Page 69 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

Diego was silent a moment. “Ineversaid that.”

Echo rolled his eyes. “So why can’t you sleep?”

Silence met his question.

“I don’t know,” Diego finally muttered. “But it’snotHavoc. I’m not some teenager obsessing over a crush.”

“No, you’re a man who’s found his other half. Your first meeting didn’t go well, so I’d lay odds you’re replaying it over and over in your mind—andthat’swhy you can’t sleep.”

“You don’t know me as well as you think you do,” Diego replied, his tone haughty. He usually did that when he was lying.

Tilly leapt on the couch beside him and rubbed her head under Echo’s free hand.

“I know you better than anyone else,” Echo said while he gave Tilly some gentle scratches. “And I know how much of a perfectionist you can be. I also know how much you beat yourself up when you imagine you’ve screwed something important up. It stands to reason that you’re tormenting yourself with what you view as a failure.”

Diego was silent. Echo thought he heard the droning of a television in the background, so he hadn’t been hung up on.

“It was a minor misstep—at worst—not a failure,” Echo added when Diego never spoke. “You’ll get more than one chance to get things right. Give yourself a bit of grace.”

“Easier said than done,” Diego replied, all but admitting Echo was on the right track.

“Would you like me to talk to Mael… have him call Havoc? Maybe you guys could meet up. Talk. Now that his balls have had time to recover.”

“No,”Diego said. “I don’t think I’m going this weekend, either, if that’s okay. You can use my boat if you need it, but… I think seeing Havoc will only make me feel worse, not better.”

Echo frowned. “If that’s what you want… I support your decision.”

“But you disagree,” Diego said.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I can hear it in your tone.”

Echo closed his eyes. “Look, Diego… we’re both in a really weird place right now and I can’t tell you what to do because I’m figuring it out as I go. I don’t know if we’ll find a way through all this, but the one thing I do know? The thought of not being near Mael…” He shivered. “I don’t even want to imagine it.”

“That’s exactly why Idon’twant to see Havoc. I’ve never been needy or clingy and I’m not starting now.”

“Are you calling me clingy?”

“No!”Diego said. “I’m talking about me. All I’ve wanted to do since I walked away is seek him out. If I see him this weekend, it’ll only make it worse, not better. I need to keep my distance and shatter this chokehold he has on me so I can live my fucking life in peace.”

“I wish you luck on that,” Echo said.

“Keep your tone to yourself,” Diego said, a hint of humor in his. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“If you get any sleep. Night,” Echo murmured before hanging up. He glanced down at Tilly. “Diego’s a mess, Till. What’re we going to do about him?”

Tilly meowled at him before she jumped down, clearly not interested in Diego’s drama.

Echo rose and followed her to the steps. Given her imprisonment, he was a bit shocked she wanted to return to the second floor. When he arrived at the foot of his new stairs, he stopped and smiled. Even incomplete, they looked miles better than they had before. His first time up and down, he’d sped trying to get out of the way while they’d put the temporary handrail up. After swooping down to gather the paint sample brochures, he marched up slowly, taking his time to check each tread for stability. There wasn’t a single creak or groan. They were rock solid and appeared well-constructed—though he was no expert. He smiled to himself when he reached the top and gave them one last glance.

Entering the bedroom, he heard the shower still running. Echo decided to take advantage. He quickly peeled out of Mael’s sweater and rooted through his lingerie drawer. By the time Mael walked out of the bathroom with only a towel tied around his waist, he found Echo lying on the bed waiting.

Dressed in only a bra, panties, garters, and stockings.

Mael froze a few steps outside the bathroom, steam escaping behind him.“Woah.”

Echo lay on his side, one hand supporting his head. He stretched out his legs, showing off the black silk stockings. “A little birdie told me you liked stockings?” He tugged on a garter and let it snap back to his thigh. “And garters?”

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