Page 188 of Rising Heat

Bex watches me for another second before she speaks.

“You’ll literally never know if you don’t try.”

We both know she’s right. I throw the pillow at her anyway, and she catches it without even looking.

“I don’t know how people do this.”

“Do what?”

“Want something this much and not spend every second waiting for it to disappear.”

“You stop waiting.”

She smiles.

The thought settles somewhere deep enough that I don’t argue with it.

I draw my knees a little closer beneath the blanket.

“I—”

The word catches halfway out because the rest still feels too big once it’s actually outside my head. I exhale slowly.

“I think I want whatever this is becoming.”

She studies me for a second, then smiles.

“I know.”

I huff out a laugh.

“Of course you do.”

“Darcy.” She nudges my knee with hers. “I’ve known you for twenty years.”

I shake my head, smiling despite myself.

“I’m proud of you.”

“For what?”

“For finally admitting it out loud.”

I look down at my glass again, watching the last little bit of wine swirl around the bottom.

“Yeah,” I admit. “Me too.”

She leans across the couch and pulls me into a hug that’s tighter than I expect and exactly right. I hold on for an extra second before letting go, and she notices, because of course she does, but for once she lets it pass without saying anything.

We settle back beneath the blanket and keep picking at the last of the cheese board while Daphne and Simon continue avoiding the world’s most obvious conversation, the candle burning lower beside the TV as the city settles into its Saturday-night rhythm outside.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

tyler

The shift starts easy enough that everybody gets restless. By mid-afternoon, half the crew is downstairs in the gym burning off energy before dinner, music drumming through the speakers while plates hit the floor every few seconds.

I’m halfway through a set when Mack comes back down from the captain’s office with a manila folder tucked under one arm. He drops it beside the water cooler on his way past like it weighs about as much as a grocery receipt before heading straight for the squat rack.