Page 84 of 4 Hints You Love Your Best Friend

“I promise,” I tell her. The second I’m back in my truck, I’ll tell Sandra our work together is done. “I won’t meddle in your life again. Or anyone’s. It won’t be easy for me, but I’m realizing I’m making most things worse.”

“Thank you. Boyfriend,” she adds with a quirk of her lips.

I smile. “Can’t believe this is real.”

“Neither can I.” She runs her thumb over my knuckles. “Are you still feeling out of sorts? You were pretty shaken up when I got here.”

I take stock of my body. The too-tight, rushing feeling has left my chest. Memories aren’t crashing into my present. “I’m better. Calmer.”

“Was it just Jake? Worry over causing a rift with him?”

“Partly. I was pretty devastated over the idea of losing you too, but it’s also the history of this place. My old home and Windfall in general.”

“I’d be shocked if all that pain didn’t affect you.”

“Yeah, but…Jake said something to me the other day. Told me I haven’t stopped moving since WITSEC, that I’ve been worse again since returning here. I brushed him off. Didn’t want to pick apart my actions, but I think maybe he’s right. I think I’ve been scared to stop and feel. Like I’m living in a house of cards—one wrong move and it’ll all come toppling down.”

She traces the crew neck of my T-shirt. “Do you think you’re ready to slow down now? Feel whatever it is you’re feeling instead of bottling it up?”

I nod. “It’s time. I know it’s time.” To let go of my scheming and planning. To slow the fuck down. “Might mean I have some tough days, but I’ll maybe call you when that happens? If that’s okay with you. You have this way of calming me.”

A galaxy of affection fills her eyes. “You better have me on speed dial.”

We stare at each other a moment. Connected without uttering a word, then we kiss sweet and slow, adjusting to get better access. But something digs into my back.

I reach behind me and pull out a…strap-on dildo?

Jo chokes on a laugh, cracking up so hard she’s crying. I’m right there with her, laughing until my stomach hurts and I’m wiping at my eyes. Yeah, today has been wild.

“Can we go home?” I ask, amazed I’m allowed to say that.Home.With Jolene.

“Home sounds perfect. Do you want to stop for food or anything on the way?”

“I’m barely holding my head upright at the moment. All I want to do is crawl into bed with you and sleep.”

“Kinky,” she says, giving me a cheeky wink.

I kiss her temple but feel a new rush of nerves. Jo and I have never discussed sex. I don’t know what she likes and doesn’t like. Compatibility goes beyond emotional connection. “I’m not a sex-room kind of guy, Jo. Is that okay with you?”

The only way to describe her expression isenamored. “I’m okay with whoever you are. And I’m not a sex-room kind of woman, so no worries there.”

I exhale as a bubble of anticipation rises. Soon, when I sleep off this stress-packed day, I get to explore her. Take my time with her. Show Jolene Daniels, Savior of My Serenity, exactly what kind of lover and boyfriend I can be.

chapterthirty-five

Callahan

I wake up in my room. I’m in my bed—the space that used to plague me, knowing Jolene was on the other side of the wall. Now she’s locked against my chest, probably too forcefully.

“You’re a furnace,” she says against my neck.

I run my hand down her back, slowly waking up. “Is that bad?”

She shakes her head. “I like it. How long did we sleep?”

I blink at my clock. “Jesus. Five hours. Don’t you have to be at work?”

“I texted Larkin when I got here. She offered to cover for me tonight.”

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