Page 67 of The Third Baseman

“Yes, thank you,” I replied, though I was still staring at the envelope as they said goodbye.

I saw the problem as soon as I heard the door click on their way out… “Wait, how am I supposed to open this?” I called after them, but it was too late. “Ugh!”

I knocked on the crate; it was nailed shut pretty good. Running my fingers along the edges didn’t find any obvious way of opening it either. I was pondering what to do when I realized I was still holding the envelope, and ripped it open.

For stargazing.

And as you’re not inviting me over, here are the coordinates for my roof terrace the next time you want to see me and my body… all that.

40.7336° N, 74.0027° W

I groaned again as my cheeks pinked, even though there was no one around to witness it. He was never going to let that go. I shouldn’t have said anything, but he’d been standing in front of me after he’d broken into my room, naked save for a pair of thin pajama pants and his muscles were rightthere –still there whenever I closed my eyes. My mouth had pooled with saliva and my vocabulary had failed me. Plus, he knew full well what he’d been doing, and the effect he had on me.

The effect he continued to have on me.

Had always had on me.

Jupiter Reeves and innocent were not two words which fitted together.

My eyes flicked back to the box, then the card.

No way.

Excitement flurried around my belly, and I ran as fast as I could to the kitchen – the only place I could think of with implements remotely capable of opening the crate. I returned with a rolling pin and an impressive thick bladed chef’s knife; not sure when Lowe and Beulah thought I’d have time to do all this baking and chefing, but it was good to have a fully stocked kitchen if only to help me break into things.

Easing the knife through one of the joints, I banged hard on the end; it loosened with a loud creak. Five minutes later, I’d repeated it at every corner, and one side of the heavy wooden crate fell to the floor, followed by an avalanche of packing peanuts.

Another ten minutes and it had been fully dismantled. I was standing in a sea of Styrofoam and protective cardboard casing, staring down with an open mouth at one of the most beautiful telescopes I’d ever seen.

The Celestial PlanetMaster G20 T edition X.

It made the telescope I’d had as a teenager look like a pair of Fisher-Price plastic binoculars.

It was like gazing at a piece of priceless art, or the stillest lake under a full moon.

I wanted to touch it, but I couldn’t bring myself to get closer than the foot away I was currently standing. I wanted to run my fingers along the steel axis and peer through the finder, but something was stopping me.

The butterflies had ceased with their fluttering, replaced by the gnawing of the unknown; of what this meant… because it wasn’t just a telescope.

I knew Jupiter too well for that.

It was one thing to buy several years’ supply of candy LifeSavers, or a coffee made exactly how I liked it. But it was quite another to spend seventy-five thousand dollars on a telescope that only the most hard-core stargazers would consider purchasing. Most hard-core couldn’t afford.

I also knew this one wasn’t readily available – yet. It had a limited-edition release, so how he’d managed to get hold of it was anyone’s guess.

All of a sudden it felt like something was sitting on my chest, squeezing hard, trapping me, and I stared at it until a yawn broke through. It was time to go back to bed.

The Lions had a game later this afternoon, but as it was Saturday I didn’t have to be at the stadium until it began. I’d planned to go in early and work on the One Percent program, as it was now called, but now I was sorely tempted to creep back under the covers and sleep for the rest of the day.

I lay there. And lay there.

The more I tried to sleep, the harder I squeezed my eyes shut, the less I was able.

Jupiter.

Even when he wasn’t around, Jupiter was my tormentor; his presence was everywhere. Naked, clothed – it didn’t matter. He was justtherewherever I turned, whether I wanted him to be or not, with his broad shoulders and sculpted chest, his blue eyes sparkling bright, his smile wider every time… and it always made my heart skip a beat in the way I wished it wouldn’t.

In a way my body made sure I couldn’t ignore.

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