He sighed loudly, his disappointment obvious. “Fiiiiine. Then let’s call it a truce.”
“Truce?!” I exclaimed with a mock gasp. “You were the one to declare war!”
He giggled, then coughed to cover it up. “Sorry, I just rewatched the memory of my snowball hitting you in the face. It was just as good as the first time.”
That fucking bastard.
I ran forward, snowball in hand ready to throw, I made it a few steps before he jumped out and threw two balls at me, both missing. I grinned as he turned to flee, aiming for the back of his head and…Smack!
“Ow!” he yelled, turning to show me his pout. “I can’t believe you hit me!”
I rolled my eyes, still closing in on him, then threw myself at him, making him land on the snow. Before he could protest or pout again, I seized his mouth with my own, warming us both up as we savored the last moments of our vacation.
“Call it even?” I asked, nuzzling his nose.
He grinned, then pecked my lips once. “Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dylan
We’d only been home for two days when Jackson and Pete invited us out on a double date. I missed Pete and we had so much to tell them, so agreeing had been a no brainer, especially when we would get our next case tomorrow.
“Is it wrong of me to feel sort of relieved we won’t be able to talk about work with Jackson there?” Mike said, buttoning his light blue dress shirt.
I smiled at him as I pulled on my own shirt, mine a dark green. “We can still talk abouttheirwork,” I reminded him with a widening grin.
Myhandsome boyfriend just glared at me. “It’s a good thing your ass is all healed, perhaps you need a spanking when we return home.”
“Oh, do I?” I purred, backing him up against our bathroom sink.
He swallowed and nodded. “You do.”
Sighing, I pouted. “Why do we need to see them again?”
Mike just laughed and batted me aside. “Because I miss my brother and best friend, and I know you miss Pete, too.”
Sighing again, I nodded. “I do. He also told me they had news to share, so I’m sort of dying of curiosity.”
“And we can’t have that,” he laughed, walking into our bedroom.
We finished getting ready and then we drove to the Chinese restaurant Pete loved called Spring Roll. I could tell Mike looked forward to it, especially after he’d reminded me that he hadn’t had any Chinese for over two years. It was about damn time he was treated to a buffet of all the delicious options. They even had a soft ice-cream machine that I wanted to play around with.
Pete and Jackson were already there when we showed up, looking like love sick fools as they held hands and ignored everything around them. I loved that for my bestie.
“Hey!” I greeted, interrupting the lovely moment and all but pulling Pete out of his chair to hug him.
“Dylan!” he squealed, hugging me back tightly. “I’ve been following your blog and OMG can we please talk about that pic you snapped from your cabin with the strawberries? The window in the background with all the snow and the wood stove in the corner burning away.” He let out a dreamy sigh. “I’ve already told Jackson that we need to go there next year.”
Mike stepped over to us, stealing Pete from me as he suggested, “Please try the restaurant close by, they have the most amazing hot chocolate.”
“Mike!” Pete exclaimed, hugging his brother. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better,” Mike replied honestly, his lips tipped into a soft smile.
Jackson threw an arm around Mike’s shoulder and side hugged him. “Maybe a vacation was just what you needed, huh?”
We’d told Jackson that the Denmark trip had been exhausting and our vacation to Norway had been because of that. With Mike having been gone for almost two years in Africa, the need to have a week’s vacation was understandable and it truly was needed. Mike was so much happier now and actually looked forward to getting our next case. Rino had also respected his clear refusal to banish ghosts, something I could tell had eased some of the tension my sweet boyfriend carried.
