go of a gruff breath and shared, “I had no plans to socialize while up here, but they didn’t give me a choice. Practically strapped my ass down to the chair at the dinner table. It took a long time for me to talk to them. To anyone.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood, and my hand went still on his leg.

“I didn’t choose them over you, Mya. They just . . . were here, and I . . .” His hands splashed into the water as if defeated, and I didn’t hesitate, making my way to him and climbing right onto his lap, straddling him the way I’d done by the lake. With his hard cock between us, I had to be careful I didn’t hurt him, and he didn’t accidentally slide inside me.

Meeting my eyes, he kept quiet as he shifted his chain around, the dog tags going to his back. He was probably worried the metal would dig into my skin. Always thinking about me, even in his own precarious state.

I linked my wrists behind his neck and hugged him, smashing my breasts against his chest. “Am I hurting your shoulder like this?”

“No, you’re perfect,” he whispered into my ear, then turned his face so his lips brushed my cheek.

I eased back so we were nearly nose to nose, staring into each other’s eyes, continuing to ignore our harsh reality and oppose its ugly grip.

And then I did it.

I made the first move.

I kissed him.

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