Page 22 of Until It Was Real

He freezes. “You can’t pee yourself when we’re stuck in a closet together.”

“Good thing I have the strongest bladder of anyone I know.”

He narrows his eyes on me. “You said you’d pee if I tickled you.”

“Got you to stop, didn’t I?”

“But now I know you’re ticklish.”

“And I know you’re afraid of the smell of pee.”

He grunts. “If you had my five brothers, you’d be afraid of the smell of urine, too. Putting your hand in warm water while you’re sleeping won’t make you pee. But tricking your brother into drinking a gallon of water before bed and then daring him not to use the bathroom all night will.”

My nose wrinkles. “Ew. Who wet the bed?”

“Kai but you can never let him know I told. We had to do a blood oath of secrecy.”

“Why would you do a blood oath of secrecy? This is prime teasing material.”

“Kai made us swear to secrecy or he was going to tell Mom about the time we broke her oven.”

“How did you break an oven? I’ve had plenty of cooking mishaps, and I’ve never broken an oven. A microwave, maybe, but never an oven.”

“Remind me to remove the microwave from the break room.”

I slap him. “I broke the microwave when I was ten. No one told me you can’t put aluminum foil in a microwave.”

He rolls his eyes. “Because it’s common knowledge.”

“Not in the foster home I lived in.”

He leans closer. “You grew up in care?”

Crap. I don’t want to talk about my past. My past leads from foster care to jumping into bed with the first man who pretended to care for me, to marrying him, to becoming a widow in dire need of money. No one wants to hear my pathetic story. Least of all me.

“Rhett!” Eli shouts. “Dakota! Where are you?”

Rhett kneels to open the closet door. “We’re in here.”

Eli stares down at us. “Why are you hiding in a closet?”

“It’s supposed to be the safest place during a hurricane,” I say.

“Lucky for you. The hurricane is over.”

“Awesome. I’m out of here.” I climb over Rhett and Eli offers his hand to help me up.

I stretch my muscles and twist my neck to relieve the stiffness from being cramped in a closet with Rhett for who knows how long.

Rhett, who laughed and joked with me. Rhett, who told me secrets about my family. Rhett, whose body was a source of heat.

No. No. No. Stop it, Dakota. You are not developing a crush on the man who’s trying to fire you.

But maybe he won’t try to fire me anymore? I glance up at him from beneath my lashes. Maybe this is the start of a friendship.

The lights flicker on and I blink my eyes at the assault of light. I notice the clock on the wall and swear.

“Oh crap. Is that the time? I need to…”

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