Page 36 of Graves & Griggs
Leaning forward and resting his elbows against the desk, he smirks. “Well, maybe I’m better than you.”
I look over at him, shaking my head in irritation as I go back to my search for this fucking scanner. “You’re cute,” I snark.
I can practically hear his frown in his words as he speaks.
“Are you… mad at me?”
I huff out a breath but don’t respond. Goddamnit. I swear I just saw it over?—
“Got it,” I say to myself as I plug the scanner in and hook it up to the computer.
I pull up the FBI database that Wesley “let himself into” a few months ago and sync the scanner to it as he speaks again.
“Ro.”
I ignore him once more, grabbing the finger and pressing it to the scanner as it whirrs to life. Matches begin appearing on the computer screen, and I keep my eyes focused on it until a hand grips my jaw, forcing my gaze away from it.
“Ronan,” Wesley says, a deep frown marring his otherwise happy-go-lucky features. “What’s wrong?”
“Besides the fact that our wife could have been kidnapped today?” I say with a laugh that holds no humor.
“Yeah, besides that. You’re upset with me. I just can’t figure out why.”
I try to look anywhere except at him, but his hold on me is too strong and unyielding. His pale blue eyes practically drill into me, and before I can stop myself, I’m speaking.
“You took off. You had no idea what kind of potential danger you were in; you had no regard for your safety. No backup. You were just… gone.”
Wesley tilts his head to the side like he still doesn’t see the problem. He doesn’t fucking get it.
“Forget it,” I huff, shaking my head and pushing him away.
He lets me go as I look to see the screen is still sorting through possible matches before he forces himself in front of me once more.
“Look at me,” he says.
Still, I refuse him. I don’t want to look at him. I don’t know what I’ll do, what I’ll say. I prefer to keep things bottled up where they belong, especially when I don’t know what to do with them. Especially when they’re all like… this.
His hand moves to the back of my hair, tugging on the short strands the best he can as he snaps, “Look. At. Me.”
My eyes move to his before I can stop myself, and once they do, I know it’s all over.
“I was scared earlier. I still am. The fear hasn’t left, and I’m… I’m dealing,” I admit.
Wesley’s grip on my hair loosens slightly but not all the way. He tilts his head slightly. “I know, but you kept Skyla safe. You kept them both safe. They’re okay.”
I let out an irritated laugh as I shake my head. “I wasn’t scared for Sky; I was scared for you, you fucking moron. I was scared of what would happen to you! That I would lose you. That I would never be able to?—”
My words die on my tongue as I force my jaw shut.
Wesley’s eyes widen in surprise before they soften. “Ro, I…”
“Are you going to make me fucking say it?” I snap.
He stays quiet for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between each of mine before he shakes his head, lowering his tone.
“We’ve been best friends for two decades—you don’t have to say anything.”
I swallow roughly as he closes the distance between us. Wesley and I have kissed plenty of times, fucked even more. It’s always been a sort of… release. A primal thing. There have never been… feelings. At least I haven’t wanted there to be any. But the instant his lips touch mine, everything changes. My stomach dips the way it does when I kiss Skyla. Euphoria washes over me when he crawls into my lap, just the way it does when I hold her. These feelings that I’ve been fighting for so goddamn long are banging at the door, and now I’m fucking terrified they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
