Page 36 of Adrift

I’m a little relieved—and more than a little turned on—that he immediately obeys me. Honestly, now I’m thinking of all the other things I want to order him to do. And I bet that’s part of his plan.

God almighty, I’d better fix that roof up fast.

My head is trying to be sensible and grounded about this. But my heart is already an untethered hot air balloon, and my cock wants to follow suit.

Up, up, and away.

Kieran’s phone buzzes. He checks it, then giggles and looks up at me.

“What?” I ask suspiciously, but he just smiles innocently.

“Nothing. You’ll see. Don’t worry.”

My suspicious frown deepens, but he’s not giving away anything, however hard I squint at him. Finally, I give in and sigh. “With you in my life, I don’t think I have a choicebutto worry.”

“Oh, relax,” Kieran winks. “And breathe. Trust me: everything goes in easier that way.”

I stand up to gather the plates, not quite managing to hide my smile before I head for the kitchen.

What am I going to do with him?

Chapter

Fourteen

GAGE

It’sbeautiful here in the orchard—especially from the cabin roof.

I’m taking a break from identifying leaks to gaze across the trees… and to think for a little while. Lord knows I have enough to think about. Plus, I have a flask of ice-cold lemonade that Kieran insisted on sending me with.

I stare out over the gnarly, overgrown trees, slowly shaking my head. Everything feels so much more hopeful than yesterday. I’m feeling so much more relaxed, happy, even confident.

Part of that is Kieran… and part of that is remembering to blow off steam this morning. Not to be crude, but I’m going to need to open that pressure valve regularly, one way or another.

Otherwise, I might just blow.

If I’m a fermenting tank full of cider… Kieran must be the wild yeast that drifted in on the breeze and kicked off a whole chain reaction. But I can never tell him that.

Imagine his face.

I grin and swig my lemonade, shaking my head as I turn my face into the spring afternoon sunshine.

I’m not wrong. Kieraniswild, unpredictable, and potent. He blew into my life, and my whole plan blew out the window. Eventhinking about him makes me almost dizzy, which is probably bad when I’m on a roof. But he’s so sweet. And I don’t think he’s been treated well all that often.

I want to treat him well. And then treat him in every filthy way I can think of.Definitely not the right thing to think about on the roof…

“Hey!”

A deep voice startles me. Three guys are stepping off the road into the orchard, and something tells me I know them.

I just haven’t seen them in a real long time.

“Hey! Sorry, give me a sec.”

I screw the top back onto the flask and scramble down the ladder, and by the time I’m on the ground, I’m sure of it. Even all these years later, I know all three of those faces.

Alph, Carter, and Murph.

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