I was speechless.
Dominique came then, carrying two plates. “Sorry about the wait,” she said. “You looked like you weren’t ready yet. You good now?”
“I think we are,” Kelly said, and he never looked away from me.
She leaned over, set the plates on the table. Before she stood back up, she kissed Kelly on the cheek. He grinned.
It was breathtaking.
Dominique glanced at me as she turned to leave. She stopped. She said, “We haven’t had a chance to talk. I’ve heard about you.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Is that bad?”
“Nah,” she said. “At least not about you. It was bad. For them.” She nodded at Kelly. “I came after everything. Just passing through.”
“But you stayed.”
She nodded. “Green Creek does that to you. It’s not like anywhere else I’ve been.”
“And Jessie’s here,” Kelly teased her.
“She is,” Dominique agreed. “Probably more than I deserve once we figure things out, but she’s foolish and doesn’t see it.” She looked at me pointedly. “I’m not one for pack. Always been a bit of a loner. But it’s good having one so close. It takes the edge off, especially with Ox. Got me this job and everything. Said I could make something of myself. I figured why the hell not. I didn’t have anything else to lose. It stuck.” She patted Kelly on the shoulder before she turned away.
I watched her leave. “Jessie, huh? I thought she and Ox were… whatever, at one point.”
Kelly snorted. “Sexual fluidity is a thing that exists. You lost your virginity to a woman.”
I blinked in surprise. “How did you—oh. Right. What about you?” I balked, horrified. “Oh my god, ignore me. What the hell is wrong with me?”
He laughed until I thought he would pass out. I wanted to hear that sound for as long as I could. For a moment it was like this was a first date, like we were relative strangers just getting to know each other. Like we had all the time in the world.
We didn’t, but I could pretend. Because there was a man like sunshine sitting across from me, acting like there was no place he’d rather be than here with me.
Everything would come to a head at some point, and I thought it would be soon.
For now, though, Kelly Bennett was looking at me with such a spark in his eyes that I could barely function.
I said, “So, a cop, huh?”
And he said, “Yeah. A cop. It’s not bad. I actually like it more than I expected to. And it helps to have one of us patrolling through town in an official capacity. Makes people here feel safe. And we can keep an eye on things.”
“The uniform,” I said, feeling my face grow hot. “It suits you.”
He grinned as he looked out the window. “Thanks, Robbie.”
And on and on it went.
fireflies
The guys gave me shit when I turned up at the garage a half hour late.
Gordo told me not to do it again.
Tanner said that was only because Gordo hated answering the phones.
Chris waggled his eyebrows.
Ox wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I breathed him in.