Page 39 of Under an Endless Moon

He stared at me for the longest time before he mumbled, “Think you might have the meaning backward.”

“No, Otto, I know the meaning just fine, just like I’ve always known with my brother. What you do is the most honorable thing I could imagine.”

That time, what passed through his expression was unmistakable.

Guilt.

Then he donned a smile that was far too casual for the conversation.

“I’m the last person you should think is a good guy. You could scrape me right out of the bottom of the barrel.”

That was Otto’s way. He acted like everything in his life was fun and games, as easy as they came, when I knew what was concealed underneath.

I knew what had sparked it in the first place.

I guessed we were a match that way. So many times, I reacted the same.

“Do you regret it?” I asked him.

“Sanctum?” heasked.

“Yes.”

He wavered, then said, “Have a million regrets in my life, Raven. But this? What we do? It’s not one of them.”

“Then I guess this is to knowing what is important to us.”

We were so close when I reached out and clinked my glass with his. So close as we both took a sip of our drinks. So close as he watched me like he wasn’t sure what to do with me standing in the middle of his kitchen.

I spilled half my drink on the floor when my phone suddenly started ringing from my purse, and Otto jumped back a step as if he’d been caught doing something salacious.

He cleared his throat as he roughed one of those giant paws through the longer pieces of his hair. “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and give your brother a call because you know he’s freaking out, and I’ll get this cleaned up and make us something to eat?”

I managed to shuck the moment into the secret spot inside me reserved for him.

“Do I have to?”

He stretched out one of those enormous hands and touched the little freckle I had to the side of my left lip. Heat spiraled through the middle of me. “Yeah, Raven, I think you do.”

FOURTEEN

RAVEN

I didn’t havetime to make it into Otto’s bedroom before my phone pinged a bunch of times.

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, blowing out a sigh as I read the messages that had come through.

River

Raven, answer your phone.

River

Where are you?

River

Come on, Raven, I’m sorry, but I don’t think you need to ignore me over this.

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