I reached up to run my hands over his skin, and he sighed. “This is when we’re us. This is when nothing else matters. So get naked with me.”

He stared at the ceiling. “It’s a distraction.”

“A good one.”

He looked down at me, smiling. “And when I’m not strong enough for that anymore?”

I kissed his stomach, lifting the waistline of his sweatpants and licking beneath. His head fell back, and he sighed, already relaxing. “Let’s focus on what’s happening right this second,” I said.

I tugged, and his pants slipped over his bare skin, making a light noise when they fell to the floor. I took him fully inside my mouth, and he groaned, resting his palm on the back of my head.

Zeke whispered my name; he was with me in that moment, thinking only of how I was making him feel. It was just us again without the hundreds of negative emotions that bombarded us daily.

“Oh my God, you feel good,” he said, his fingers tangling in my hair.

chapter thirty-two

hollow

Naomi

I

think I’m close.

I’ll just send you my location, I typed out with a sigh. In Trex’s defense, I was on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, lying on the hood of my FJ, staring up at the billions of stars above me.

Two headlights formed in the distance at the same time Trex’s truck engine ripped through the otherwise quiet night. He honked once, the sound carrying and bouncing off the mountains that surrounded me.

His boots crunched in the gravel, and he stood next to me.

I didn’t look at him, instead focusing on the sky above.

“Is he still being a dick?” Trex asked.

“He’s not a dick. He’s going through a lot.”

“Did you fight or something?”

“No, I just let him vent and keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to upset him. He’s had two episodes this month already, and we’re five days into May. They’re not going to let him in.”

“They as in the Alpines?”

“Correct.”

“Damn,” Trex said, leaning against the hood.

“Try telling a guy who chose a job for the adrenaline that he can’t do that job anymore, or anything that might excite or upset him.”

“And you’re keeping your mouth shut when he takes it out on you? Nomes, if I could think of a true hell for you, this would be it.”

“It’s not,” I said.

“Feeling sorry for him and loving him aren’t the same thing.”

“That’s not what this is.”