Page 88 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

“Are we calling in for food?” I opened my fridge. “Or do you want cheese and crackers?”

“Pizza.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his bare chest hot against my back. Then he closed the fridge. “Definitely pizza.”

I sagged against him. “Are we going to talk about earlier?”

“Probably should,” he murmured against my hair.

“We’re not really casual, are we?”

He shifted, loosening his arm so he could turn me to face him. Those piercing blue eyes seared into mine. “No. We are not.”

“Okay.” That word seemed too small for this. I’d say okay to a latte. To a glass of champagne. Not to Griffin proposing, well . . . whatever it was he was proposing. Nothing at the moment. But the promise of a future needed more than a simple okay.

“You good with that?”

“Yes.” Another word, too small. Or maybe it was the perfect word.

The two of us had started with a yes, whispered into his ear as we’d come together in the back of his truck.

“I want to take you to dinner,” he declared. “On a date.”

“All right.” My head was spinning. “Tonight?”

“No.” He grinned and dug his phone from his jeans pocket. After tapping the screen a few times, he pressed it to his ear.

My phone rang in the living room, so I brushed past Griffin as he ordered pizza and hurried to the floor where I’d dropped my purse earlier. I found my personal phone first, but it had been dead for days. I kept digging until I had my work phone in hand. The station’s number flashed.

Shit.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hi, Chief,” Mitch said, his voice tight. There was no smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Got a call from Frank Nigel.”

My heart galloped. Frank would only call if there was an emergency. He’d probably tried my personal phone, and when I hadn’t answered, he’d called the station. “What happened?”

“It’s Covie. He’s at the hospital.”

Chapter Sixteen

Winslow

“I’m going to move in with you,” I told Pops, his hand sandwiched between mine.

He scoffed. “No, you’re not.”

“I don’t like that you were alone.”

“I wasn’t alone. I had Frank.”

I shook my head. “It’s not the same.”

Because had Frank not needed to borrow a wrench, this entire situation might have turned out differently.

“I’m fine.”