Page 63 of Feverburn

“I have a random question for you,”she said.

“Hit me.”

“What’s your favorite kind of food? Since we haven’t been on a date, I don’t know that detail about you. You mentioned you like hunting for good meat, but what else?”She twirled more noodles and delicately ate them. Even the way she ate was endearing.

“I’d probably have to say Mexican food. You?”

“Ilovesushi. I grew up kindapoor, you know, the whole single mom working as a nail lady wasn’t easy, so when we had sushi, it was always special.”

I committed that to memory.“That makes sense. Greek food is that way for me. It means something special is happening. Now I have a question for you. If you could go anywhere, where would you want to visit? You mentioned you wanted to visit Ireland, but is that your dream vacation?”

“I know it soundssilly, but I want to go to Hawaii, so it was funny when you gave me that book about gingers in Maui.”

“Did you read it, by the way?”

She bobbed her head cheerfully while chewing, then swallowed and said, “Yes, and I fucking loved it! That was such a cool way to flirt with me. I know that was only a couple of months ago, but doesn’t it feel like it took us so long to get here?”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve known you longer than a few months. It’swildto me you’re here. When my sister told me one of Kaylee’s friends would live above the shop, I never thought much of it. Then I saw you, and everything changed.”

“Was it because I was screaming topless with thethreatof rabies?”

“No, it was honestly talking to you while setting up Silver Springs. Each morning, I’d look forward to seeing you, bickering with you.”I brought a hand up to her face to tuck some hair behind her ear.“I knew you were different because I missed you without hardly knowing you. I didn’t realize something like that was possible. Then I got to know you, which made it much harder not to be around you.”

“That makes me so sad. I feel bad like I tortured you.”

We both broke into a grin.“Oh, you did,”I teased.

She got up, putting the bowl down to straddle my lap, and my hands clutched her ass with newfound intimacy. She leaned in and kissed me, causing Kiszka to freak out. His howls rang in the tall ceilings of the cabin as I fought a smile against her soft lips. I broke ourkiss, huffing in annoyance while looking over her shoulder at my dog.“Kizzy, we like Rosie! Why are you acting this way?”He howled louder, really giving me a lecture.“You’re embarrassing me!”I yelled wide-eyed, making her cackle.

Bracing on my shoulders, she twisted to look.“Do you not like me on your daddy?”

I squeezed her ass to get her attention. She whipped her head back to look at me.“I’m gonna have to ask you not to say the worddaddywhile you’re on my lap.”

She threw her head back in another cackle. At the same time, Kiszka bounded up on the couch, separating us with his fluffy ass along with a deafening rendition of his favorite Celine Dion song, eventually sandwiching himself between us on the couch.

Rosie continued to pet him, urging his needy behavior, but I couldn’t blame either of them. It felt nice to be lounging by the fire with my new pack. And I felt better now that a fire was warming her, and she had food in her stomach.

The adrenaline started to leave my body, and the realization that I had been up since 4:30 a.m. the previous morning seeped in. I scooted Kiszka’s fluffy butt until he moved out of the way, then pulled Rosie to my chest to wrap my arm around her along with a blanket. Kiszka curled himself in the crook of her legs, right below her bum, shooting me ahappylook before laying his head back on her hip. Rosie leaned into me with a sleepy sigh, unable to take her eyes away from the fire. I could feel her unravel, soothed and safe. Letting her guard down and not having to hide. It was medicine for both of us.

Not wanting to disrupt her, I stroked her hair and cheek, slowly pulling her deeper into contentment. Even though she was sometimes feisty, she was naturally quiet, but even more so now. Her breathing was silent, almost undetectable, and her hand was on my chest, mindlessly skimming patterns with her sexy dark nails until she drifted off to sleep. It felt good to be here with her. So damn good.

I kissed her forehead to wake her up.“You’re getting too hot, I can tell.”My thumb brushed her cheek, where I could see the tell-tale sting of a blush. I told Kiszka to lay at our feet while I leaned back, trying to untangle her to take off the blanket and give her respite from my body heat.

“Wait, don’t go.”She held my arm, stopping me. Her face winced at her request, tugging at myheart.

“I’m not going anywhere,”I said, throwing the blanket off her and pulling her back to me. I felt a lump of emotion stuffed in my throat. Who hurt her in the past to make her assume that?

“Sorry, I um…I like snuggling with you. That’s all.”

“I like cuddling you too.”I wrapped her in my arms, holding her tight.

“I’m sorry. I’m just fucking traumatized. I know you are, too. I don’t know how to do this.”

“Don’t apologize.”I kissed the top of her head.“We can go as slow as you need. Figure it out as we go. I want you in my life.”

“I want you in my life.”

I tried to swallow the lump of emotion but couldn’t.“I can’t get used to you being here. Finally. But not in the way I expected.”

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