Page 107 of Time to Bounce

I might or might not have felt something wet and hot leeching into the waistband of my jeans.

“I might’ve popped a stitch,” I admitted.

She dropped down onto her knees and yanked up my shirt.

I had to dodge my chin out of the way to avoid her nailing me with her fist.

Her eyes studied my side, “I don’t think you popped any. But you are bleeding a little bit. Let’s get you inside and…”

I smoothed my hand down her hair, then cupped her face. “Let’s eat first. Then we can shower.”

“Do you have a change of clothes?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Let’s eat, then go back to your place. That way you can get changed,” she suggested.

“Deal.”

DM me if you want to be my cousin. I’m starting my own family from scratch.

—Athena’s secret thoughts

ATHENA

Despite the day I’d had, the night was rather perfect.

When we were finished eating, we headed into my room, and I packed a bag while Gable watched on with curiosity.

His eyes studied every stitch of clothing I packed.

It was when I was down to only needing to pack underwear that he got up and started going through my dresser. He came out with twice the amount of clothes that I planned on taking and I started cracking up.

“Those are winter clothes, Gable,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “You’ll need those at my place eventually.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he grinned. “It’s supposed to be pretty cold next week.”

“The weatherman always says that, and it never happens,” I pointed out.

“How do you feel about Halloween parties?” he questioned.

I shot him a curious look. “Like the one at work?”

“The one at work,” he confirmed. “I’m off duty that day. And I’m fairly sure you would love it.”

“I do love it,” I agreed. “I’ve gone two years in a row. It’s a lot of fun.”

But rather sad when you were alone with no one to take with you. All the spouses, and families, of the officers came to the carnival mid-day, then the adults stayed into the night and partied.

It was tame, but it was a lot of fun. And it gave me an excuse to dress up, which I also loved.

The first year I’d gone, I’d attended with Gavrel. It was there that Garnett convinced me to apply for the emergency services dispatcher position.

This would be my second Halloween attending as an employee, and my third attending period.

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