Page 45 of Open Road (Tattooed Hearts Duet 3)

We hung up, and I had to agree I felt lighter after talking with her. I stared out over the city, breathing the air in deep, excited about what tomorrow would bring.

The door opened, and I turned, spotting Slade. “You ready to go to the aquarium?”

Nodding, I walked forward, taking his hand. He didn’t move, staring down at me, assessing every detail.

“You decided,” he said after a few moments passed.

“How do you do that?” I asked, not denying it.

“It’s in your eyes. You seem more assured than when you stepped out here.”

Circling my arms around his waist, I leaned against his hard abs and pecs. “I love how much you notice things. I always thought you were calculating all the ways you hated me, but it wasn’t that.”

“No, I was trying to commit to memory every detail because I never thought I’d have you.”

Tears wanted to surface at what we almost lost, but I pushed them down. They didn’t belong here. Darcie was right in that I didn’t need to question the things in my life, but to take hold of them and conquer whatever fears I had. It helped when I had three amazing men to do it with.

“Let’s go see some fish,” I said, kissing his chest before I stepped back.

“What are the odds we leave without you wanting to take something home?” Slade asked as we stepped into the room. My eyes met Zane’s, and we both laughed, shrugging.

“Fucking hell.” Slade dropped his head back, letting out a long breath before he zeroed in on Zane and me. “Fine. You can have a goat. But that’s it.”

He stomped out of the room, grabbing Simon’s hand as he did, leaving a shock-faced Zane and me behind. Once the door shut, we both succumbed to our giggles, barely able to stop them before we made it out into the hall.

“Yes!” I whispered as we walked to the elevator. “What should we name our goat?”

“Billy is too obvious,” Zane said, thinking about it.

“True. We’ll have to wait for the perfect name to come.”

Slade gave us a look when we neared, but I caught the barest hint of a smile as we stepped into the elevator, and I wondered just how much he was pretending to not want a goat.

We caught a car service to the aquarium, not wanting to deal with parking. Stepping into the building, I was already in awe at the beautiful fish display.

“This place has over 12,000 fish and 800 species,” I said, reading from the brochure. Slade grabbed my hand, pulling me along as we started to make our way through. Seeing all the fish was magical, and I knew if he wasn’t dragging me, I would’ve stayed looking at one section for hours.

“Come on, I want to see the Ocean Journey,” Slade said, urging me through the River Journey portion.

“Fine, but only because there are penguins.”

Slade snorted, but didn’t stop until we came to the Secret Reef. He stood, watching the sharks and stingrays swim, transfixed by them. It was a whole new side that had me observing him more than the fish for once.

He glanced over, finding me watching him as his cheeks heated. “What?”

“I just never took you for a shark enthusiast. It’s cute.”

“Sharks are awesome,” he scoffed, like that was the only thing that mattered.

Pulling his arm around me, I snuggled in close as we watched the fish swimming, utterly ignorant of us. It was peaceful, and I relaxed as we stood there.

Simon and Zane caught up to us, standing with us as we watched. After a while, it felt like I could say my deepest dreams here, and it would matter. That observing the Secret Reef made me brave enough to share my own secrets.

“I want to do the tour. If you guys will go with me. I mean, if they ask us and the band isn’t an awful one.”

They all looked at me, smiling, and my shoulders dropped, the last of the tension leaving my body.

“They’d be stupid not to want you, Lenn. Sounds like our next adventure is calling us.”

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