“Heard through the grapevine it was arson.” He nods toward the back that is cordoned off.
“Yeah. Seems like it.”
“Just stopped by to let you know that if you need me to take care of it for you, I can.”
I stare at him.
“You know where to find me,” he adds.
I nod, unsure of what the fuck he means, but he just turns and leaves without saying anything else.
Bea stares at me from her perch behind the counter and shivers slightly. “He’s scary.”
“Yeah.”
My phone beeps right then, distracting me from the thought of Milo moving bodies like it’s a workout routine, and then I see a message from Rome asking me when I’ll be home.
I grab my bag and rush out. He told me not to hurry, but theanxiety building over the last few days has made me do exactly that. I break every speed limit in this small town to get to him as quickly as possible.
I’m so fucking head over heels for this guy it’s not even funny. If he tells me this is over, I’m going to lose my shit. I will not survive it.
Pulling into my parking space, I hop out, locking the car door and taking the steps to my place two at a time before I’m at the door. I open it carefully so Dennis doesn’t try to escape and sneak in before he tries to rush me.
He did that last week, bursting out when we were bringing in groceries. He ran up a tree and then sat on a branch and howled like he was dying until we climbed up and brought him back inside.
Fucker doesn’t know how good he has it.
The door shuts behind me, and Dennis is at my feet to greet me with a bat of his paw against my ankles.
And that’s when I see him.
Rome at the table, looking nervous and afraid. Everything else is forgotten. I rush toward him, feeling my heart in my throat. ‘What’s wrong? You okay?’
He swallows, and I take a seat across from him, pulling one of his hands into mine and squeezing. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Just nervous.’
I blink at him as Dennis hops up and rubs against Rome’s arm. They’ve gotten closer over the last month. Probably because Rome is always here, waking next to me every morning, falling asleep in my arms.
It’s fucking perfect, but right now…right now, everything seems wrong.
‘Tell me what’s up. You’ve been acting so weird the past few days. I’m so fucking anxious.’
His eyebrows meet. ‘Have I?’
‘Yes. Are we okay?’
His eyebrows rise this time. ‘Yes. Of course. Shit. I’m sorry you thought something bad was going to happen…nothing bad is going to happen. I hope.’ His hands flutter nervously, and then he sighs loudly. ‘I just wanted to ask you a question.’
Now it’s my turn for my eyebrows to do acrobatics. Suddenly, I feel faint. Is he going to propose? Because we haven’t even said I love yous yet.
‘I wanted to discuss something with you.’
Oh, well, maybe not a proposal then. Shit, what is it? I hold my breath and wait.
‘I wanted to talk to you about…moving in together.’
My mouth drops open as I stare at him.
‘I mean, I live here most of the time anyway, and Dennis likes me…’ He’s starting to ramble now. ‘And we get along, and you know, we like each other.’
