Protective Secrets (The Protective Series, Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Agreeing to rejoin Protective Services was perhaps one of the best decisions of my life. Not only would I be performing and protecting people again, but I would be surrounded by my best friends twenty-four seven, just like how it always used to be in the good old days.

It's what Corrie wanted, and it's what Janne would have wanted. He never would've wanted me to sit stewing in a puddle of my own memories and nightmares, feeling sorry for myself.

Of course I promised myself not to rush into anything brash. I was a completely different person to who I'd been on the day I left, so it was going to take some time to readjust. Especially since Dominik was now a permanent part of the group, taking over from his brother.

Asko's offer to take me out to a movie gave me some time to mull everything over inside my mind. As we walked along the street, his warmly familiar hand in mine, I couldn't imagine anywhere else I'd rather be. My place was with him, Jarmo and Dominik, as it had always been since the very start.

It was like I'd stepped into a time warp, envisioning the night we first made love underneath the rotunda in Fremantle; his grey eyes gazing into mine with each thrust, both of our moans mixing with the cool breeze rustling the leaves of nearby trees.

People flooded the streets as we arrived outside the cinema, most of them families taking their children to see Despicable Me 3. There were a few people my age standing around on their phones, babbling about what they saw on Instagram and the gossip of the day, while a group of teenagers stood nearby with skateboards, bikes and scooters, laughing over some obscene high school memory from earlier that day.

The sign outside was lit up in blocky red and blue 3D squares, the bright LED downlights underneath shining down on everyone lining up to get their tickets. Four rectangular pillars held the immense structure up, and flashing across the wide dome-shaped ceiling were circles of blue and white fluorescent light.

"I wonder what Dominik and Michelle are up to right now," Asko said idly, pulling his hand gently from mine as we neared the front of the queue.

I slid my hand comfortably into the front pocket of my jeans, retaining the warmth from his skin. "They're probably eating dinner, while we're standing out here in the cold waiting to get through the front doors."

He laced an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. "Things could always be worse."

Nostalgia hit me as images from my childhood came to mind, showing snippets of the small white fox named Slyly singing those exact words in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie I grew up watching with my siblings. It'd been over a decade since I last saw that movie. My adopted brother Jake still owned the VHS copy, but god knew where he resided these days. We'd lost touch after I moved to Australia, and he never once bothered to look me up on social media.

"I suppose you're right," I smiled small, glancing across into his eyes. "Are you actually dating Summer, or was it all just a big misunderstanding?"

"Of course it was a misunderstanding," he snorted. "She's pretty and all, but there's someone else my heart belongs to."

"Oh yeah?" I bit back a smile trying to burst across my face. "I wonder who that could be."

"Hmm," he feigned a thoughtful expression, lousily shrugging his shoulders. "I've no idea."

My gaze fell over his light pink lips, observing the way they caressed each word that came out of his mouth like a velvet glove. Those lips held a very special place in my memory, locked up nice and tightly with all the other escapades of my life. I skimmed over them from time-to-time, reflecting back on the person I used to be, comparing him to who now stood in his place.