Page 48 of Unexpectedly Wanted
“Got a special someone you need to keep it charged for?” Dune asked in a tone that was rather flat. “They gonna be worried about you being gone?”
“Ha,” Austin said with a roll of his eyes. “No.”
“You talked to your mom recently?” I asked. I knew a little about his situation, but not enough to go asking too many questions.
“No.” He sighed. “Last time I was with her, she said I looked too much like my father and she didn’t want to talk to me anymore. She’s keeping my sisters from me, too. I got a phone to the twins, but they haven’t used it. I was just hoping…” Another sigh left his lips, this one heavier. “Nothing.”
“That’s a pretty shitty thing for her to say,” I said with sympathy in my tone.
Austin was usually all smiles and jokes. He didn’t talk about himself or his family often. But I knew enough because I’d recognized him, and one day, I’d decided that maybe telling him that I knew would give him someone to talk to if he ever needed. He hadn’t exactly opened up to me, but he’d told me little things here and there about his mom and sisters. He never talked about his dad, which I understood. I probably wouldn’t either if I were him.
“If there’s anything I can do, let me know,” I said.
He only shrugged.
“No one else?” Dune asked. “Got someone back in Atlanta you need to get in touch with?”
I studied Dune closely, wondering what the hell he was up to. Along with his family life, Austin was very quiet about the rest of his personal life. He was fun and charming, and usually got a lot of attention. But the few times I’d been out with him somewhere, it was like he didn’t even notice all the people checking him out. Hell, once he’d had someone come up and blatantly hit on him. Austin was nice, but it was like he didn’t even have a clue what was going on. The poor big man ended up walking away with a confused and dejected look on his face. I’d had a good laugh about that at Austin’s expense. By the time I’d gotten done explaining to him that the bear of a man wanted to take him home and maul him, Austin still couldn’t comprehend how’d I’d come to that conclusion. The overly flirty and painfully obvious interaction had been completely lost on him.
I didn’t get Austin sometimes.
But it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like that sort of thing made a difference to me. Above all else, it was important that I could trust Austin with my life. Behind the jokes and the easy smiles, there was a man that was very serious and determined. That was what mattered to me.
“That isn’t my thing,” he said, his accent getting thick, which meant he was only half in this conversation. His head was somewhere else. Then he blinked, and I saw the mask come down over his face. His eyes sharpened as he met my gaze. I knew it was coming before he opened his mouth. Deflecting, he was really good at it. “Now, Remy, on the other hand…”
I rolled my eyes as I turned back around in my seat.
“We’re not talking about me,” I said.
“Gotta talk about somethin’,” Dune said. “Or we could argue over music some more.”
“No!” Austin and I said at the same time. We did not agree on anything. His type of music gave me a headache. And my ‘noise’ made his ears bleed. Dune wanted to put on some classical, and that was out when Austin and I told him that we’d fall asleep within seconds.
Fun, right?
The whole team really did get along for the most part. Moments like this made me feel like this was my family. Even though things were about to get tense and dangerous, we could still take a few minutes to be human with one another.
“You and Milo, huh?” I should have known Austin wouldn’t let it go. The car jerked a little and Dune looked over at me with a face that was clearly asking if Austin was smoking something.
“No,” Dune said, voice holding a hint of surprise in it. “He hates you.”
“I saw them almost kissing in the conference room,” Austin blabbed like a tattletale. He made a kissy face at me. I picked up the first thing I saw and threw it at him. But, of course, he caught the pack of roasted nuts and ripped open the corner immediately. A second later, he was pouring half the tiny bag into his mouth.
“We were talking,” I said, a little too defensively.
Yeah, I’d been close enough to kiss Milo, and I had wanted to so fucking badly. I wondered if that was the moment where everything changed. That was only a few days ago, but for some reason, it felt like more. Way more. How had I developed feelings for Milo so fast? It seemed insane. I mean, it was Milo. He hated me. He was always rude to me. I felt like I could never do anything right or make him happy. Like just my existence in his space ruined his day.
And now…
I couldn’t stop the smile even if I wanted to.
I was thinking about him kneading bread. Thinking about how uncomfortable and curious he was in my apartment. Thinking of him in bed, desperate for some comfort. Of the way he fit so perfectly against me. How he smelled. How I knew what it was like to kiss him now. And the way he sounded when he came.
“Oh my God. You’re smiling,” Austin said as he jabbed his pointer finger in my direction. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye. I refused to look at either one of them. “And the tops of your ears are kinda pink.”
“You and Milo?” Dune sounded very confused.
