Chapter 14

“I love you.” He didn’t say it nearly enough. Celeste demanded so much of them, including their undivided loyalty. He rarely had opportunities. “Understand that too.”

A glimmer of a smile softened Simon’s melancholy. “That’s the one thing I always know.”

That helped to hear. More than Simon could ever know. “And Claire likes you. She’s going to help. I know she will.”

“She likes both of us.”

“I’m not sure she would’ve snuck off to a corner with me the first chance she got, though.”

“Why not? I did.”

Grateful his attempts to dispel more of the somber mood had succeeded, Seth leaned over the edge of the tub to kiss Simon, keeping it soft and slow. Traces of Claire still lingered on Simon’s skin, both in taste and scent, but Seth ignored the frisson of fear that went down his spine to focus on the now.

It was too late to do anything about what Celeste might or might not have detected. They could only go forward from here.