“Don’t worry. We’ll work it out or we won’t.” He shrugged. “Friends sometimes come and go.”

It didn’t have to be that way.

“Roan’s going to be mad he missed you waking up,” Lorne said, changing the subject. “He and Ahiga have been working with some of my guards. Apparently, he thinks our faksano is totally frosty.”

A surprised laugh slipped free. I wasn’t sure what a faksano was, but him using our slang was awkward. “Don’t. That sounds so wrong coming from you.”

Lorne grinned, and I was shocked by how it transformed his face. The calm, serious mask melted away and what was left was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His blue-green eyes glittered, and I knew I could sit there forever and stare into them.

“Frosty sounds wrong?”

I nodded my head. The grin on my face felt foreign but good. “It just does.”

Lorne started to say something, but the door swooshed open, and Roan raced through, tackling me to the bed.

“You had me so fucking scared.” He pulled away for a second. His hair was extra poofy, and he was sweaty, but I didn’t care. Not even a little bit. My best friend was here. The one who knew me better than anyone. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again, and here he was.

I squeezed him tighter as my eyes burned.

“You’re okay?” Roan asked quietly in my ear.

“No. I’m not.” My voice broke as I stifled a sob.

“You will be,” he said softly. “You’ve got me here, and one hell of a frosty house. Did you know that you’re freakin’ loaded?”

I rested my head against Roan’s shoulder and laughed. I couldn’t help myself. “No, but I can’t wait for you to tell me about it.”

“Dude. This house is so beyond frosty that we need a new word for it.” He pulled back to sit next to me. “You gotta check it out. And I can’t wait for you to see…”

I tilted my head in time to see Lorne slipping out of the room. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

“Thank you,” I mouthed to him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me a small nod. “My pleasure.” The words were little more than a whisper. I shouldn’t have been able to hear them over Roan’s chattering, but I did.

As the door closed behind Lorne, I wondered how that man could understand me so well, yet I felt so lost around him.

Chapter Forty-Six