Page 36 of Edge

When we finished eating, I helped her clean up and put the leftover pizza away. I really didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t have a reason to stay. I was also tired of holding back and hiding my feelings from her. Deciding it was time to let her know how I felt,I turned toward her and reached out for her waist to pull her to me.

Her eyes met mine and I could tell she was in agreement. Leaning forward, my lips had barely brushed hers when a loud crashing sound startled both of us.

Evie fisted my shirt with both hands and pressed herself against me. “What the hell was that?” she whispered.

“I don’t know. I’ll go look. Stay here.”

“No. Don’t.”

“If someone’s out there, we need to know.”

She reluctantly released her grip on me and stepped to the side. “Fine, but be careful.”

Pulling my gun from its holster, I checked the chamber before I quietly walked to the front door and looked through the peephole. When I didn’t see anyone or anything, I moved to the nearest window to peer outside.

“Do you see anything?” Evie whispered.

“No.” I continued moving from window to window until I found the cause of the noise. Exhaling in relief, I returned my gun to its holster and turned back to Evie. “It’s fine. A couple of trash pandas knocked over your trash can.”

“A couple of what?”

“Trash pandas. Raccoons.”

She briefly sagged with relief before she squared her shoulders and marched toward the back door. Flinging it open, she stepped outside and started yelling. “You little shits scared the crap out of me! Shame on you! I toss out plenty of scraps for you, and this is the thanks I get!”

Evie was staring them down with her hands on her hips while the two raccoons were standing on their hind legs with their hands raised in the air. After snapping a picture with my phone, I doubled over laughing.

“It’s not funny. They scared me.”

“Yes, it is. Look,” I said and held out my phone. “They’re surrendering. This picture is meme worthy.”

She tried not to laugh, but she only lasted a few seconds. “Okay, fine. It’s funny.” Walking back inside, she grabbed two breadsticks from the refrigerator.

“What are you doing?”

“Feeding them. They’re obviously hungry.”

“You know you’re not supposed to feed them, right?” I asked carefully.

She sighed. “I know, but they kept getting into my trash can and making a huge mess. I thought it would save all of us some trouble if I left the food out for them.”

“I’ll help you secure the lid so they won’t be able to get into it anymore. Once they realize there’s no food, they’ll stop coming around.”

She scrunched her nose. “I know you’re right, but I kind of like them.”

“They are cute,” I admitted.

She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go on. Get out of here.” The raccoons stared at her for a few seconds before they ran off into the wooded area.

Once we were back inside, I pulled her to me and kissed her. I didn’t want to give anything else a chance to interrupt us. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she melted into me.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” I said against her lips.

She threaded her fingers through my hair and pulled me closer. “Well, don’t stop now.”

We stumbled our way to her bedroom, bumping into walls and furniture. I couldn’t take my hands off her.

When we made it to the bed, I was struggling to contain myself. I didn’t want to scare her, but I wanted her with an unprecedented ferocity.