The Rising Tide by Amy Lane

Author:Amy Lane [Lane, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64108-449-9
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2022-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

Questions and Theories

SOMETIME IN the night, Scout had awakened, needing to use the bathroom. He slid on his briefs and a T-shirt on the way back to bed and discovered Lucky had done the same, probably in deference to the chill.

But after that he slid back in bed next to Lucky, learning the pros and cons of sleeping in the same bed with another human.

Pros: Warmth, touch, soft noises when you rubbed his back

Cons: Mild snoring, which could be ignored

Scout closed his eyes to the sound of Lucky’s mild snoring, remembering the days of sleeping in a barracks with all those young men, not one of whom he could open his heart to. Most of whom snored far worse than Lucky.

He was so happy he was surprised he didn’t glow in the dark.

When the sun hit his face in the early hours of the morning, Lucky was folded over his back like a big thermal blanket, and Scout huddled deeper into his warm and welcoming body to ward against the chill in the air.

Then Kayleigh’s voice penetrated his happy fog.

“Give it up, Scout. It’s morning, you’re busted, and you totally need to hear what we figured out last night.”

Scout grunted into the mattress before squinting through the obnoxious sunlight. “Kayleigh, I thought you loved me,” he said, hurt.

“I do love you, big brother,” she said, laughing softly. “In fact, I love you enough to have brought you and whatsisface donuts—from Donut Do Dat—since Helen hasn’t started cooking pastries yet.”

“Mm….” Scout fought against the exhaustion pressing his eyes closed. “Coffee?” he asked carefully.

“Yes,” Kayleigh said on a sigh. “Lucky’s got a coffee maker. I started some here. He’s also got the good creamer and some ice and a blender. I’ll totally make you a coffee drink, but first you need to wake up.”

That did it. Reluctantly Scout opened his eyes and rolled out of bed, trying to put his brains together as he did so. “It’s so early,” he mumbled.

“It’s eight o’clock,” she said, giving Lucky a furtive look behind Scout as Lucky grunted and sat up. “And Helen and Marcus thought you might be super tired—Lucky too—because apparently you did big magic yesterday, which we all have to talk about. But first? Coffee, donuts, and I tell you what we discovered.”

“Toothbrush,” Scout muttered. “Water on the face. Pants.”

Kayleigh smirked. “Do you want me to ask why you’re not wearing any?”

Scout tilted his head to stare at her. “We were sleeping,” he defended crankily.

He didn’t want to face her hearty guffaw, so he stumbled to the bathroom with Lucky on his heels.

“God, she’s relentless,” Lucky muttered, handing Scout a clean toothbrush from his cupboard. “It’s like trying to argue with a pit bull. You might win that argument, but she’s still got her teeth in your throat, so who cares?”

“She’s right, though,” Scout said on a yawn while trying to put toothpaste on the brush. “We’re both usually up earlier than this. Eight o’clock here is like… I don’t know. Luxury hours.

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