KDBookOnline
Share Us
Thirty-three minutes after Dylan’s last message, Derek was pacing the front room that was packed with most of the furniture he owned.
The initial terror had calmed, so why was his heart still pounding?
It wasn’t Dylan’s fault his uncle left the apartment door open, and it was for the best Gus hadn’t been there at the time. If he’d noticed the food and meds were gone, he would’ve figured it out.
Gus was fine.
Everything was fine.
Derek steadied his breaths against a mounting pressure on his chest.
Was this what a panic attack felt like? He’d never had one before.
But even before he couldn’t find Gus tonight, he’d been stressed. The all done voicemail from the mold guy came right at the end of his shift. He’d rushed home to hand the man in hazmat gear a bank account–decimating check in exchange for having destroyed half his drywall. Since the okay to move in just meant your apartment’s not actively poisoning you and the machines that terrify your dog are gone, the water would still be off for the plumbers. Plumbers who would be needing more checks. Derek’s new mattress had been delivered yesterday. He could sleep here and shower at the gym. Maybe that would be better, especially because things with Dylan…
He braced against the wall, leaning his forehead on the cool back of his hand.
The familiar rumble of Dylan’s Jeep jolted Derek out of his thoughts. He’d almost fallen asleep standing up. He blinked away the exhaustion and rushed to the door.
Gus’s tail wags seemed happily tuckered out from his Gallagher-siblings adventure. After giving Derek a lick of greeting, he climbed directly into the newly set up bed and was snoring in seconds.
Worry etched Dylan’s face. “I’m really sorry. It’s totally my fault. I can call back any of the shelters you called to let them know what hap—”
“It’s fine. Just text next time, okay?”
“Oh. Okay. Yes. Of course.” His voice was relieved as he scratched the back of his head with the hand that wasn’t clutching a gray canvas bag. “Thanks for being cool about it.”
“I’m a cool guy sometimes,” Derek said, attempting a casual drawl to hide any residual shakiness from his past panic. He scanned the doorway as Dylan shut the door behind him. “So is Felicity…”
“Staying at my parents.”
“Ahh. Okay. So…”
“So…?”
So, they were alone. Actually alone.
The memory of the last time they were alone hung in the air between them.
Dylan shifted his weight as he opened his mouth.
But Derek needed to say something first. “So… we haven’t really had a chance to talk since… and for the record, if you didn’t want to… like, I get it. I didn’t mean to make things weird when I asked you to come sleep in the bed too. If I did and that’s why you’ve been avoiding me, I’m really sorry.”
There. He said it.
Dylan could take the apology or leave it.
Dylan looked at his shoes, scuffing one along the floor. “I got spooked and I don’t know… I was worried you were only flirting with me because of needing my help. It—uh—wouldn’t be the first time. A guy at my old company strung me along like that.”
Derek was genuinely so shocked he couldn’t think how to respond. Half of him was offended, but the other half was pissed that anyone would treat Dylan like this. What the hell?
Dylan scanned the apartment hallway, looking anywhere except at Derek. “And with the way you acted when I first moved upstairs, I thought…”
“Dylan.”
“I guess I just thought you never thought I was near your standards for a partner—”
“Dylan, no…”