“So am I,” Nick said gently.
JD gave him a small smile before he retreated into his cabin. Nick stared at the doorway for a long moment before cursing under his breath and turning away.
Kelly sat in the salon, watching Nick move around the outside of the boat in the darkness. Reports of gale-force winds were coming in, and he probably didn’t want to wake up to a sinking vessel, especially since parts were still riddled with buckshot.
Kelly had Nick’s book in his lap, reading it in the light coming from beneath the galley cabinets.
When Julian had mentioned the Rosicrucians, Nick hadn’t even flinched, although he’d obviously felt Kelly’s eyes on him. What the hell was Nick up to? Kelly hated being out of the loop, and he hated even more feeling suspicious of his boyfriend.
He flipped through the pages until he came to the one bookmarked by the slip of paper he’d found the other night, the one with the pigpen cipher on it.
He still had it in his hand when Nick stepped into the salon and shuttered the doors and windows. Kelly watched him silently, waiting until Nick became aware of his presence.
Nick finished the last lock and turned, taking a sip of water from a plastic Red Sox cup that was half-faded from so many washings. He stopped short when he found Kelly sitting on the love seat.
“Hey,” he whispered. “What are you doing up, are you okay?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Kelly admitted.
“Makes two of us.” Nick came around the coffee table and thumped down beside Kelly on the sofa. He handed Kelly his water, and Kelly took a sip before giving it back.
“Are you reading in the dark?” Nick asked with a quiet laugh.
Kelly held the book up. “Why are you playing this so close to the vest?”
Nick frowned, the shadows casting lines across his face.
“What are you talking about? What is that?” He tilted the book toward the light, trying to read the title.
“It’s a book about secret societies.” Kelly leaned across Nick and turned the lamp on. He set the book in Nick’s lap.
“You knew what Cross was talking about earlier. What are you up to?”
Nick picked it up, glancing at the paper in Kelly’s hand.
“Nothing,” he said, sounding hurt.
“Nick.”
“Kels. The department puts on a summer camp every year.” Nick tossed Kelly a wounded look. “I was on desk duty for weeks until I was cleared by the liver docs, so they put me on it. I’m making up a scavenger hunt for them. I’m running out of ideas, so I was trying to think up new clues.”
Kelly pointed at the cipher. “This is a clue for a kid?”
“Yeah. I got the book out because the example they have of that symbol there is kind of ornate,” Nick said. He flipped to the right page and tapped the drawing in the book. “I traced it, then added symbols from the other clues in the scavenger hunt. It looks like gibberish to us, but the kids will know what the symbols mean by the time they find that one.”
Kelly bit his bottom lip, trying to smile. He just nodded instead. Of course Nick wasn’t up to anything nefarious. He was making a game for kids. Kids he claimed to not be fond of. Kelly finally huffed.
“What’d you think I was doing?” Nick asked with a teasing smirk.
Kelly shook his head, embarrassed to have brought it up.
“I don’t even know. I’m sorry.”
Nick set his cup down, then leaned back, sinking into the soft couch. He put his feet up on the table and raised his arm for Kelly to lean against him. Kelly did so gladly, resting his feet next to Nick’s and his head against Nick’s shoulder. He covered them both with the blanket Nick kept on the sofa.
Nick squeezed him, then buried his nose in Kelly’s hair.
“I promise the next time I’m doing anything wicked, you’ll be my partner in crime,” he whispered.
Kelly snorted. “It’s sad how true that is, dude.”
They stayed that way for a long while, with Nick’s arm wrapped around Kelly and Kelly’s head on his chest. “I’m sorry about this,” Nick finally said.
“What for?”
“This case. It’s ruining our time together. I should have taken vacation days.”
Kelly turned so he could see Nick. He rested his chin on Nick’s chest, peering up at him. “I think we needed this,” Kelly admitted.
“What?”
“I think we’re based off murder and mayhem.” Kelly pushed up, sitting cross-legged and facing Nick. “We’ve never known each other in times of peace.”
“Sure we have,” Nick argued. He tried to sit up, but Kelly put a hand on his chest and shoved him back down. For some reason it was easier to talk to Nick when he was lounging, wearing a pair of Red Sox pajama bottoms and little else.
“No we haven’t,” Kelly countered. “Even after being discharged, every time we got together, we got in trouble.
Or we made trouble. It’s in our nature, babe. And then New Orleans happened. It took me taking a bullet in the chest and almost dying to realize I was attracted to you. I just . . . I think our foundations are built on gunpowder and I’m just afraid they’re going to . . .”
“Kels,” Nick whispered. “Jesus Christ, are you breaking up with me right now? Because that’s kind of what this feels like.”
Kelly smiled gently. “Do you want me to?”
“Well, no!” Nick sat up again, and this time Kelly didn’t stop him. “I swear to God, we’ll go somewhere soon where it’s not f**king possible for us to be shot at. Vacation in . . . Amish country or something. I’ll prove we don’t need it.”
Kelly laughed and shook his head. Nick gripped the back of his neck, pul ing their faces closer. “If our foundations are built on gunpowder, then so be it. They’re foundations all the same.”
Then his fingers loosened, and he dragged his thumb over Kelly’s cheekbone, letting the backs of his fingers drift along Kelly’s jaw and then trailing the tips down his neck.
“I love you,” Nick whispered. “Has nothing to do with the circumstances, or our history, or how close to death we’ve come together. I would love you in any incarnation of yourself.”
Kelly hadn’t been expecting such a heartfelt declaration from his lover, who usually erred on the side of humor when something needed to be said. He found it hard to swallow, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Nick’s.