Page 54 of Promised Secret
“What was he doing here?” Clay asked as he pulled off his police hat and hung it by the door. Small beads of sweat slid down his temples.
I wanted to lick it away for him. He looked so fucking hot in his uniform. Who was I kidding? He was hot regardless of what he was wearing…or not wearing.
“Dan?” Clay prompted, and I remembered he’d asked a question.
“He brought our boys a pool,” I said, gesturing to said pool. The boys seemed like they’d had enough swimming and were now sitting on the toy, grooming each other. “I should get a towel.”
“Let me,” Clay said before I could leave the playpen. He disappeared down the hall and reappeared a minute later with a couple of hand towels and joined me inside the pen.
Clay picked up Captain to help dry the rat while Idid the same for Hook. Captain made more happy noises as he tried to rub his wet body all over Clay’s lower jaw, which made Clay laugh.
I’d been fully prepared to take care of the rats myself when I decided to adopt them. Clay acted like he didn’t even want them around at first, and yet he was the one patiently teaching them tricks. Hell, he’d even become Captain’s favorite person.
I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t jealous, but I guess it was only fair since I was Hook’s favorite person. I picked up my boy and smiled when his curled tail immediately wrapped around my fingers.
He licked my palm as I took my time wiping all the water droplets from his body.
“What were you and Frederick talking about?” Clay broke the silence and asked. He’d finished wiping Captain and had placed him on his shoulder. It was Captain’s favorite place to chill.
“Nothing much,” I replied. I didn’t like keeping things from Clay, but this wasn’t my secret to spill.
Clay didn’t seem to like my answer and pouted. Or at least he did something with his lips that looked more like a pout than I’d ever seen them.
“He totally has a thing for you,” he muttered and reached up to pet Captain, probably to comfort himself.
I laughed. “While I’m honored you think everyone has a thing for me, I’m actually notthatpopular.”
He eyed me. “That’s not what your track recordsays,” he grumbled. “You’ve probably dated all the eligible men and women in all the neighboring towns.”
His frown deepened, and I went to kiss it away. “Those were just dates, and nothing more. Besides,you’rethe reason I went on all those dates.”
He looked utterly confused, and I laughed again. I didn’t blame him, because honestly, my actions baffled even myself. They say you do the craziest things when you’re in love…and I was living proof of that.
“I only dated those people so that I could pretend to be heartbroken, so that you’d comfort me,” I admitted softly. I watched Hook sniff around my palm, too ashamed to look at Clay. “I was so desperate for your kisses, I was willing to lie to you for them.”
I finally peered at him when I was met with silence. Clay’s mouth was hanging open so wide, Captain tried to stick his head inside of it.
That shocked him back into action as he grabbed the naughty rat to his chest. Captain let out an angry squeak at the sudden movement, but he was easily quelled with a treat and was put back into his cage. I grabbed a treat for Hook, too, before settling him with Captain.
As soon as the boys were safely back in their home, Clay spun me around and smashed his lips against mine.
“Clay, what are you?—”
He took my lips again and shuffled me backwards. He released me only long enough to push me onto thecouch. The air left my lungs at the sudden action, and before I could catch my breath, Clay was on me again.
I was loving the sudden enthusiasm, but he was stealing the very last breath out of me. I pounded on his back when the suffocation was too much.
Clay finally gave me a break, but his lips didn’t leave me. He nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck and softly nibbled on the tender skin there.
I sucked in precious air and rubbed his back, because it felt like he needed the comfort.
“You’ve loved me all this time?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“I loved you since before our parents told us they were together,” I admitted. Then, with bitterness in my tone, I added, “One of my biggest regrets is not telling you I loved you before they told us about their relationship. I’ve wondered so many times how different things would be now. Would you have accepted my feelings, or would you have broken my heart? Sometimes, I’d even think that either of those options was fine. Closure would have been better than not knowing.”
He lifted his head to look at me, and I was surprised to see the pain in those gentle greens.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
