hurt.
After my parents left, we’d cleaned up, packed up the equipment, and separated with a plan to meet in the morning for updates.
I’d gone to Eric’s, where we spent most of the rest of the evening cuddling on the couch. It had been an exhausting day.
The next day, I’d huddled with the crew, checking on the fallout from the raids and monitoring the evidence shifting we were working on. It was a large, delicate process that would take Wesley and his best guys a while to finish. But afterward, if it worked, I wouldn’t be on any most-wanted lists and any incriminating evidence connecting me to any number of open cases would be erased. I would be free to stop looking over my shoulder. I’d spent so much time worried that my past would catch up with me that I’d been unable to imagine a future.
Now that it had, I’d captured the best part of my past, and I was never letting it go.
Eric had put in a few hours at the rink, and then come back to his house. I met him there and we’d spent most of our time in bed swapping sweet nothings, sharing kisses, and learning how we fit together as adults. The wonderment and awe I’d felt for him when we were teenagers hadn’t changed at all.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and stars started to appear in the dark blue sky, the temperature dropped quickly and we headed back to the car. The small lot at the top of the trail was empty. As we reached the car, Eric grabbed my hips and maneuvered me against the door. Our faces were inches apart.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I waited for more, but he only stared at me, a small smile on his lips. “You going to kiss me?” I asked.
“You want that?” His fingers tightened around my hipbones and released.
“Yes,” I said. My mouth was still tender from earlier and I had beard rash on my cheeks, chin, and thighs, but I wasn’t wasting a second of our time together. I had no idea how much we had left.
His kiss was sweet and hot and deep. He slid his fingers under my jacket and shirts, and his skin was warm against mine. With a soft sigh, he pulled back, keeping his hands on me, and rested his forehead against mine. I couldn’t see his eyes. “So now what?”
That was the question of the day. A question I had no answer for. We’d all asked it at least once. There was only radio silence from Miranda and Josie. Without any instructions, we were staying in town for now, but we had to move on sooner rather than later. Symanski had been flown to Oregon, which had jurisdiction over one of his warrants. Ryan was still in custody, but that could change at any moment, and I didn’t want Eric or me to be around when that happened. Everybody was capable of violence if pushed far enough, and we’d pushed Ryan right off the cliff. Josie was sending one of her Amazons to keep an eye on my family.
“If you want more than this, you’re going to have to feed me and I need to rehydrate,” I said, dodging the question.
“What’s next for us? For you. Where are you going from here? And can I come with you?” His voice wavered a bit on that last question.
“I don’t know,” I said.
His face dropped.
“No, Eric. I don’t know where we’re going from here. The only thing I do know that I want you to be me wherever it is. I need you.” Without Eric the years stretched out in front of me empty and aching and lonely.
He needed me as much as I needed him. He needed someone to remind him how amazing he was, someone to take care of him the way he deserved.
“If you don’t know, who does?” he asked. He pulled away, coming to stand next to me, leaning against the car.
“Miranda, I guess.” I shook my head. “None of us really knows what’s going on. Someone blew up Leo’s condo. Someone tipped off the FBI about Charlie’s house. And we still don’t know what the last job from Charlie’s will entails. We spent the last two weeks in a safe house or driving aimlessly around the country.”
“Wow,” Eric said. “Did you say someone is trying to kill you? You never mentioned that part.” He sounded incredulous. I didn’t blame him.
“Right now I don’t know