Page 34 of How I Love You

He grinned. “I’ll try not to.”

“It’s a give-and-take thing, dealin’ with older siblings like him.”

“You mean the invisible kind?” I asked.

“What do you mean, give and take?” Austin replied, proving my point.

She winked.“You know, he’llgiveyou all kinds of crap, but he’ll alsotakecare of you if you need him.”

“Oh, yeah. Cool.” Austin looked me over before turning back to her. “I guess he does that.”

“Cute,” I said dryly.

She grinned, putting her chin in her hand. “I really am, aren’t I?”

“You’re something…”

We spent the next few minutes drinking coffee and speculating about what the key could open, ideas ranging from the logical to the ridiculous. And sometimes, the most absurd idea was also the most rational: an actual treasure chest.

When Colt and I had first landed this case, part of me wondered if the whole thing was a hoax. It was far-fetched enough that Anthony Barto’s family had been searching for long-lost pirate treasure in the Caribbean for generations, only for Anthony to eventually find it. But to add that the guy brought it back to Colorado only for it to be stolen and placed in the care of a quiet police dispatcher’s grandpa in Tennessee?

It couldn’t be true.

But then, we’d found that key. As much as I’d wanted to deny it, it really did look like something out of a movie. Only,not a prop—the real deal. Suddenly, the whole story seemed more plausible. Why else would the older man have a pirate-looking key hiding under a loose floorboard in his basement? If it were a fake or some kind of kitschy souvenir he’d gotten while honeymooning in Bermuda, it would’ve been in a kitchen junk drawer with a bottle opener at one end.

“I’ll reach out to my guy to make sure it’s real,” Colt said after a while of spitballing.

“You have a guy for that?” Dakota asked.

“I have a guy for everything,” he replied with a wink.

It took all of my strength not to kick him under the table.

“Can I go back to the room with you?” Austin asked. He’d finished his milkshake five minutes ago, and judging by the way he’d been bouncing in his seat, he was probably sick of not having his game console in hand.

“Sure thing,” Colt told him, and I returned his nod, appreciating the silent promise that he’d keep an eye on my brother.

Colt was probably one of the only people on the planet I explicitly trusted, not just with my life but with my brother’s. He’d been just as shocked as I was when my mom announced her pregnancy, and even though we were both in the Marines by then, Colt jumped right into honorary big brother mode as soon as we got back to Colorado.

“So, now what?” Dakota asked when they were gone.

I hummed, leaning back in my seat and taking my time to answer. “Now, I’m gonna go speak to my client about the key to see if he knows anything about it, and you’re gonna–”

“Come with you?” she cut in, her eyes wide with expectation.

I blinked slowly at her, lifting a single brow. Did she seriously think she was tagging along to meet Barto?

She groaned, clearly reading my expression. “Oh, don’t start with me. We already settled this.”

“We did. But you helping me with the case doesn’t have to involve you meeting with a client.”

Her eyes narrowed in playful suspicion. “You worried you’ll have to split your fee with me if he finds out I’m helpin’?”

I chuckled softly, shaking my head. “That would imply you’re going to do actual work. Think of this more like a ride-along.”

Her eyes flashed with something fiery, that spark she always seemed to carry around with her. “Do you usually take cases so far from home?”

I took a sip of my coffee, using the pause to consider how much I wanted to give away. “Colorado isn’t home, it’s just where we’re based.”

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