Page 51 of My End
That shouldn’t have made my heart race the way it did.
But it did.
I buried my face in his chest, breathing him in, letting his warmth melt into me like paint into canvas.
“What are some of your friends’ nicknames?” I asked.
“Uh, well, Dice is my closest friend. He’s really the one I know who will be there for me. Then there’s Cue Ball and Yarder.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I think I am going to stick with Jake.”
We didn’t say anything after that. Just lay there, tangled and quiet.
Eventually, we had to move. The sun was fully up now, and the household below us would be stirring. But for a few more minutes, I stayed in that little bubble with Stretch/Jake and let myself believe that maybe something real was growing between us.
Even if I still didn’t know who he really was.
Even if I was starting to suspect… neither did he.
Chapter Twenty-One
Stretch
Jim didn’t even look up from his clipboard when I walked into the command room. The early morning sun had fully crested the trees, and the air was already heavy. Thick with tension. I knew something was up. I just hadn’t expected it to hit this fast.
“You’re on gate duty starting today,” Jim said and scribbled something down.
I blinked. “Gate duty?”
“You heard me. Full shift. You and Freddie. Get moving.”
“Since when?”
Jim finally looked at me, and his lips twisted into something close to a smirk. “Since Boone decided to make a switch. Kevin’s back on his detail. You’re at the gate.”
“Right,” I muttered, trying not to bristle. “Any reason why?”
“I don’t ask. I just relay the orders.”
His eyes said more than his mouth did, though. He was watching me. Measuring. Like he was waiting for me to push back and give him a reason to dig deeper. I didn’t bite.
I nodded slowly, my jaw tight. “Copy that.”
I headed down the driveway, my boots kicking up dust along the packed path. Gate duty. The furthest point from the mansion. Away from Boone. Away from the center of things. Away from Tilly.
My fists curled.
I hadn’t seen this coming.
By the time I made it to the gatehouse, Freddie was already halfway through a stale bagel and halfway through a crossword puzzle.
“Well, shit,” he said with a grin. “They finally decided to grace me with Jake.”
I dropped onto the stool beside him and ignored the plastic chair’s groan beneath my weight. “Seems that way.”
“Any idea what you did?” he asked and tossed the bagel back into the crumpled wrapper.
“Not a clue.”
