Page 87 of Racing Hearts

My mouth drops open as I gape at Alek. He never told me that. I just figured he had them.

“When you two get married, I want to be best man,” Lally says.

“Who else would be?” I wink as Alek’s head snaps around to me. I expect him to freak about our joke, but he just watches me seriously.

“You’d marry me?” he asks quietly.

“Baby, seeing you in a tux with a ring while locking you down? Yeah, I’d marry you. Now come on, we need to get the kids to school.”

“Hey!” Alice protests as I laugh, climbing from the car, but within seconds, I’m pressed back against it, and Alek’s mouth is on mine. I gasp in surprise, gripping his wide shoulders as he pins me, kissing the life out of me.

“Come on, cutie, they could be at it for a while. I’ll walk you to class. Bye, Daddy One and Daddy Two, see you at dinner,” Lally calls.

I wave, but my hand drops when Alek bites my lip. Pulling away, I pout as he rubs his thumb across the stinging bite, his eyes smoldering for me.

“What was that for?” I mumble.

“The idea of marrying you made me want to kiss the shit out of you,” he answers without shame, smiling brightly as he steps back. “Okay, let’s get you to class—wait, where did they go?” He frowns at the empty back seat.

“They left.” I snicker as I take his hand. “I have a free period before my next class. Want to hang around campus and feel each other up like a horny couple?”

The smirk he gives me makes me cough, and it’s my turn to blush. I hold his hand tighter and tug him after me. “Come on.”

We did exactly that. We lounged on the grass, touching and teasing each other, and we laughed and talked. It was so nice just spending time with him in the sunshine.

Sighing in contentment, I look down at Alek, who has his head on my lap. He’s lying on the rim of the fountain in the middle of campus, one hand covering mine on his chest, the other playing with grass. I can’t help but smile as I play with his hair.

“I can feel you staring at me, rich boy,” he rumbles, his chest rising with a deep breath.

“Can you blame me?” I tease, kissing his forehead with a grin. “You’re so beautiful.”

“I’m handsome or arrogant?—”

“Nope, beautiful.” I laugh as I sit up. Our words trail off, both of us content in comfortable silence.

“I’m worried about Alice,” he finally admits. I know he is. He hasn’t been sleeping, and it’s obvious. I just wish there were more I could do to help.

“I know,” I murmur, squeezing his hand in support. “The police are doing their job?—”

“Not fast enough.” He sits up, eyeing me as he pushes his sunglasses up on top of his head. “What if something happens in the meantime? I can’t lose her, Evan. She is all I have. She’s my entire family?—”

Grabbing him, I tug him into my arms, rubbing his back.

“I know she is. You won’t lose her. Alice is a smart girl, and we are all here.” Pulling away, I cup his cheeks, looking into his terrified eyes. Sometimes I forget that Alek is only a few years older than me. He acts so confident and strong, but he’s still barely an adult. He lost his parents, and now he’s facing losing his sister, and he looks lost. He needs a purpose. Alek isn’t the type of guy to sit on the sidelines.

“How about we snoop around?” I offer. “Look into it as much as we can? I’m not saying we will find anything, since the police are already investigating, but it might help you feel better.”

His brows draw together as he watches me. “What could we find out?”

Running my eyes over his face, I debate how much to say. I don’t want to break the rules of Silent Rose, but this is the love of my life and it is life or death, so surely they will understand. “There were murders like this before,” I admit. “My friend told me her brother was here when it happened. Apparently, it was covered up as suicides, but everyone knows it wasn’t. They never found who did it. Maybe if we can look into that, we might find some clues.”

“It can’t be the same person, though, if that was years ago, right?” Alek muses.

“They don’t have to go to school to be here, Alek.” I point at him. “They could work at the college or even close by. Maybe they aren’t connected, but maybe they are, and it’s obvious the police won’t be looking into that link since they closed those cases years ago.”

“Good point. Where would we even start?” He sighs. “Also, what friend?” His eyes narrow. “Is it a guy?”

“Not every guy I’m friends with is trying to fuck me, Anders,” I scoff.