Page 108 of Trigger

I went to the kitchenette to make myself some coffee when Carterwalked in. My back was turned to him, but I could feel him with every fiber ofmy being. And since he was avoiding me these days, his arrival came as asurprise.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” I said. “Coffee, partner?”

“No.”

“Bazooka told me something interesting,” I said, turning to lookat him while blowing on my coffee. “It’s about—”

“I kissed a man yesterday.”

I blinked, thinking that I heard him wrong. “Pardon?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, looking straight at me.

“I kissed a man yesterday. I paid him for the kiss, although hesaid he would do it for free.”

So, there was nothing wrong with my hearing. The rest of me wasanother matter because I felt as if I was about to implode.

“Whythe fuckwould you go around kissing other people?” Isnapped, seeing red.

“I wanted to know if it’s different from you,” he repliednonchalantly, biting into an apple.

Oh. Oooh.Well, that made sense, but hiswords still made me want to demolish the kitchen.

I started to pace in front of him, ignoring the hot coffeespilling on my fingers when an alarming thought crossed my mind, and I froze onthe spot.

“Wait… You didn’t do anything else with him, did you?”

Carter walked up to me and took the cup from my hand, then startedto dry my fingers with a paper towel.

“Of course not,” he said with a smirk. “We just kissed. Once.”

Thank fuck.

“Hey, Carter!” Shelly bellowed. “Are you coming? My Äldvalen won’tassemble itself, you know?”

What the fuck is Äldvalen?

Carter tossed the paper towel into the trash bin and headed to thedoor as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on me.

“Wait!” I shouted, hurrying after him. “Where are you two going,Shel? Can I come, too?”

I caught up with them in the hall, panting. “What the fuck isÄldvalen?”

“Äldvalen is a sofa from Ikea that I bought,” Shelly replied,giggling. “They’re delivering it today, and Carter offered to help. Where thehell is my purse?”

When she headed to her desk I pushed Carter against the wall.

“So?” I said through my teeth.

He blinked in confusion. “So what?”

“How was it? That fucking kiss?”

He chuckled. “Do you really want to do this right now?”

I smiled sweetly.

“Oh, there are a lot of things I want to do right now, but all ofthem would make your pretty face blush. Spit it out.”

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