Page 29 of Concealed

Wyatt:You know the deal with Vegas PD?

We’ve been friends and partners long enough that he immediately catches my drift, and we skip over the preliminaries.

Gabe:No. Wanna dig? Always multiple sides to a story, but I’m inclined to believe whatever Rebecca is telling you.

Wyatt:I want to dig. I want to know everything, and it would be easy enough to make a few calls. But…

Gabe:You won’t do it. You want her to tell you.

Wyatt:Yeah. Feels sleazy to snoop on her. She’ll come around.

Gabe:Agreed, man. How’s your penance going? Ready to come back to the real world yet?

Wyatt:I’ll be stuck here for a long ass time, man. But I joined a task force, my new partner is pretty cool, and things are going surprisingly alright.

Gabe:No shit? Not what I expected.

Wyatt:Nothing about living here is what I expected so far. I’ll call you later and catch you up on everything. Texting is bullshit. But I gotta go because Rebecca is going to be back soon. We’re having dinner together again.

Gabe:Huh. Anything there?

Wyatt:We’re roommates. Friends.

Gabe:Huh.

Wyatt:Asshole.

Gabe:She’s like a little sister to me, man.

Wyatt:I know. And don’t worry – I’ve got her.

I’m smiling when Rebecca rejoins me wearing yoga pants and a tank top. She’s carrying a platter of chicken and seafood she had marinating in the fridge.

It’s a bit of a torturous reverse strip tease with all of her perfect skin taken away from my view, but there’s no hiding sexy no matter what she’s wearing.

“What’s so funny?” she asks, passing me the food and then sitting down at the table.

“I was just talking to Gabe,” I explain, as I turn down the temperature on the grill before setting the meat on it with a satisfying sizzle.

Rebecca freezes with a water bottle halfway to her mouth. “You didn’t…”

I close the lid of the grill and sit down across from her. We’ve broken the touch barrier in a big way today, so I’m comfortable enough to put my hand over hers. I’m pleased to no end that she doesn’t even flinch.

“I’d never tell him – or anyone else – anything that you tell me. You have my word. Safe space.”

She bites her lip. “Are you asking me to build a circle of trust with you?”

I chuckle. “Hell yeah. Sounds pretty good.”

“I should go make the potato salad.”

She doesn’t move and neither do I. More importantly, she doesn’t drop her gaze from mine, and this moment suddenly becomes super intense.

“But before I do,” she continues, “thank you for today.”

“What do you mean?”

“For treating me like… me.”

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