“An hour and a half each way.”
“You want to come straight to mine, and I can have dinner waiting?”
Warmth bled into his eyes, and Dan stroked his thumb over the back of my hand. “That’d be great, thanks. I’ll pack a bag to take with me.”
I shook my head. “Pack it, and I’ll throw it in my car in the morning.”
“Bloody hell, you two are crazy domestic. How’d the fuck that happen so quickly?”
There was no heat in Alec’s tone, only interest mixed with humour.
“To be fair,” Craig answered, drawing all our attention to him, “it’s been a long time coming.”
I smirked, since there were no arguments from me.
“True that. For seven years I’ve heard about every visit that Dan made. Heard about the pining as a teenager, and these past—”
I cut Alec off with a loud laugh. “It’s all lies.”
“It is?” Dan said, his right brow quirked high.
Heat filled my cheeks. “Well, Alec knowing all of that is lies.” I genuinely hadn’t breathed a word to him about my feelings for Dan, though his tease was scarily close on the money.
Understanding bloomed in Dan’s expression, making me squirm a little. “I’m happy to hear stories about Ross pining for me,” my jackass boyfriend said to Alec, earning him a nudge to the ribs. He leaned away from me, laughing. “I’m sure you can come up with some creative stories, Alec.”
“Not if you know what’s good for you,” I sassed with a quirked brow.
His laughter turned into a heated smirk. “In that case, I’ll keep my mouth shut, but only if you tell me all the real stories.”
“They make you want to gag, right, Alec?”
I flipped my brother off.
“You want to know how I make your brother gag, Craig? Is that what you’re—”
“That would be a fuck no.” My brother shuddered, our laughter swiftly following.
“Speaking of, I think it’s time we get going.” Dan finished off his beer, and the three of us groaned at his words while heat also hit my cheeks. “You ready?” he asked me.
“Yeah.” I took the last gulp of beer, patted Alec on the shoulder, saying, “See you tomorrow,” then leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of my brother’s head. “Let me know what Mum and Dad say about next week. And I’ll probably see you at the weekend.”
Craig bobbed his head. “Will do. Stay dry.”
I smiled and took Dan’s hand, heading back into the pouring rain, racing for my ute. “See you at your place in five,” I called out to him.
Dan nodded and made a run for his vehicle while I got into the dry.
I ran a hand over my face, wiping away the drips.
The rain was relentless, so much heavier than the front that came through immediately after the fires. It made visibility poor on the drive home. I was grateful Dan lived in town rather than out a few kilometres like me.
Before long, I pulled up outside, wishing the rental had a garage to help keep at least one of us dry, but the place was old and made of weatherboard, with no garage in sight.
Once parked, I jogged to the house. Dan was already there unlocking the door and turning the outside and inside lights on. He grabbed a couple of towels and passed me one.
“Bloody hell. It’s seriously coming down,” he said as he rubbed his hair.
I stared past him to the dark, wet sky. “It’s forecast to slow down and a couple of days of dry after that.” I squinted as I peered out. “Not sure I believe the reports with the way it’s going.”
