“Wes,” Sevan says, putting a hand on my hip.
Don’t look at it.
Don’t look at this iceberg inside me, the one that no one ever sees.
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
He closes his arms around me in a hug, ignoring my words. His comforting warmth surrounding me is like a ballast back toward Earth.
I don’tletmyself need anyone.
And I can’t need Sev, but in this moment, I do. He doesn’t have to know how deeply I needed any of this.
Just another secret.
Another drop in the ocean.
“Well. I can’t wait to see you in your fancy suit at the dinner, Sheriff.”
Something about him using his old nickname for me cracks the tension that’s been filling my veins.
The tightness in my throat loosens.
Out of nowhere I feel myself smiling again, involuntarily. A laugh escapes me and I look up at the ceiling for a moment, and then Sev is laughing too, both of us acting like giggling kids in the corner at a party.
“Ishouldgo sheriff-mode on you, after you called me that name for the past billion years,” I tell him, shaking my head. “I’m getting fuzzy cuffs and locking you the fuck in.”
“Lock me to your bedpost and put your tongue over every inch of me,” he says. “I’ll pretend not to love every second of it.”
“I’m out of here,” I tell him. “You have your meeting tonight, and if I don’t finish my paper for Sellwood’s class, you’re the one who will grade it and give me an F.”
He blows me a kiss after I get dressed and swing the door open to leave, and somehow, even after everything, that little blown kiss makes my cheeks go hot.
As I’m heading down the staircase, I feel like I’m on a surreal cloud, like the past hour has been a roller coaster of every goddamn emotion I usually keep at bay.
Sev knows me now.
Better than some of my own friends even do.
And finally I’m letting myself admit how much I enjoy that.
I take the stairs down quickly, going for the front door. But as I’m walking out the front hall, I catch a strange glance.
It’s Kieran, one of the Double Daggers guys I never knew very well, sitting alone in one of the front rooms.
He’s staring at me.
Intently.
And I can’t read his expression.
He lifts a hand and waves at me before I head out the front doors.
“See you at the dinner next week, Knox,” he calls after me, like there’s a warning in his tone.
18
Sev
