Page 27 of Unexpectedly Wanted
He patted me on the shoulder and then headed out the way he came.
I quickly got everything settled and went to see Kyle.
Luckily, everything had been easy enough to hand off.
Milo probably wasn’t going to be so easy.
I understood what we did was important and there was usually a deadline. We didn’t have all the time in the world when it came to the kind of cases we got. But if he kept going like this, he was going to burn himself out. I honestly wasn’t sure how he hadn’t yet. However, trying to convince him that he needed some time off every now and then wouldn’t be something he’d want to hear.
Guess I had no choice but to use the boss card. Reed was right. Milo wouldn’t argue with me if the order sounded mandatory.
10
Milo
“This will just be like a couple of hours, right?” I asked Remy as he parked his car in a lot I didn’t know.
He didn’t respond, but I felt like there was some kind of answer in the smirk on his face. Only I couldn’t read what it was trying to tell me.
“Where are we?” I went on as I scanned the area. My eyes tracked up the apartment building not far from the parking space, counting all four floors as my gaze lifted to the roof.
“My place,” he said as he pointed in the direction of the first floor. I looked at the window that happened to be in the line of his finger, studying it as if I could see through the glass and blinds. I couldn’t. I hadn’t somehow developed that superpower overnight. Darn. “Come on. I have an idea.”
“But this will just be, like, an extended lunch, right? Will there be time for this idea of yours?” I was yelling by the end of it, since he’d pushed open the car door and stepped out, the door closing again before I was done talking.
He pinned me with a look through the windshield.
“Get out or I’m locking your ass in there,” he said.
I moved so fast that I was out of the car before I took my next breath.
His car beeped, and then he was walking toward the building.
Silently, I followed behind him. I waited a few feet away as he unlocked a door on the first floor. Then I stood there, even after he’d stepped inside and held the door open for me.
“Come in,” he said.
“Yeah. Right,” I said, feeling nervous.
This was his apartment. The one he’d gotten all that stuff from. The stuff that was currently taking up residence in my house. It belonged here. And the thought that I was about to walk into his home, knowing those empty spaces scattered about were supposed to be filled with things that I’d likely already seen, didn’t sit well with me. I couldn’t really explain why. It wasn’t like they had been permanently moved. They were… on loan, I guess. They’d be back here soon enough, perfectly sitting in their true places.
“Milo,” Remy said, causing me to jump and practically leap over the threshold. The door swung shut behind me and I flinched when it clicked into place. “You’re safe, you know that, yeah?”
“Yes,” I assured him. Remy wouldn’t hurt me, I knew that. The thought was so ridiculous I actually rolled my eyes. “It’s just weird. I have no place here. We’re not friends. And even if we were, I wouldn’t see your place like this.”
He began walking farther into the apartment and I followed, both of us finally coming to a stop right in the middle of his living room.
There were those empty spaces I’d been thinking about.
One on the wall, the nail sticking out like it was waiting for the object it had been holding suspended in air to return.
“Like what?” he asked, that brow inching in the direction of his hairline as he finished.
“Incomplete,” I answered. My eyes caught on a shelf on the black bookcase against the wall. There was a thin layer of dust that had settled there. But not before the square object that had been sitting on that shelf had been removed. The darker black square stole my attention, reminding me of the puzzle box he’d brought over.
“Hm,” he said. I snapped my eyes to meet his. “I guess I didn’t think of it that way. Does it bother you that my stuff is over at your house instead of here?”
“I don’t think so,” I answered. “At least not because I don’t want them there. I’ve gotten over the initial shock and I’m kind of used to everything now. But, I guess, it’s strange that they should be here, but they’re not. It feels like I’m only seeing part of you in here without them in their rightful places.”
