AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, that sucks,” Everlee commiserated. “But the answer to your question is, yes. Iwillbe in tomorrow, and you’ll be happy to know I can give you the whole day. I only had one afternoon class scheduled, and my professor called it off for some family thing he has to attend.”
Fleet felt his shoulders lower. “That’s great. Really great. Now I won’t feel so bad taking the afternoon off.”
“You work too hard, anyway,” Ever snipped before her tone turned thoughtful. “Listen. We’re finishing up here in a couple of hours. Do you want me to come in and join you later today?”
Fleet would love that, but Ever would have already worked a bunch of hours. It wouldn’t be fair to her. “It’s a nice offer, Ever, but you’ll be exhausted. Just head home and get a good night’s sleep so you can meet me early tomorrow morning.”
“Well… If you’re sure…” She didn’t sound convinced.
“I promise I’ll only work until midnight,” he joked, but it probably wouldn’t be too far off from the time he’d put in. Who knew when he started his small studio that it would outgrow him to become so big, so fast?
“You know it’s about time you advertised for some full-time help,” Ever admonished lightly, echoing his sentiments without realizing it.
Fleet felt a grin twitch up his lips. “What if I’m waiting for a certain someone to graduate so I can offer her the job?”
Ever snorted, but with a happy overtone. “You’re going to wait three more years for me? That’s awesome, Fleet, but in the meantime, you’re going to kill yourself with the hours you keep.”
He gave a shrug she couldn’t see. “If I can hike every couple days, even for short breaks, it’ll keep me sane.”
“Speaking of hiking, where are you headed today?”
Ever and Mason had joined him on some of his favorite trails, so she’d be familiar with the spot at which he’d do some bouldering today. Even though the two had only watched and cheered him on as he’d completed the difficult traverses that day, Ever and Mason had appreciated how he challenged himself. He felt the same. There was nothing like asking for the best from his body, especially on a day when he needed to be yanked out of his damned headache-doldrums.
He named the peak he’d be climbing.
“Geeze. When you go for it, you go for it,” Everlee whistled.
“Like you don’t,” he countered. He’d heard hair-raising stories from her times with SWAT, mostly those of her team back in Chicago where she’d worked for years. This team in Orono was a newer undertaking, and the squads hadn’t had too many of what Ever called, call-outs, yet. Also, she was currently on their oversight committee, so not an actual geared-up, participant.
“I’ve had my moments,” she countered with a laugh. “Sooo… Speaking of moments…”
Clearly Ever and Talia had talked.
“Yes. I saw Talia last night,” Fleet spit out, anxious to get her take on how badly he’d blown things.
“I heard, but got no details,” Ever replied. “Am I wrong in assuming it didn’t go well? Talia’s been a bear all day.”
Fleet sighed. “I, um, might have blown it.”
“Explain. If you want to,” Ever added quickly.
He did.
“I might have been playing it too safely. We…kissed, then I kind of pulled back. I’m of the mind to take things slowly,” he spit out in his own defense.
“And…?” Ever prompted. “I don’t see much of a problem there. Talia’s not a hard-ass, after all.”
“Well, she, um,didactually want to do a little more, and I might have told her if she was only after some booty, maybe I wasn’t her man.”
“What? You basically called her a whore?” Ever howled.
“See? That’s why I need a female coach. I didn’t mean to. I was only trying to tell her that we didn’t need to jump into anything. That we’d have plenty of time to explore each other. And she just…blew up.”
“Well, duh,” Everlee huffed. “Being a take-charge woman myself—which Talia obviously is—I can’t tell you the number of miscommunications I’ve encountered over the years if I’ve made the first move.”
“Not with Mase,” Fleet managed to choke out.
“No.” He could hear the smile come back to her voice. “Mason loves me just the way I am.”
