“Nothing, Seb. You’re just hilariously blind in every sense of the term.”
“I don’t follow.”
Max leaned over the counter, resting a hand under his chin and grinning. “I saw Detective Winter’s face when he came in the other morning. He’s so hot and bothered for you.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Means something to him.”
“How do you know? Are you a traveling fortune teller by night?”
“No, but I can see his subtle changes around you better than you ever will.” Max waved his hand at me. “I’m an objective witness.”
I slowly walked across the shop to the counter. “He hasn’t said anything of the sort,” I admitted quietly.
“Maybe he’s shy.”
I was about to deny that, but the other day, when it was just the two of us, his demeanor was so different. It was calm and quiet and sweet and—maybe he was a little shy? “He’s closeted, that’s all,” I said, hearing the defensiveness in my tone.
Max shrugged. “Whatever. All I’m saying is, I can see the little hearts in his eyes.”
BETWEEN MYmorning attempts at crime-solving and working a busy day at the Emporium while still recovering from a concussion, I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was drop my bag, get undressed, and crawl into bed to sleep for about a week. I was fantasizing about just how nice that sleep sounded, how great my pillow was going to feel with my face buried into it, when I stopped climbing the stairs to my apartment.
Sitting on the landing of the third floor was Calvin. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his head was leaning against the banister of the staircase. He was sleeping.
“Cal?” I asked quietly, not wanting to startle him like I had done before at the hospital.
Luckily he didn’t snap to attention, because it sort of freaked me out the way he did that. Instead, Calvin looked groggy as he opened his eyes and raised his head. “Seb?”
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, looking up the stairs at him.
Calvin rubbed his neck as he straightened his posture. “I was waiting for you.”
“I see that.”
He climbed to his feet. “Can we talk inside?”
Of course, I wasn’t going to turn him away. I hiked up the last steps and went to my door to unlock it. “Come in,” I said after shoving the door open with my shoulder.
“What the hell happened here?” Calvin asked as he stepped inside, looking around at the mess I had left.
“Oh God, I forgot about this,” I groaned.
“Did you do this?”
I shook my head. “No. Someone broke in. Well, I say someone, but you know who.”
“Wait, what?” Calvin suddenly sounded pissed, or defensive, or something close to it. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I don’t have to run to you like a damsel in distress,” I retorted. “There was no threat to me. I was fine.”
“No threat—!” Calvin reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You come to me,” he said sternly. “Foranythingregarding this case. Do I make myself clear?”
“I tried to do that this morning, and you nearly bit my head off. You can’t do this. You can’t order me to do something, but only where no one may see us together. I’ve done that, I did it for four years, and I’m not fucking doing it again!” I shouted. Everything about Neil that enraged me was suddenly channeled right at Calvin, and I couldn’t stop myself.
Calvin grew quiet. In fact, he didn’t say anything for an extremely long time and it got awkward. Eventually he walked away, first going into the kitchen, then my bedroom. He looked into the bathroom last before returning to me.
“Where’d Millett go?”
