Page 26 of Forever Golden
Detective Roby nods and when his gaze locks with the camera, I feel like he’s looking directly at me.
Like, maybe my seeing this tonight is fate.
Like, maybe heissomeone we can trust, someone who can help us.
Chapter 9
BLUE
The moment Detective Roby’s interview ends, Scar gets a call and leaves me for more interesting conversation, I guess. Her bedroom door slams shut and it’s just me since my phone is off limits until further notice.
Or maybe not? I mean, as long as there’s no pertinent information being passed, a vague‘I miss you’text wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
Don’t be stupid. Be patient. You’ll see West tomorrow, and he’ll tell you everything then. Stop worrying.
With that, I pretend to be content not hearing his voice before bed, then turn off the lights.
But after taking maybe three steps, there’s a knock at the door that has my heart racing and my palms sweating. I stare through the darkness and dread the very thought of looking outside to see who’s there.
Because there’s a chance it’s someone I don’t want to let in.
I’ve been startled before, and this isn’t that. This is real fear, it’s me being scared shitless at the thought of whoever’s at the door with malice in their heart.
I’m quiet when slipping between the end table and window to peek through the blinds, but when I see West’s face, I’m not so careful anymore, bumping the lamp on my way to the door. I snatch it open and can hardly get the lock disengaged to get to him. Then, the second I do manage to get it right, my arms are around his neck.
“Shit,” he says with a laugh after practically having the wind knocked out of him.
He holds me tight, having no idea how glad I am to see it’shimat the door, and not someone else. If I’m being honest, the idea of it just being me and Scar here alone at night scares the hell out of me.
After maybe half a minute, I come to my senses, realizing I’ve kept him out in the cold all this time. At which point, I loosen my grip and back off. There’s a dark bag in his hand I hadn’t noticed until now. He sets it down a moment while shrugging out of his jacket, but my eyes are on it as I lock up.
“I know it’s late and I could’ve waited to see you tomorrow, but… we both know I’m fucking impatient.”
Nothing more than a perfect silhouette in this dark space, West grabs me and I let a laugh slip. Mostly because he isn’t wrong.
“And we both know I’m glad you came,” I admit. “Let’s talk in my room.”
He flashes a smile I can see even without much light. “Talk—is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
I kiss him once and then tow the perv behind me the entire length of the hallway, where I lock us inside my room.
“You brought me a gift?” I tease, pointing at the bag he’s still clutching. He follows my gaze to it, but instead of explaining, dumps the contents on my comforter.
“Sort of,” he says with somewhat of a solemn sigh. “We’ve all got new phones. Apparently, Dane‘knows a guy’.”
I meet his gaze when he says that, wondering how we even got here. By the look on his face and that thick vein throbbing, I can tell he’s wondering the same thing.
“We’ll go over how the security system works in a bit, but I already added the app to both our new phones. That way, we can arm and disarm it remotely, double-check that the system’s engaged from wherever,” he explains.
Watching him, listening as he openly admits having granted himself access to my home, one corner of my mouth tugs up with a grin.
“You know, some might say you’ve got just the right amount of stalker in you to get away with it. You’re somewhere on the border between devotion and psychopathy,” I tease.
“Overprotective, possessive, psycho—call me what the fuck you want, but I’m just protecting what’s mine,” he adds, flashing a faint smile.
A sweeping look passes over me then, and even stressed the hell out, he’s still sexy. His hair’s a bit damp from the snow that’s melted in it, and the sleeves of a white thermal squeeze his biceps. Similar to how those perfectly-fitting gray sweats are hugging the muscles in his thighs and… the one between them.
Dude, you can’t seriously be thinking about fucking him right now…