Page 80 of Necessary Time

I cleared my throat. “Right.”

“Good seeing you, Colin,” Miles said. If he suspected anything was amiss, I couldn’t tell. “I didn’t realize you and Wesley had gotten close.”

“My brother’s fault,” Wesley said. “You know he basically forced us on each other after I got to town—”

“And now I can’t shake him,” I interrupted, giving Wesley a little shove toward the elevators. “See you tomorrow night for the birthday party?”

“Yep.” Miles nodded. “Hendrix will be happy to know Wes has a friend.”

“I have friends,” Wesley protested.

“Come on.” Grayson slid an arm around Miles’s waist and pulled him into the apartment. “Rapture requires different clothes, and I have to change. See you two later.”

Grayson waved us both off and closed the door.

I let out a shaking breath and rested my forehead against the wall beside the elevator. Wesley stood beside me, nervously tapping his foot.

“That was close.” He reached around me and pushed the call button. The elevator was already on the floor—no doubt from Miles’s arrival—and the doors were quick to open.

We both stepped inside, and when the doors slid back closed, Wesley grabbed my hand.

“Hey.” He brushed his mouth across the tops of my knuckles. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Mmhm.” I closed my eyes, pulling our joined hands toward my mouth where I kissed the top of his hand, a reciprocation of his own gentle affection. “Keeping you secret is hard.”

“I know,” he agreed.

The doors slid open to the lobby and we stepped out, hands still joined. I’d parked in one of the guest spots and we walked silently to my car. As usual, as soon as the car was on, Wesley unrolled the window and swiped through an app screen to pick some music.

“Do you really not know where we’re going?” he asked.

I admired the way he was absolutely unfazed by the run-in with Miles. I would have given almost anything for the nonchalance that he was currently putting on display.

“Grayson suggested we go somewhere out of the city.”

“Why?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “So we don’t run into anyone we know. So I can hold your hand if I want. Kiss you if I want.”

“You can do all of that anyway,” he said, turning toward me. “I want that with you. I want everything with you.”

The weight of the honesty in his words landed like an anvil on my lap. I didn’t know what had happened since the last time we’d seen each other, but Wesley sounded like he was ready to tell his brother about us, while I most definitely was not.

“Everything?” I rasped.

“Yeah.” He nodded, looking at me so earnestly, so unfiltered. Even in the dimming light of the evening, Wesley’s eyes were an almost incomparable shade of blue that still managed to steal my breath if I looked at him too long. “I want to tell my brother.”

Enough, Colin.

My dad’s voice was a sharp and unwelcome thought.

“Not yet,” I whispered, the two words almost a plea. I reached over and took both Wesley’s hands in mine, raising them to my mouth and kissing each of his fingers, every knuckle, the tops and bottoms, and down to his wrists. I held his hands against my face, so warm and soft, until he broke our fingers apart and cradled my face in his hands. I loved the way he always touched me…like he was in awe of me, like I was fragile and worth keeping safe.

“No?” His thumbs pressed against my cheekbones.

I didn’t realize I’d closed my eyes.

“Not yet,” I said again.