Page 50 of Under Locke & Key

“It’s still a pun—one playing off of Bryce “Locke” Dawson and Rachel Mac“Key”—and it was the best way I could think to thank the person who worked side by side with me, without fail.

So please, give a round of applause to my partner, Rachel Mackey!

” Bryce finally gestures toward me but I can barely see it through the sheen of tears that are streaking down my cheeks.

I hear applause and ángel pulls me into a hug from the side, jostling me and shaking some more tears free.

Once the crowd quiets slightly Bryce speaks again. “Without further ado!” and Theresa hands him a pair of large scissors that he uses to cut the ribbon spanning across the doors.

“Please join us inside for some refreshments, information on our rooms, as well as a 15% coupon off if you book today to thank you for being here to support us on opening day!” Bryce pushes the doors open and the crowd filters in.

My feet are stuck to the sidewalk. My shoes might as well have melted into the concrete. ángel tugs at my arm to get me into motion and we end up being some of the last to enter.

The wide area that used to be the concessions, the entryway to the old theater, is packed.

The posters we had discussed as ideas to represent each room are lit up in their special frames.

Logan is behind the register, already helping people to book their spot and taking down email addresses for our mailing list. Bryce is mingling with the people who have been gracious enough to come out to celebrate.

I’m so lost in my own mind that time slips away and I just smile and thank each wellwisher that comes my way.

Bryce is caught up with all his customers but I am acutely aware of the feel of his gaze on me.

It warms from the inside out and I’m sure I’ve been flushed since we were outside waiting for the big reveal.

There’s no special speech to give him. Words elude me.

Instead I’m caught up in the awe and emotional punch that comes with seeing this project become real.

Bryce has been smiling for hours, to the point that I’m sure his cheeks must be hurting. But he looks so happy and that makes something in my stomach flip. I’d kill to be the one that puts that look on his face.

Food and drink go quickly, and soon enough we’re wrapping up the launch party.

“Some of our friends have been gracious enough to donate an ‘escape room in a box’ for one of our lucky new newsletter subscribers! So even if you don’t make it out here immediately, you can get a small taste of what it might be like conceptually.

” Bryce rolls multiple dice onto the counter.

He scans the list for the corresponding number. “Number 56, Grant Taylor!”

A short man with a band T-shirt and long hair heads up to where Bryce stands at the front counter to receive the escape room board game that Farren and Sebastian likely brought for the launch event.

It can only mean that they’ve spoken with Bryce outside of me and our interactions together.

Although some part of me wants to bristle at it and feel a little put out that I’ve been circumvented, it’s strangely comforting to know that he gets on with my friends well enough to be able to talk to them without me driving the conversation and forcing them together.

The crowd thins until it’s just our small group of family and friends.

ángel is chatting with Logan and Gabrielle.

Farren and Sebastian deep in conversation with Bryce’s dad, Frank.

His mom, Theresa, looks a little tuckered out, gathering up the trash and I rush over to help her.

Just like with Bryce, I appreciate the silence between me and Theresa because it’s not awkward or heavy.

It’s two people working together without the need for chatter.

Soon we’ve got the space back to its normal appearance and we’re filing out one by one. Logan and Gabrielle both give me a hug on the way out. As do Farren and Sebastian.

They all congratulate us but the words are lost in the fog that is my mind.

I’m caught up in different colognes and perfumes, skin on skin and then cold AC blowing where the touch has been.

I’m all sensation and no thoughts and by the time it’s just me and Bryce my mouth is so dry I can barely swallow down my nerves.

“Rachel?” Bryce asks, the back of his fingers tracing down my arm to draw my attention and I startle.

“It seemed like it went really well,” is what comes out of my mouth after a beat of silence and I avoid his eyes, staring at the top button of his shirt instead.

“It was fantastic. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

I huff, half disbelief and half humorless laugh. “You could have pulled it off.”

“Not this version of it, and personally I think this is way better than anything I could have thought up on my own. Please just take the compliment and my appreciation.”

“Bryce . . .”

