“That’s weird.”
“I know,” She agrees. “Anyway, we gotta go, the cab got here like ten minutes ago, and it’s about to leave if the billion texts from Killian are anything to go by.”
“Why didn’t you say!?” I quickly check my reflection in the mirror to make sure I haven’t smudged anything and straighten my dress, grabbing the heels I picked for the night so I can hurry and not fall as I follow Savannah out of the room.
“Because we had to talk,” She says matter of fact, “You needed me, and they can wait.”
“I love you; you know that, right?” I speak to the back of her head.
“I know, babe. I love you, too.”
Killian is waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, his dark eyes, so similar to Deans running over her as if the minutes they were apart were enough for something to happen to her. When he’s satisfied she’s in one piece, he reaches for her and presses a tender kiss to her temple. Behind him, Dean leans on the door frame, his arm out of the sling so he’s able to cross them over his chest. His pain appears more manageable now, and he has full movement.
His eyes, free of his glasses tonight, dip down me and with it, he untucks one of his hands to run a finger across his bottom lip.He grins behind his hand before he lifts it and swirls his finger, silently asking me to turn for him. At the base of the stairs, I do as he asks, giving a full three sixty, the shoes dangling from my finger.
When I stop and meet his eyes again, they’re burning with a fierce kind of hunger I feel deep under my skin.
Killian clears his throat, “When you’re quite done.”
My cheeks heat. “Sorry.”
But Dean chuckles, his hand sliding down my spine in a comforting gesture, “Don’t be. He tortured us all for weeks with the PDA after he and Savannah went public.”
“I remember,” I laugh, watching Savvy’s cheeks heat this time.
In the next second, Killian clips Dean around the ear with his hand, “Don’t embarrass my girl.”
“Oh my god,” Savannah groans dramatically, “Would you stop?”
Dean bursts out laughing, “Well, are we leaving?”
Killian stares for a little bit longer but relents and follows Savvy out of the house, but right before we can step out behind them, Dean pulls me in, dips me low, and pauses right with his lips whispering on mine. Not touching, there’s a hair's width gap between but I feel the push of air, the warmth of him.
“I really want to fucking kiss you, Sloane. Smear this pretty lipstick, but you look so beautiful, and you spent so much time doing it.”
“Dean,” My voice shakes as I whisper his name.
“I love you,” He reminds me before he dips his head and peppers kisses down the column of my throat, and then rights us to standing, leaving me dizzy as I follow him out of the house.
But still, I don’t repeat it.
I’m going to, I tell myself. I will say it back because I do love him. I think I have for a long time, even though I refused to admit it.
I’d always dreamed of being loved by a man like Dean, but the fantasy becoming reality is so much more.
More intense.
More fulfilling.
Justmore.
And I want to hoard it all, trap it in mason jars so it can never leave.
Killian is in the front seat when we get to the cab, and Dean helps me into the back, sliding in beside Savannah, and he follows, closing us in the small space and the driver immediately pulls into the street. His hand falls to my leg, almost absentmindedly, as he looks out the window.
With the position I see the gun tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket. Killian is likely armed too. With their jobs, they probably always are.
I don’t feel horror or fear with either of them.
