Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Sure enough, it turned out April had sent them. They were led by a young Black woman in a Barbie-pink suit. She handed me her business card and introduced herself as Violet from SPAM’s Portland field office. After I explained what had happened, she said, “Good work.”
“Thanks.”
As her crew hauled Rosselin and his men to the choppers, she told me, “We’re going to need you to come into one of our field offices at your earliest convenience so we can take a formal statement. But for now, is there anything else we can do for you, Agent Miller?”
I raised a brow at that title. Had she used it because she assumed I was an agent, or because SPAM somehow knew my powers had come online and automatically promoted me?
Not that it mattered right now. “Actually, yes,” I said. “Could you send a repairman to fix my friend’s door?” It was currently sticking out of a flower bed at a jaunty angle.
“You got it.”
She started composing a text on her way back to the helicopters, while Andy, Arden, and I climbed the stairs. “I’ll text Grady and ask him to come back out and rebuild the barrier this evening,” Arden said. “Not that I expect my monster to make a move as long as you’re here. He can probably sense there’s a new alpha in the neighborhood.”
I glanced at him and asked, “You mean me?”
“Obviously. I can feel a ton of power radiating from you.”
“Speaking of radiating, you should have seen yourself,” Andy said. “You were lit up like a beacon, and your eyes glowed bright blue. It was incredible.” I held up my hands and looked at them. Fortunately, the glow was gone. He asked me, “Do you feel different?”
“I feel good. Really good, like I could run a marathon without breaking a sweat. Other than that, I guess I still just feel like me.”
Arden said, “I thought you didn’t have any superpowers.”
“They were dormant,” I explained. “It took the fear of almost losing the man I love to finally activate them.”
Andy stopped at the house’s threshold and caught my hand. When I turned to him, he stared at me in wonder and whispered, “You love me?”
“Of course I do. I love you more than anything.”
His face lit up in a huge smile, which brought out his cute dimples. Then he pulled me down to his height and kissed me before saying, “I love you too, Sam.”
It was the best thing I’d ever heard.
A couple of hours later, I cooked dinner while Andy made some calls and Arden rested—doctor’s orders.
When he ended his last call, Andy came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. As he rested his head between my shoulder blades, he said, “I’m going to miss Arden when we’re back home. Do you think he’ll come visit us?”
“We can always come here and visit him. It’s a short flight from San Francisco. But he said he would, and I’ll bet he makes good on his promise. After all, he wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of the Human Glowstick.”
Andy chuckled and informed me, “That’s a terrible superhero name.”
“Okay. How about Glow Job?”
“Oh my god.”
“The Great Glowbowski? Hootie and the Glowfish?”
“No and no.”
“We’ll workshop it.”
After a pause, he murmured, “I can’t believe we finally get to go home. My mom was so excited when I told her.”
“I know. I heard her yelling from clear across the room.”
“Moira screamed, too. My ears are still ringing.”
“What did April say when she called us back?”
“She congratulated us on a job well done,” he said. “She also reiterated that we need to go to a field office ASAP for a debriefing and to issue a statement, so formal charges can be brought against Rosselin. Then she gave you and me the next eight weeks off, with pay.”
I turned to him and draped my arms around his shoulders. “Thank god. I wouldn’t have been able to face work on Monday morning.” I thought about that and added, “Not that I have any idea what our jobs are now, between my newfound superpowers and the fact that the archives were destroyed.”
“I don’t know, either. April said we’ll discuss it after we’ve had a chance to rest and recuperate, which is good. Right now, I don’t even know what I want to do.”
There was something else on his mind, and I nuzzled his hair and waited patiently while he figured out what he wanted to say. Finally, Andy looked up at me and asked, “What’s going to happen when we get back to San Francisco?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to ask me out on a date, then pick me up on Friday night for dinner and a movie?”
“No.”
A frown line appeared between his brows. “You’re not?”
“I mean, we can certainly go out, but this has already evolved way beyond casually dating. Don’t you think?” He nodded, and I traced his jaw with my fingertip. “I want to be with you all the time, so what do you think about moving in with me? I’ll understand if you feel like it’s too soon, but—”