Page 85 of Always Salty

Copper threw his arm around me and said, “I’ll take your apartment.”

I grinned. “Awesome.”

But secretly, I had another reason for grinning.

Because Reign Lee Lake lived in my building, two floors beneath me.

Copper would have no choice but to face his past, whether he liked it or not.

Dima came out of the shadows, and Copper tensed before releasing a relieved breath. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“Wanted to see if your night guard would notice me.” He shrugged, uncaring that he’d scared my brother. “He did. Good guy. Made me show him my ID and everything and called in to the security office to verify that I should be here.”

“Good,” Copper said. “He came highly recommended by a friend.”

“I like him.” Dima nodded. “You ready to go home?”

“What about my car?”

Dima curled his lip. “I’m sure it’ll be fine in the parking lot. Horace is very good at his job.”

I smiled. “You just want it to be stolen.”

“It’s in desperate need of an upgrade.” He chuckled.

“I’ll take that, too,” Copper said. “Runs great. I’ve kept that thing running since I was a kid along with my grandfather. Buy her a good SUV. Cars nowadays are useless.”

Dima and him talked shop for a few more minutes, then they parted.

I gave Copper my keys before he left, both to the house and the car.

“I’m moving out Sunday completely. But I’ll probably not be back. Can you let them in? Oh, and keep whatever you want. You can tell them what they can take,” I suggested.

Copper rolled his eyes. “You just don’t want to deal with the movers.”

“Maybe,” I admitted.

Dima snaked his arm around my waist and didn’t interrupt, even though I could practically feel his excitement.

The moment Copper was on his Harley, Dima pulled me completely into his chest, then placed both of his large palms on my face before saying, “You’re moving in?”

“I love you, Dima. Of course I’m moving in.”

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” he teased.

“I know what I want.” I shrugged. “And what I want is you.”

Sometimes you win, sometimes you show them it was beneficial to let you win.

—Dima’s secret thoughts

DIMA

* * *

I hadn’t planned on going to jail today, but there I was, doing it.

Hours prior

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