Page 24 of Clean Slade
Autumn bit her lip and shook her head.
“Nothing. Nothing. Just thinking about how Parker and Joey found theirs.”
I narrowed my gaze, staring at my teammate’s sister.
“Found their what?” I asked.
“Their OTPs,” she answered.
“Huh?” King and I said at the same time.
“Their…” Autumn glanced at Mac, but she was too busy checking in on the crocodile to pay us any mind. “Their one true pairing.”
It took a beat before either of us realized what she was saying, but King reacted first.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“It means soulmat—”
“I-I know what it means. That is definitely not what’s happening here,” he said.
“Yeah. I’m just helping them out. Keeping them safe,” I added.
“Uh-huh. You’re right. Totally different circumstances. It’s not like Hwan needed protection or Santiago needed saving. No, not at all.”
“Not. At. All,” King said.
Did he have to emphasize every word? Was the idea of something happening between us—again—so appalling?
“We should go.” King put his hand on Mac’s shoulders and guided her toward the hallway and the front door where Mr. Rogers was waiting to say goodbye.
“Good luck,” Autumn sang.
“With what?” I asked her.
“With not catching feelings for each other.”
She giggled—which turned into full-blown laughter when King huffed—and shouted, “Let’s go.”
SEVEN
KING
We made our way to the boat Slade had hired. While in the car, I grabbed the opportunity to put a cap and glasses on and did the same for Mac in an attempt to camouflage and shield her from the cold.
Slade parked the car far away from the harbor, and we carried everything to the dock.
The place was empty at this time of the day. Most of the fishing boats were already out in the water, hard at work, except for one boat.
Which was exactly where we were headed. Slade was the first to jump in, and I passed him the bags of clothes before we helped Mac on.
“Now, wait there,” he told me as he helped Mac in and advised her to sit tight.
Of course I didn’t wait, and I attempted to jump in on my own. I was a grown man. I knew what I was doing. I didn’t need no SEAL to come to my rescue—aside from the wholehelp me hide from my dadordeal.
I put one foot inside.
Shit. That’s lower than it looks.
