Page 16 of Instinct & New Identity

“I’ve never seen you here before, andIvisit them quite a lot,” the prick said, trying to imply that he knew them well and better than me.

Well, checkmate, dickhead.

“Guess we just haven’t met before, butI’mhere now visiting my girlfriend and her sister, so if you don’t mind,I’dlike to get back to it.”IfeltCatstiffen slightly against me, but she didn’t say anything.

I kissed the top ofCat’shead, then put my chin on top of that spot while staring downStevein a blatant show of possession.Therewas no way he wouldn’t get the signal that she was mine and only mine.Andeven though, again, it was meant for show, there was a part of me that actually liked the idea of her being mine.

“Thanks for stopping by to check on us, but we’re fine,Steve.Havea good day,”Catsaid, andItook that as my cue to close the door.

The look inSteve’seyes told me he was pissed but wouldn’t do anything about it.Thedoor closed, andCatclicked all the other locks in place.Ilet her go from in front of my body, and instantly my body felt bereft.Mydick was also not pleased.

“You are such a badass.Thatwas so cool,”Valsaid from the table with a huge smile on her face.

“Val!”Catgrowled, then turned to me. “Youdidn’t need to do that.Ihad it under control.”

She said that with her hands on her hips, full of attitude, and my dick perked back up instantly.Shelooked so sexy standing there full of sass, ready to argue with me.God,Iwanted to kiss that smirk right off her face.

“Okay,I’min,”Valsaid, andCatandIboth looked at her, slightly confused. “Isay we move in with theHulkand have him help us find a place.”

“We can’t move in with him.Wehardly know him!”Catsaid in return.

“Two things,”Valstarted. “Ifhe was gonna kill us, whichI’msure he’s very capable of since he was in the military and also now works for a security and investigations place, he would have done it by now.Murderersfor hire don’t usually drag these kinds of things out, at least not according to the crime podcastsIlisten to.Second, when theFedsasked us to list what personal items we wanted from the house other than clothes and necessities, you told them you wanted three family photos and your letters fromVince.That’sit.Now, seven years later, that man in the letters tracked you down, which is not easy to do, wearing the ugly socks you gave him, cockblocks creepySteveand, oh yeah, isn’t hard on the eyesCat, if that isn’t a giant sign of fate,Idon’t know what is.Fatealready tells me to move away from this state every timeIgo outside, and now fate is telling you to do the same.”

“What’s wrong with outside?Ithink it’s pretty here,”Itold her.

“We’ve only been here eight months, and the weather brought hail the size of small children, a tornado that ripped through the only good coffee shop in town, air that feels like hot gravy boiling my skin in the summer—oh, and how about the fact that it’s only mid-November, and it’s already stupid cold, and it snowed last week.Yeah, sis, signals from fate,”Valretorted.

She waved her hand at that last comment, then got up from her seat at the table and started to walk down the hallway.

“I’m gonna go start packing.Youtwo discuss the details, butI’llbe ready to go in an hour, two tops,”Valsaid. “Yougot any single friends,Vince?Nah, don’t answer that.Iwant to be surprised.”

Val turned and walked away to whatIassumed was her bedroom.

I turned to look atCatand saw she was staring at me like she didn’t know what to do or say.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here,”Catspoke almost wistfully. “Ikept all your letters, butInever thoughtIwould have the chance to ever see you or even write to you again.”

She continued staring at me for a moment, as though she couldn’t believeIwas in front of her. “Bythe time theMarshalscleared us of any threat,Ifigured you were long since removed from the military and my letters would never get to you.Plus,Iwasn’t sure you would even remember me since it had been so long.”

Remember her?God, if only she knew how muchIthought about her and those letters.Givenshe didn’t really know me all that well yet,Idecided to hold off on telling her soIdidn’t scare her even more than she appeared to be.

“I’d love to catch up with you and hear more about how you’re doing, but can you give me a few minutes to talk toValfirst?” she asked.

I nodded, and she told me to make myself at home, then turned to walk down the hallway and disappeared into the room at the end of the hallway.

Before coming here and seeing her in person,Iknew that we’d shared a meaningful, albeit odd connection, andIwas determined to keep her in my life as a friend.Butnow, standing in her living room,IrealizedIwanted more than friendship.IfIhad met her randomly in a bar or around town,Iwould have been drawn to her beauty alone and asked for her number.Butknowing the deeper bond we’d built through our letters,Iwas all in.Ittook me long enough to find her—Iwasn’t letting her slip away now.

7

CAT

I made it into my bedroom, closed the door behind me, and then leaned back against it.Iclosed my eyes and just took deep breaths for a few moments.

Oh.My.God.Icouldn’t believe it was actuallyV.ThemanIwrote to for almost an entire year and who had held a place in my heart in the years since.Vince.Inall the time we wrote,Inever actually thought about what his real name was becauseIdidn’t want to pretend it was something whenIdidn’t know for sure.

AndLord, was he handsome.Hisnavy henley long-sleeved tee wasn’t tight per se, but it fit him in all the right places.Itstretched across his broad shoulders and muscular arms.Iknew most people in the military were fit—they had to be for their job—butVince’sbody looked like he went above and beyond what was required in the fitness department.

He was tall, too.Myguess was just above six feet, which was more than half a foot taller than me.

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