“I have a bathroom here if you want…or we can go to the house,” I said awkwardly.
“This is fine. I’m…wrecked.” He laughed and shoved a hand through his hair. “Why is this so amazing? You don’t have to answer. In fact, don’t. I’m just feeding your ego.”
“I don’t mind.”
Dex grinned, fussing with the collar of his tee. “So…Michigan?”
I rolled my eyes and grumbled. I knew he wouldn’t hold me to it, but I also knew that if he wanted me to, I’d go.
CHAPTER 20
DEXTER
We chartered a private jet to the Upper Peninsula the following week. It was a schlep to get there from Vermont, involving two regional airports and a tiny jet that wobbled in the clouds. The Sandringham estate abutted Lake Michigan on one side and a state park on the other. It was a solid forty-five minutes from our Airbnb.
In a twist, my cabin had been leased through an agency I used for the summer by a semi-famous mystery writer. I’d bought the place years ago with my ex and won it in the divorce, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been there. Leasing it out had been the best option, which left me out of luck for this trip.
There weren’t a ton of choices on short notice, but the rental I’d settled on was on the lake and had its own dock. It looked nice enough in the online photos and if it wasn’t, we could always turn around and head back to Wood Hollow.
Viggo wouldn’t go for that. It had been a long day.
It was hard to believe jetting from one end of the state to the other had once been normal for me. In my college days, I’d hop a flight in Lansing to Grosse Pointe or the UP or wherever I was expected to be. I hadn’t thought twice about it till Troy had come home with me one weekend and nearly blown a gasket.
“You have your own plane? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“It’s notmyplane. It’s…”
“Your family’s,” he’d finished. “Still weird, Dex. Still weird.”
Hey, I wasn’t completely ignorant. I’d known even then that my family was different. Most of my teammates were from solid middle-class upbringings. My buddy Joe’s mom was a teacher, his dad was a mailman, and get this…they’d actually liked each other, the only time they’d traveled on a plane together was the summer they’d gone to Florida to visit his grandmother.
I hadn’t been able to relate. I’d never known my grandparents, my dad had opted for a guest-star role in my life, and my mother had been…busy. Always busy. I’d grown up with drivers, nannies, private tutors, and private jets at my disposal.
Now…I felt like a wary visitor. I used to swim in these waters, but it hadn’t been home for a long, long time.
Fuck, this was a bad idea.
I slid my sunglasses on my nose and glanced out the window of the four-person jet. “We should be landing soon. How you doin’?”
“I’m better than you are. Drink this.” Viggo uncapped a water bottle and handed it to me.
“Thanks.” I took a sip, set the bottle on the table in front of us, and picked at the label. “I changed my mind. Let’s rent a car and drive to Lansing. I’ll call my mom and tell her I had an emergency and I’ll tell her about Freya at the same time, and she’ll be happy about that, and she won’t care that I’m not there. Or maybe she won’t be happy and that’s definitely a possibility, so either way, I think my actual presence is superfluous. I’m sorry I wasted your day and?—”
Viggo put his hand over my mouth and replaced it with his lips. The kiss was rough yet sweet, and it made my toes curl in my Nikes. He nipped my chin and sat back. “You worry too much. You’re here, I’m here, the fish are here, and we’ll have lots of sex. Everything is fine.”
“My mom is?—”
“Shh. It’ll be okay. If it’s not, we’ll leave and find more fish and have more sex.”
“So, this reallyisall about sex?” I joked feebly.
He nodded, linking our fingers as the jet crested an air pocket, rattling the interior. The water bottle toppled and rolled to the edge of the table. Viggo caught it and raised the bottle triumphantly. It was silly, but I laughed anyway.
“Thanks for coming. I apologize in advance.”
“Dex?”
My lips quirked. He’d been calling me Dex instead of Dexter lately. I liked it. “Yes?”
