Page 99 of Finding Denver

“Two things.” I unfasten a button on her coat. “One, you called it home.” Another button. Then another. Once her coat is fully open, I slide my hand around her waist and pull her close. Her lips part, but she doesn’t pull away—she settles against me. “Two, you missed me.”

She bites that bottom lip, and I’ll be surprised if she can’t hear my heartbeat. “I didn’t say that.”

“But that’s what you meant.” I pull her even closer, until there’s no space left between us. “I missed you, too.” I tuck her hair behind her ear, keeping my voice low. “So fucking much.”

I sound a little tortured and maybe I am. Callie was the last woman I held like this. She was the only woman whocould look at me and have me spilling truths I should keep locked away. But Denver invokes the same reaction, the same need to be entirely honest.

And it scares me. It’s terrifying to think I could care again, could feel this way again, because losing it almost destroyed me.

“Are we still pretending?” she whispers.

I finally look at her lips. “Are you?”

She doesn’t nod or shake or head, but she looks at my mouth, too.

Fuck it.

“Denver?”

Denver’s head snaps to the left, the moment broken by someone who I can only describe as a fucking Disney prince. His light hair is brushed back, suit impeccable, and he flashes a Colgate smile that makes me want to remove his teeth. When Denver leaves my side to greet this fucker, he lifts her off her feet in a hug that has me close to reaching for my gun.

“Who the fuck is that?” I mumble to Lewis as he leaves the restaurant.

He looks surprised to see the man, too. “Noah Merrick.”

Noah. Noah Merrick. Noah “I-took-Denver’s-virginity” Merrick.

I watch with a ticking jaw as Noah places Denver on her feet again, but she stays close, talking excitedly. He looks equally happy to see her, and if I see him even check for her wedding ring, I’m going to snap his neck.

How did she describe them? Romeo and Juliet? I take some small satisfaction in knowing Romeo dies in the end. Maybe Romeo could die right now.

“Be more obvious, Colt,” Lewis says.

I huff. “Obvious about what?”

He rolls his eyes. “You both exhaust me. Next time, just kiss her. I owe Charlie fifty bucks because you chickened out.”

I ignore him, too focused on the Disney prince.

They’re still talking. About what? Fuck this.

I walk over, and Denver smiles brightly at me. “Colt, this is Noah. You remember me telling you about him?”

Pool house, sex, blah, blah, blah.

“Colt Harland,” I say, extending my hand and using my name as a weapon, waiting for it to strike true. Noah doesn’t even react; he just shakes my hand. This fucker has no idea who I am. The one person?—

“We should definitely do that coffee,” Noah says to Denver.

Do coffee. You don’tdocoffee. You drink it.

“We should!” Denver says. “How long are you here?”

“Another few weeks. Dad would probably love to see you too, once you’re back home. I’m guessing what we heard is true, then?” He gives me a sidelong glance. “You’re not with Ranger anymore.”

Denver lets out a high-pitched laugh, then slaps her hand over her mouth. “I’m not laughing at that, I’m … Colt and I aren’t …” She waves a hand between us. “I didn’t leave Ranger for Colt.”

Rude. Really fucking rude. Why is that so unbelievable?