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My heart fucking ached. I couldn’t let myself hear those words in the way I wanted to hear them. Mitch was being playful and sweeter than he realized, but of course my brain was taking that and running wild like a fucking rabbit with it.
I reminded myself that when Mitch told me to stay, he meant for right now. Even if my heart wanted so badly to stay near him like this forever.
I breathed deep, surrounded by his fresh-from-the-shower scent, and for a few minutes we just lay there like that, with him gently stroking me back and forth on my shoulder.
“I have a question,” he asked.
“Hit me,” I said.
“How much do you know about the different behaviors of rats and mice?”
I propped myself up and stared blankly at Mitch. “I take back everything I said about you being good at dirty talk. Or pillow talk. Or really any kind of in-bed talk.”
He laughed. “Okay, okay, I know it’s kind of random, but hear me out.”
I couldn’t keep the smile from spreading over my face. I lay back down again in the crook of his neck, settling in. “All right, hit me with all your pressing rat questions, Mitch.”
“All I’m saying is that there is… some sort of creature in this house, and I’m not sure which,” he continued, shifting so that he could press a kiss to my head. “It freaked Zach out a couple of weeks ago, and then earlier today, I heard it making little squeaky noises in one of the walls.”
“Does it sound angry? Rats tend to be angrier than mice.”
“Is that a fact?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a stereotype, I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t sound angry. It’s probably hungry, though.”
“Understandable. Well, no, I don’t have any critter experience at all. But I know Maggie at the shelter has a ton. Zach and I can ask her about it next Saturday.”
“Thank you. Fuck, you really do make everything better, Ev.”
“I tend to be pretty good at answering rat questions, yes.”
“I’m serious, asshole,” Mitch said kissing me again three times on the head. He let out a long sigh. “I had a really, really bad day until you came over.”
I turned my head upward, moving back onto the pillow a little so that I could see him. “Was it so bad, with the wine and the pizza?”
“The wine and pizza were good. But… Zach was really bent out of shape this afternoon. He said he hated it here.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. He implied that I only wanted to move back here… well, because of you,” Mitch said. “And I didn’t know how to answer that. You are a big part of why I wanted to come back, and I don’t see how that’s a bad thing.”
I swallowed. “It’s not a bad thing,” I said.
“Zach doesn’t quite understand. I think he’s got a crush on this Sophia girl, though.”
I nodded. “He definitely does, and it’s about the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. At the shelter the other day, the two of them were both helping out with this German shepherd named Axel, and it was precious.”
“They were working together?” Mitch asked. His eyes looked so hopeful, and it made me love him just a little bit more. He was such a goddamned good father to Zach—he really cared, and it showed every time he talked about his son.
“They definitely worked together. I think Sophia likes him just as much, but they’re both shy kids.”
“It might all be ruined, though,” Mitch said. “Zach kept talking about some asshole kid this afternoon. Andy Bennett?”
“Andy Benson,” I said. “He does tend to lash out a lot. I don’t think Andy’s home life is great.”
“Well, he’s making my son’s life a living hell right now,” Mitch said.
“I’ll keep an eye out for him,” I said. “That’s awful.”
Mitch sighed. “I just want Zach to be happy here. So badly.”
I swallowed. “Are you happy here, Mitch?”
“I just came so hard I couldn’t even control it,” he said. “Of course I’m happy.”
“I mean it,” I said. “Are things good?”
“They are,” he said. “Working at Red’s is so much better than I imagined. Even if I eventually transition to being a personal trainer again, I’m happy where I am. I like Amberfield. And I like being around you.”
“I guess that’s all you can ask for, right?” I said, letting out a breath.
He hummed in agreement. “It is all I want in life. To have something simple and be happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, really, but I finally feel like I might be able to achieve it.”
“Why now?” I asked.
He paused for a moment. “I loved Jess. I really did. But things never, not even for a minute, felt simple with her. I always felt like I was trying so hard to be what she wanted me to be. And kind of always felt like I was failing, too. I’m sure a lot of that was in my head, but… this is weird, but I was almost happy when I found out she’d slept with someone else.”
