Page 26 of Something Real with the Sea Monster (Kraken Cove #3)

TWENTY SIX

Jack

True to her word, Tegan doesn’t emerge from the bathroom for forty-five minutes.

I walk to the nearest convenience store, load up with salty and sweet snacks, and return to find her still in the shower.

I towel off as best as I can, and once I’ve dried enough to shift back, I wrap the towel around my waist and sit on the beat-up checkered sofa chair, which is the only piece of furniture in the room other than the double bed.

I turn the heater up full blast until the windows fog up and I wait.

I have a bag in the truck and could get out a change of clothes, but I want to be here when Tegan finishes her shower so we can talk.

If she’s still talking to me that is.

The bathroom door opens, and Tegan emerges in a cloud of steam with a towel wrapped around her head and another around her body. She glares at me. “I hope you weren’t expecting hot water.”

“Nope. I don’t need a shower anyway. This was all about you. What do you want to do? I contacted NRMA, and they’ll be out in an hour or so and can have you back on the road. If that’s what you want.”

“I don’t know what I want,” she says quietly, and it kills me how flat her voice suddenly is.

“To yell at me some more?” Please let her yell at me if that’s gonna bring some of her fiery determination back.

That draws a small laugh. “Maybe later.” There’s a pause. Tegan walks over to sit beside me on the bed. “How did you know that my car died or where to find me?”

I shrug. “Fate.”

She laughs. “Bullshit.”

“Honestly. The guy at the gas station told me about your car, but I just happened to stop there. The only reason I knew you were there too is because I started glowing.”

She shakes her head. “Fate.”

“Are you still mad?” I ask.

“Yes, but you get a lot of points for all this.”

I grab the bag of snacks and tip them out on the bed. “And these?”

“Awww, you got Clinkers. I love Clinkers.” She snatches the bag and tears open one corner. “I could really use a drink, but sugary snacks are good. What now?”

“Do you still want to go back to Sydney?”

She sighs. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I don’t think I can live in Kraken Cove forever, Jack. I just don’t know if it’s me.”

“It could be you. I know it could. If it’s not I could…” I trail off, not sure if I could really leave my hometown and my family behind.

Tegan takes my hand, and I thread my fingers through hers. “You don’t have to do that for me.”

“I want to. You deserve my everything, Tegan. I honestly mean that.”

“I believe you.” For a while we just look at each other, and I try to read the meaning behind her softened expression. “I think you’re the first person in my life to say that and mean it.”

That gives me a little hope.

“Would you come back with me? Just to see? Can you leave the Inlet Views for a little while?”

I nod. “Of course. My parents will look after the place until I get back. I’ll follow you anywhere if you’ll give me another chance. A real chance.”

“I’d like that. A real chance. Apart from Mia, you’re the realest person I know, Jack.

“Ah, is that a good thing?”

“It’s a very good thing.” She climbs into my lap and wraps her arms and legs around me, resting the end of her nose against mine.

“I think sometimes I worry that I’m not worth keeping.

That anyone I care about will eventually want to throw me away.

That’s why the fated mates thing seemed like such a big deal. ”

“And now?” I’m insanely conscious of the fact that there’s only a thin hotel towel between us, but I try to ignore it and concentrate on what she’s saying.

“Now I know I’m yours I realized it doesn’t take the fear away at all. It just makes me worry that you’ll want to throw me away, but you won’t be able to. That you’ll be stuck with me and not want it.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. I can’t imagine ever not wanting you. Besides, that’s not how it works.”

“It’s not?”

“No. It still takes work. It’s not a guarantee we’ll stay together. It’s just an indication that we’re compatible.”

“Work! Are you calling me hard work, Jack?”

She giggles as I twist us to roll her onto the bed and position myself between her thighs.

Her towel has completely unraveled, and the one around her hair is falling off too.

I give her a little roll of my hips to press my erection against her thigh.

“Mhm. Very hard work. I like hard work, remember?”

Her nails dig into my shoulders, and she opens her legs wider. “Mmm. You do. You’re the hardest-working person I know. Which is lucky I guess because I am hard work. I think you’re up to the job.”

I pull back just enough to toss my own towel aside and then naked skin meets naked skin, and a bloom of pleasure builds tension low in my belly. I lower my lips to her neck, and she tilts her head to one side. “I know I’m up to it.”

Just to prove it, I take my time kissing along her neck, running my hands over her belly and thighs, not even getting close to her pussy.

I grin when she finally grabs my hand and brings it to her wet slit. “You fucking tease.”

“No shortcuts, Tegan. I thought you wanted me to work for it.”

That’s how we miss the first three calls from the NRMA. It’s only because I stand to bend her over the side of the bed that I catch her phone vibrating on the nightstand.

I stop her from getting up. “I’ll get it. Don’t get dressed. I’ll go. Just be naked when I get back.”

“Hey, I’m not done!” She tosses a pillow at me, which I dodge.

“Neither am I, but I thought you wanted your car fixed so we can go to Sydney.”

She groans. “Now I’m not so sure. You’d better hurry up getting my car fixed in the rain while I wait naked in bed. I’ll probably have forgiven you when you get back.”

Turns out all the car needs is a new battery. Thankfully the rain holds off and I’m able to oversee the mechanic install the battery and pick up takeout dinner without splitting another pair of jeans and a perfectly good pair of shoes.

And when I make it back to the dodgy little hotel room and Tegan is still naked and proceeds to treat me like her hero, I decide it was all worth it.