Chapter 55: WHAT DID YOU FLUSH?
KEISHA’S POV
Dane was standing there.
I stared at him for a second. He looked at me and his eyes moved over my face like he was checking something.
He came at the wrong time but I wasn’t complaining. I had missed him.
"Hey." He said.
"Hey." I said.
"You okay?" He frowned slightly. "You look—"
"Fine." I cut him off. "Come in."
He came inside and I closed the door as I followed him into the living room and that was when I remembered what I had left there.
The kit.
In the kitchen drawer.
Oh my fucking—
He was already moving toward the kitchen and my heart launched into my throat.
"I’ll get you water." I announced immediately, moving ahead of him.
"I can get it—"
"I’ve got it." I was already past him and in the kitchen as I pulled the drawer open and grabbed the kit and looked around fast before I went straight to the bathroom, pushed the toilet lid up and dropped it in. I flushed it before I had even fully decided to do it.
I stood there and watched it go with a relieved expression on my face.
That was close.
I went back out to meet him.
Dane was leaning in the kitchen doorway with his arms folded looking at me.
"What did you just flush?" He asked.
"Nothing." I went to the cabinet and got two glasses.
"Keisha."
"Rubbish." I said. "Old receipt or something. I found it in the drawer." I filled the glasses with water and turned and held one out to him.
He looked at the glass, then at me and then at the bathroom door. "Your cheeks are red." He pointed out.
"It’s warm in here." I laughed but the sound came out forced.
"It’s not warm in here." He frowned.
"Do you want the water or not?" I glared at him.
He took the glass and kept looking at me with that expression but I didn’t pay him any attention. I simply went back to the living room, keeping a cool expression on my face. Stark difference from how I felt.
He followed and sat at the other end of the sofa as he drank his water and said nothing for a moment.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"Taking a break from patrol." He said. "Needed somewhere quiet."
"And you picked my house." I looked at him.
"I always pick your house." He said simply.
True.
I looked at my glass.
"Is that okay?" He asked.
"You’re already here." I said.
He almost smiled. "I am." He set his glass down. "Go on then. Go to your room. I’ll just sit here."
I stood to go, but his hand closed around my wrist before I took a step.
"Sit down." He sighed.
I looked at him.
"Just sit." He said. "I’m not asking for anything. I just got off a six hour rotation and my back hurts and I want to sit somewhere that isn’t the border checkpoint." He looked up at me. "Sit down, Keisha."
I sat down.
He leaned back into the sofa and after a moment he shifted and lay down with his head in my lap while I sat there very still, looked at the ceiling and told myself to breathe normally.
"You don’t hate me that much." He muttered as his eyes were closed.
"I don’t hate you at all." I looked down at him.
"Could’ve fooled me last week." He huffed.
I said nothing.
"When you told me to stop following you." He said, reminding me of what I said just the last week.
"I know." I said quietly. "I didn’t mean it the way it came out."
"I know why you meant it." He said.
I looked down at him. His eyes were still closed and his face was relaxed. A stark difference from the serious expression that was usually on his face.
"Lyra." I blurted out.
"Mm." He said.
"Do you ever think about her?" I asked.
A pause followed like he was thinking. "Yes." He said.
"And?" I urged.
He opened his eyes and looked up at me. "And it’s complicated." He said. "The way everything about my life is currently complicated." He held my gaze. "You know about complicated just as much as I do."
I looked at him thoughtfully as he closed his eyes again.
For a while, we said nothing and after a second, Dane’s breathing had gone slow and even.
I thought he was asleep.
The urge came before I could stop it. I shifted in my seat, staring down at his features and my hand moved on its own, reaching down slowly, fingers brushing his cheek.
His eyes snapped open and I snatched my hand back, eyes wide.
Fuck.
He looked at me and I looked at the wall, my cheeks flushed.
"Sorry." I muttered. "I thought you were asleep."
He said nothing for a moment.
Then he sat up slowly and turned to face me. "Do you have any idea—" He stopped.
"Dane—"
"Any idea." He said again, his voice quiet. "What you do to me?"
I looked at him.
He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and the simple gesture did something to my chest that the bond alone couldn’t explain. Then, his hand curved around my jaw and he kissed me.
I kissed him back immediately because I had approximately zero resistance left in me tonight.
His hands found my waist and pulled me closer and I went without arguing as we lay there together tangled in our clothes and passion.
We lay there for a long second, our breathing ragged and heavy.
I lay against him on the narrow sofa and looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath.
"I have to go back." He said against my hair.
"I know." I said.
Of course I knew.
He pulled back and looked at me and his expression softened. "Go to your room." He said quietly. "Get on your knees on the floor beside the bed and wait for me."
I looked at him. "What?"
"I’ll check the border and come back." He said. "Thirty minutes. Maybe forty." He held my gaze. "Will you wait?"
I looked at him for a long moment.
"Yes." I said.
He pressed his lips to my forehead briefly and stood and straightened his clothes and was gone.
I sat on the sofa alone for a moment.
Then I got up and went to my room and did what he said.
