Page 169 of Zero Chance

“Yes,” I said, snuggling closer.

Keene smiled, then closed his eyes with a content sigh.

As we shuffled around in the sand next to the intimate glow of the fire, I glanced toward the other two, only to find Alec offering Xander some water.

Smiling, I rested my face against Keene’s chest and breathed in his sandalwood scent.He was so solid and real under my hands that I found myself starting to stroke his neck and shoulders to prove this wasn’t a dream.

Turning his face in toward my hair he drew in a deep breath and rumbled, “That feels so fucking good.I love your hands on me.”

I smiled, and we danced until the song changed before he drew us over toward the fire, where Alec and Xander were now sitting, sharing her blanket so it draped over both of their shoulders as they talked.

“I should’ve grabbed a blanket for us too,” Keene said regretfully as we settled ourselves across from the other two, where he pulled me into his lap and buried his nose in my hair, just nuzzling as he kept his arms securely wrapped around me.

“Don’t worry,” I promised, shifting my face to the side to kiss his jaw.“I’m not cold at all.”

The moscato had my insides pleasantly warm, and Keene was keeping away the rest of the February chill.

Groaning, he whined, “Dammit.I don’t want to take you home at the end of the night.You should just come back to Archer House with us and stay.”

“Seriously, I can’t believe you still have a curfew,” Alec said, shaking his head.“That’s just wild.”

Xander was quiet, her eyes meeting mine over the campfire.

“I mean, what would your mom really do if you just texted her right now and announced that you weren’t coming home?”Keene wondered.

I snorted and shook my head before taking another drink and announcing, “Probably call the cops to find me.”

“And saywhat?”he demanded in dismay.“My legally adult daughter isn’t home yet, and I know exactly where she is and who she’s with.Please bring her back now.Yeah right.I’m sure they’d getrighton that.”

“She has her ways of convincing them to do what she wants,” I murmured, knowing she’d toss down the suicide card without pause.

“You know what you should do,” Keene announced suddenly.“You move out.Yeah… Oh!You could move in with us.”

“What?”Alec laughed.“And just who the hell are we kicking out?We don’t have any place left for a sixth roommate.”

“Sure, we do,” Keene argued.“There’s plenty of room in my bed.”Pulling me in tighter against him, he kissed my hair.“I’d empty out half my closet and drawer for you, no problem.”

I sighed over the picture he drew, relishing it.“I do like the big, open-floor kitchen you have at Archer House,” I had to admit.

Alec snorted.“Hear that, Dugger.It’s thekitchenthat’s tempting her to consider the idea.Not you.”

“It’s not that,” I argued with a laugh, trying to defend Keene.“Kitchen islands just give me serious anxiety.I hate the one we have at home.I always have to walk a full circle around the whole, stupid thing whenever I go in there to make sure there’s no dead body on the floor.”

A beat of silence followed my slurred admission before Keene exploded, “I’m sorry;what?”

I paused, wondering why he sounded so alarmed before my loose, fuzzy brain replayed the last five seconds in my head.“Oh, shit,” I announced.“I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Keene, Xander, and Alec exchanged stunned glances before Keene answered, “Uh, yeah.You did.Would you care to explain it out loud too?”

With a sigh, I lifted one shoulder.“Not much to explain.I found a dead body on the floor in my kitchen once.”

“Like…just some random dead body?”Alec wondered, utterly confused.

Xander slugged his arm.“Oh my God.Obviously, sheknewthe person.”

He lifted both hands in a shrug as if that weren’t so obvious to him.

Turning back to me, Xander softened her gaze, saying, “I’m so sorry, hon.Do you want to talk about it?”

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