“I didn’t think for a minute you did.”
“Why?” Titus spun on him, chin tipped up, fire in his eyes. “You left me in the desert.”
“Correction,” Viper growled. “I did not. I wasn’t flying that damned chopper. When I came to, I came back for you.”
Titus froze. “Wait…what?”
“I came back for you.”
“I know that part—you were knocked out?” Titus’s eyes ran over him, assessing, worried. Viper tried not to show how fucking pleased it made him that Titus cared.
“Yeah. It was roughly fifteen minutes before we got back to your location. I combed the desert all that night and into the next day…” His voice cut out. He cleared his throat and stabbed at the eggs. “I couldn’t find you.”
Before he turned the eggs into sand, Titus stepped in beside him and gently took the spatula from his hand, flipping them with practiced ease.
“Thank you.”
The words punched at him. Not because of the gratitude—but because they sounded heartfelt. Like Titus was grateful they’d come back for him at all.
Their gazes collided—locked, held.
Viper clenched his teeth and silently swore that over the next few days, if he did nothing else, he’d prove to Titus he’d always come for him.
He brushed the tip of his finger across Titus’s mouth—light, instinctive.
The man’s breath paused—just for a second before he turned back to the pan.
Clearly, Titus was attracted to him. But the distance was still there.
Yet something warm threaded through it now—quiet, unexpected, dangerous in a new way.
Titus shot him a quick glance.
“So… a Kensington…” he said quietly.
Viper lifted a brow. “You say that like you already know.”
“I do.”
“Did you research me?”
“Guilty,” Titus admitted, almost sheepishly.
A slow grin pulled at Viper’s mouth. “You probably don’t know the half of it.”
“Tell me.” Titus placed eggs and sausages on two plates and carried them to the bar.
Viper refilled both of their coffee cups and then took a seat. “I was raised on a ranch in Texas with eight siblings.”
Titus’s eyes went wide, and the eggs on his fork paused midair. “Eight?”
“Mhmm.”
“Are you the oldest?”
“I am.”
“What was it like?” Titus leaned in, blue eyes bright. “Chaos and mayhem?”
