Page 63 of Living Hell

TWENTY-ONE

Tyler

“SO, YOU’RE IN LOVE?” Austen asked as we sat on the bench inside the police station.

I nodded because it was true, not for show. As if I needed to say it out loud to pull off the fake engagement but because I felt it in my bones. Iona and I were meant to be together. The story fed to the public was fake but how my heart skipped a beat when Iona was near was undeniably real.

“Yes.”

Since Iona and I had sex on her birthday a week ago, it’s been everything I dreamed of when I was young. My fantasies were naïve and over-the-top back then. I imagined she’d smile at me when I woke up next to her in bed or give me a kiss as I left for work in the morning or even help me straighten my tie after I got dressed. Sweet images that caused my chest to flutter.

And it’s not like those things didn’t happen over the past week because they did. The only difference was now she was naked in them. And the one where she smiled as I woke, that wasn’t as innocent as I first imagined eleven years ago—it’s hard to smile when you have a dick in your mouth.

That’s right. Iona woke me in the morning with a blow job. She was a dream come true.

It felt like a lifetime ago when she was ignoring me. Even when we were young and she moved to the other side of the country seemed like another life.

“Then why are we here? It’s not like you need your stuff.”

He was more irritable than usual. I think part of the problem was that the diner was only open on weekends for the next few weeks because a celebrity chef was in town filming there.

If Austen couldn’t get his daily pancake fix, he turned into a moody dick, and I meant that in the friendliest way possible. I loved the guy, but sugar was his drug of choice and he was jonesing.

“Have you thought about having sex for that problem?”

His eyes widened. “What?” He glanced around. No one was paying attention to us, far too busy doing officer things. Especially Edwina Black, the first female cop of Fire Lake. She’s one year away from retirement, so she’s on front desk duty. She earned the cushy front desk job from dealing with asshole perps and sexist cops over the past thirty years. I knew this because every time she came into the diner, she told everyone she ran into.

“You’re grumpier than normal. Look at me. I was uptight before Iona came back, and now . . .” I leaned back and placed my hands behind my head.

“You were never uptight. A bit of a man-child, but never uptight. Now you’re just a gloating man-child.”

Someone was jealous.

“And no, I’m not jealous.” Austen shook his head.

“Whoa, did you just read my mind?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, it’s just easy to predict what a man-child is thinking.”

“Anyway, we’re here because the guys stole my furniture. Sure, they were cheap mega-chain pieces of furniture, but it’s the principle. I trusted those guys to be in my home and move my things. Instead, they broke that trust and ran away with everything.”

He shook his head. I noticed his thick head of dark hair was a mess. Not his usual combed to perfection style.

“But why cheap furniture? I mean, if they were going to steal stuff, wouldn’t they take expensive things?”

That was odd. Surely, they would’ve tried to rob Carter. After all, he’s related to billionaires.

“I’m sure Sheriff Heart will be able to answer those questions. It’s not like I need the furniture now, but Garrison might require some information from me.”

As if on cue, the man himself, Sheriff Garrison Heart stepped through a door next to Officer Black’s desk. He was a few years older than me, and I remember he was a senior in high school when I was a freshman. He was cool then and even cooler now.

I had sort of a man-crush on him, but I’d never tell anyone that. Not even Iona.

“Dr. Ferguson, glad you could meet with me this afternoon.” The sheriff rambled forward like someone out of an old western movie. I had a theory he was a reincarnated John Wayne.

I stood a little too fast and became dizzy. Playing it off like a pro because it wasn’t the first time I became overly anxious in front of Garrison, I turned toward Austen as if I meant to introduce him right away.

I hadn’t, by the way. It was the only way I could move without falling backward.

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