Page 12 of Swan

“Yes.” I nodded, my body warming from the certainty in his tone.

He cupped my cheeks, making my belly flutter. “Missed you like crazy, Swanny.”

I sniffed. “Missed you too, Lock.”

He grinned and hugged me again.

There was a commotion near the door, and I heard, “You can’t look in. Wait your turn.”

I laughed, glancing back towards the entry and then to Lockland. “I’m not sure if you remember them, but that’ll be Maya, Texas, and Josh, who goes by Ruin.”

Lockland nodded. “He joined the club?”

“He did.”

“Cam, let them in,” Lockland called.

The security shook his head. “Can’t, sir. The rules are one person?—”

“Cam, I know them. Let them through.”

Cam nodded and opened the curtain.

Maya was in first, then Texas, Ruin, and Wolf.

“Maya and Texas are married. Ruin and Wolf are also married,” I told Lockland.

“Exactly, he’s a taken man,” Ruin said, holding up Wolf’s hand and pointing at Wolf’s finger where the wedding band lay.

Lockland chuckled. “Got it.” He curled an arm around my shoulders and held his hand out to Texas, then Ruin, and finally Wolf. Maya and I shared a quick look; both of us flared our eyes at each other, which made us laugh. Lockland winked at Maya. “Hey, Maya. How’s the family?”

“Really well. So,” she drew out. “You stopped talking to Swan. Why?”

“Maya,” I said.

“No, it’s fine.” He chuckled. “And understandable. We were so close for many years. The best of friends, and then nothing. It crushed me when I thought Swan ghosted me, and I can only presume Swan felt like that too.”

“How did this happen?” Maya asked.

“It’s something we’ll have to figure out with time. But now that I’ve seen her—” He smiled down at me. “—you’re not getting rid of me again.” He hugged me once more. “Fuck, Swanny, I’ve missed the hell out of you.”

Tears welled, and my throat thickened, but I managed to get out, “Me too.”

“Mr Humphrey, sorry, but we need to move this along.”

“Fuck,” he clipped but nodded. “Let me actually get your right number,” he said to me and took out his phone. I told him my number, and he saved it in there. “I’ll text you later. Are you still in the same place?”

I nodded.

“Can we get a photo still?” Maya asked.

Lockland grinned. “Yeah, of course.” We went and stood in front of the table. Lockland still had his arm around my shoulders as Maya, Texas, Ruin, and Wolf all closed in around us for the photographer.

I wasn’t even sure I smiled when he called for us to. I was too busy staring up at Lockland, worried that if I looked away, none of this happened.

He was thrilled to see me.

He had my number.

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