Page 54 of Make Mine Sweet
“You don’t want to miss out when you’ve got something good right there waiting for you.” She’s watching me like she’s trying to bore a hole into the side of my head.
“Stop staring. You’ve made your point.”
“If I had, you’d be in your neighbor’s arms right now.”
“That makes no sense.” Even if it sends an odd thrill right up my back.
“Just promise me you won’t shut down the possibility, okay?”
“You’re awfully invested in my theoretical love life.”
She laughs. “Yeah, because all I’ve got is sparring with Callahan.”
Her gaze flashes down the alley where he drove off a few minutes ago, and she swallows.
“My point is,” she says, dragging her attention back to me, “if you happen to find yourself in Ian’s arms, don’t waste the opportunity.”
“I promise.”
But only because that’s even less likely than Wren realizing that when Shepherd said she should date Hephaestus, he wasn’t really talking about the Greek God. He was talking abouthim.
EIGHTEEN
IAN
It’s beenages since I saw a night sky this clear and bright. I used to have them all the time on mountaintops, grand rewards for my efforts to reach new peaks. Now, I can’t remember the last time I looked up at the stars. But I’ve been sitting on my back porch staring up at the sky for longer than I care to admit. If I was a wishing kind of man, I’d have a few in my back pocket from the meteorites that have zipped across the sky.
It’s gorgeous. And oddly lonely. But maybe that’s just me.
At my side, Dutch whines. I run my hand over his head. He really does have the softest fur.
Should probably do something about that breath, though.
“I know. I feel the same.”
The lights are out next door. Have been all evening. Tess doesn’t usually get home this late. I’m not keeping track to be a creep, but it’s impossible not to notice her habits when she lives ten feet away from me.
I have no right to wonder where she is. She’s not mine to deserve that kind of info. That hasn’t stopped the questions from spinning through my head. Maybe we should exchange numbers. Just in case she ever needs anything.
No. She’s got family. She would call them in an emergency. But…maybe it’d be good to have another option. Just in case.
I’m notworried. Worrying isn’t my style. Anyway, it’s not late enough to panic that something bad has happened to them. It’s only a little after nine. The most realistic scenario is that she’s with her sister or mom. Maybe out with friends.
Possibly on a date.
I catalogue the constellations I know by name, telling myself it’s fine. If she is on a date, good for her, right? She deserves it. Well done, and happy for her.
Yeah, right. I’ve got the urge to throttle anyone who would even think to ask her out, like a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal declaringmine.
I stand and stretch my neck from side to side. “Let’s go inside, Dutch. No sense pining by their door any more tonight.”
We go inside, and I wander the small apartment, absently rubbing the center of my chest. I’ve been doing this all evening—moving from puttering around in the kitchen to trying to read a book to watching the stars. But I can’t get comfortable anywhere I go. Everything’s off.
Dutch must agree. He lies down in front of the back door, his face pressed to the crack like he’s still sniffing for them.
“It’s pathetic to miss them this much already.”
I’m talking to us both.
