Page 45 of S.O.S. Perk

This time when he reached for her, she let him draw her into his strong embrace before he continued.

“Nobody knows where a relationship is going when it starts out, Sloane. But people take a stab at it all the time.” He held her close. “I think that’s what we should do, too.”

Sloane laid her cheek on his chest. She didn’t want to move. Perk felt so good.

She huffed. “Why do you get to be the voice of reason?” she snorted against his comforting chest. “I have six years on you. I should know this shit.”

“Uh, because six years doesn’t necessarily make you more grown-up?” he quipped, but she knew it cost him. Wasn’t appearing perpetually youthful the demon he’d been battling all his adult life? His version of Dorian Gray, almost?

Sloane didn’t want that to be part of their equation. “No, but six years gives mea littlemore to go on for experience,” she finally allowed. “You’re right on one count, though. That amount of timedoesn’tmake me smarter. So, in that regard…” She bit her lip and scrunched up her face. This was so hard to say, but she needed to get it out. “…I’m going to go along with what you suggest. We let things between us play out organically, and if stuff works, great. If it doesn’t…” Here was a fear she’d been harboring. “…can we still remain friends?”

“That’s up to you,” he answered reasonably. “But here’smypromise. If you’re on board to try, no matter which way things go, I’ll never shutyouout of my life, Sloane.”

That sounded like a whole lot more than she’d asked for.

Damn, Perk was a good guy. But she’d already known that. It was why she’d been so attracted to him in the first place. Maybe she should let him know that.

“It’s not just your face, Perk,” Sloane told him.

“What’s not just my face?” he asked, an amused note in his voice as he continued to hold her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

“Why I like you,” she told him. “You’re adorable, sure. But you’re also nice. And smart. And dedicated. And everything I want in a…friend.”

He pulled back and put a finger to the lower lip she was still gnawing.

“Maybea friend. Maybe a lover. But we’ve agreed we’re letting this unfold to see which one works for us, remember?”

“Okay,” she sighed, kissing his digit. “I’ll try to stop labeling, although I’m warning you, it’s part of my personality to sort and pigeonhole things, so I’m going to be a bit difficult.”

Perk merely laughed. “And that’s one of the things I like so much about you,” he said.

“What? That I’m difficult?” she countered, trying to match his humor.

“Itdoesmake you a challenge,” he agreed, “but no. That’s not what I meant. I meant that no matter how conflicted your feelings, even under physical duress,” he hugged her harder, “you’re ultimately honest about everything.”

Sloane scoffed. “A negative with my ex-husband and my family.”

“But a positive with me,” he assured her. “Now, I need to go home and get some shut-eye so I don’t fall asleep in Algebra tomorrow.”

“Something I never thought I’d hear a man I’m dating say,” Sloane snickered.

The air in the room became so still, it was almost as if Perk’s heart paused.

“What?” she asked, pulling back to gaze into his face.

His eyes filled with tenderness.

“You said we’re dating.”

Ah, fuck it.

She smiled up at him, giving over to the moment.

“Yeah. You’re right. I guess I did.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Perk didn’t have to roam the halls looking for Jeremy, because the kid hadn’t made it to school today, according to the FBI agent who’d been watching the Nelsin house. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use Jeremy’s name as a way to open up lines of conversation with Perk’s new “friends”.

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