He tips my head up to face him by lifting my chin with his knuckle. “I’m serious. I hope that you know just how serious I am.”

I swallow convulsively at the heat and longing in his gaze. Bryce is holding nothing back and I feel stripped raw under those warm eyes that promise far more than I’m willing to let myself want or lose.

“The sign made that clear,” I whisper. My voice is husky with repressed emotion and I am acutely aware of how alone we are in this space we’ve spent so many weeks in.

“I hope you weren’t upset by it. It just felt right.” Bryce strokes the pad of his thumb against my bottom lip and it takes everything in me not to part my lips and surge up toward him.

“Not upset. Surprised, but in a good way. Did you mean what you said? About me being your partner?” I can’t look away, his eyes searching mine for something.

“I meant every word. I’d planned to discuss things with you, to offer you fifty percent of the business.

My partner in work and life. You don’t have to help me run it.

I’m happy to support whatever it is you’d prefer to do but it’s your due.

As long as I have you by my side, I don’t care what the circumstances are.

I know Steph showing up and throwing my past in your face was upsetting—to both of us.

But the only thing that is important to me is the future, and whether you’re in mine.

” His fingertips explore the contours of my face, trailing down the sides of my neck and causing goosebumps to rise all over my body.

“And if I said I wanted to go back to Lakin-Cole?” Not that I do, but I need to know how deep this is for him before I can jump in with both feet.

“Then I’ll drive down to D.C. as often as I can, or we can find a place in between D.C.

and Dulaney and each commute. Don’t let the job be the reason you pull away.

Although, if I can be honest, I want to tell you to say no to your old boss.

I want you to tell him to shove it because he didn’t appreciate you until it was too late and he shouldn’t reap the reward of having you back after he mistreated you in the first place. ”

It never even occurred to me that that was an option.

In my mind it was an ultimatum, an either or.

The prospect of a compromise didn’t register and I’m a little ashamed to admit that.

Although everything in my life this far has felt so black and white.

There were rules to follow and expectations to meet, and this felt like one of them.

Knowing that Bryce wants to be with me—stay with me—no matter how we go about it gives me a courage I’ve lacked for months.

“I don’t want to go back. I just needed to make sure you want this as much as I do.

Because I really do. I want you in my apartment everyday.

I want your stuff nestled up to mine and our clothes side-by-side in the closet.

The bathroom will smell like your body wash after you shower and I’ll breathe it in like I’ll never get the chance to again every time.

We’ll watch more melodramatic TV dramas and game shows, and have great sex, and love each other—I hope. ”

Bryce smiles so big his eyes crinkle. “It's more than hope for me.

I love you, Rachel. I know that. It's so deeply ingrained in me after all these weeks together it feels like an unshakable certainty. The sun rises in the east every morning. Margaritaville is a strangely sad song. No one will ever live up to Alex Trebek as a Jeopardy host, and I love Rachel Mackey.”

I give a watery laugh at the comparisons, tears thick in my throat and I have to clear it before I can respond. “I love you too, Bryce. Though it scares the hell out of me.”

“We'll figure the rest out, as long as we're together that's all that matters.” He leans down and sweeps me up into an overwhelming kiss

Bryce's arms are strong around my waist, hoisting me against him so that we are pressed so close together I can feel his heartbeat through our shirts.

I return it with fervor, my knees trembling, and if he wasn't holding me so tight—barely touching the floor—I'm sure the shakiness would have been evident.

Feverish kisses, grasping hands. Within the span of a few breaths, Bryce is walking me backward toward one of the unoccupied rooms we've been using as storage for future ideas.

“Are we really doing this here?” I ask.

“Are you willing to wait until we've locked everything up and headed back to your place?” he challenges, staring at my mouth like he's dying for it even though we've barely just pulled apart.

I consider it for a split second. Weighing my options, the lead-heavy lust in my abdomen and my already-wet underwear make the choice for me. If I don't have him now, I'll lose my mind. “Fair enough.”

And then we are nothing but a tangle of limbs and grasping hands. We divest ourselves of our clothes and I'm not sure who does what but I know it's teamwork that leaves us naked and panting.