Page 160 of Rising Heat

“You didn’t come home last night.”

I cut him a look.

“And?”

Tyler nods once, like hearing me say it out loud confirms what he already knew.

“How’d that go?”

I squint at him.

“How do you think?”

He huffs a laugh at that, more acknowledgment than amusement.

“Fair.”

He leans forward, elbows braced against his knees, turning the water bottle between his hands.

“I’m not apologizing for bringing her here.”

“Wasn’t asking you to.”

“I wanted to see her.”

“I know.”

“And I don’t regret it.”

“Neither do I.”

Tyler looks back toward the bay.

“I didn’t like knowing you were upstairs with her.”

I reach into the open compartment, straightening a webbing strap more out of habit than necessity.

“I didn’t like that she’d been here while I was thirty feet away.”

He lets out a breath through his nose.

“Guess we found the problem.”

“No. We found a new one.”

His brow furrows.

“We’ve never had to think about this before.”

“Because we’ve never wanted to.”

“Wanted what?”

I close the compartment and lean back against the rig.

“Time.” I shake my head. “I liked having her to myself.”

“Well…shit. I liked it, too.”