Page 57 of The Wrong Drive

“Yeah, her new guy,” I answer him. “Why?”

“Because I’m fuckingdyingto get you home and out of this dress,” he growls, dipping his hands lower, landing on my ass.

I peer up at him. “So, where is home now?”

He presses his forehead to mine. “Wherever you are.”

Epilogue

Turner

Two years later…

“Em,” I call out as I grab my jacket and head downstairs. “Do you know where my phone is? Bradford will be here at any time.”

“It’s probably lost in the couch again,” she laughs as I enter the kitchen, now adorned with pictures of us—and my family intermixed. It still hurts sometimes, but it doesn’t trigger me. I take in the sight of Em, and smile. She’s in a pair of light wash jeans and a hideous Christmas sweater, but even so, she looks as beautiful as ever.

And the best thing we ever did was remodel this damn cabin.

New floors, new paint, new kitchen, and well, there’s a lot of gawdy cabin décor that she loves. But I let it happen.

“I swear I always lose my phone,” I mutter under my breath as I plant a kiss on her cheek and run my hand across her stomach.Four months to go.“This job shouldn’t take long.”

“I know,” she chimes, glancing back at me as I slip into the living room. “Is Gunner going?”

“No, he can stay with you,” I answer her, eyeing my elderly dog. He’s pushing up there now, and I don’t know how he’s made it this long, but he has—and I hope he makes it to the birth of my first kid.

But the puppy might push him over the edge.

I frown at the little ball of energy mutt bouncing on top of him, and then rolling around on the hardwood floor. “Why did we think a puppy was a good idea?” I think aloud, glancing back to Em, who turns around to face me.

“Um, because you’ll need him. You’re not invincible, Turner,” she reminds me, just like always, though it’s with a smile.

“Right, he just looks like he’s going to be a shithead,” I laugh as the puppy, who she named Boomer, runs up and starts playing tug of war with my jeans.

“Well then the two of you should get along just fine,” Em bursts into a fit of giggles as I shoot her a dirty look. The sun shines through the front windows, no longer covered by curtains, and the hint of light glints off her wedding ring.

We somehow managed to make the move back to this cabin, even with all the secrets buried around the place. But it’s different now. The air isn’t heavy, and the days aren’t dark. We laugh, and my job and medication keep the urges away. Bradford taught me methods to control myself, and my job of hunting people down… Well…

It’s good for the fucked up person inside of me.

“Who is it this time?” Em asks, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“No idea. He just said it was someone who deserted and is on the run in the foothills. I’m sure it won’t take long. It never does.”

She nods. “True. You’re efficient.”

“And you’re fucking hot,” I breathe out as I take in her full lips, and her disheveled brown hair on top of her head. "I hate leaving you on Christmas.”

Em laughs, grabbing my shirt and tugging me into her. “We already celebrated, but…” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses my jaw. “It just means you owe me later.”

I run my tongue along my bottom lip. “I do, huh? I could probably make a little time to make good on that right now.”

“Oh please,” she swats my chest. “How about let’snotget caught by Bradford. I’d want to crawl into a hole and die.”

“Damn, that’s intense. I didn’t know it was so embarrassing to be with me.” I shoot her a wink and then sigh. “I really do hate taking off on this day though.”

“Yeah, I know,” her voice grows soft. “But this isn’t an easy day, and it’s better spent in the field.”

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