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I had to turn my back on everything else, my eyes welled up so fast.
IN THE NEWS
“…if you’ve heard or seen anything, contact the police immediately. Now, a weather update with Tom Wiles.”
* * *
BREAKING: Alleged cartel member washed ashore south of Tijuana, Mexico.
* * *
“Well, it was only a matter of time, Mindy. Once the local gangs go arms up in our cities, the fight escalates and spreads to the upper management south of the border. We saw the same thing happen in the eighties, in the nineties, and in 2013. It won’t surprise me if more news pours in from Europe in the next several days. This war is global.”
CHAPTER 4
River Tenley
2019
Icaught Shay grinning to himself in the rearview as he checked his phone.
Reese sat next to me, eyes closed, contentment rolling off him.
With DC behind us, I’d expected to feel more at peace as I drove us back to Mclean, but that was before dinner. Hell, it’d been my whole life. I’d always been itching to get whatever task over with so I could retreat back into the shadows with Reese. But tonight had been really great.
It felt like the start of something new, something I actually didn’t wanna shy away from.
“Aunt Mel’s asking if we wanna come over for pizza next Sunday,” Shay said.
That had to be a good sign, right? Getting a text fifteen minutes after the first dinner had ended.
“No, it’s our turn,” Reese replied with a yawn. “Our treat. We can take your aunt and brothers out to dinner.”
I met Shay’s gaze in the rearview and smiled.
He smiled back. “I’ll let her know.”
Christ, how our lives had changed. Shay was supposed to have been “just another play partner” at most. Which would’ve been plenty, given how difficult Reese and I found it to connect with others.
In retrospect, my brother and I had been doomed from the very moment Shay came up to us at a kink party and asked if we wanted to play with him.
He’d asked for a beating.
Ironic, considering he’d spent the last several weeks beating our hearts into submission.
I shook my head to myself and moved over to the other lane as we approached our exit. We had tonight and tomorrow all to ourselves, with Shay spending the weekend with us. And for the first time in…I didn’t know how long, I wanted nothing to do with kink and playtime.
* * *
“Why would you—you just spoiled the entire movie!” Shay cried out in outrage.
“I thought you’d seen it!” Reese killed the lights on his way back to the couch.
I cracked up and returned the bowl of popcorn to the table. Then I hugged Shay to me before he could pounce on Reese.
“And you’relaughing.” Shay slid me an accusing look.
“We’ll pick another movie.” I couldn’t stop chuckling and peppering his face with kisses. “What about that Leonardo DiCaprio flick that came out recently? I hear he dies at the end.”
