Fast Connection (Cyberlove #2)

by Megan Erickson

  “And you agree to continue to complicate the fuck out of my life?”

  “Yes.” Dominic smiled fondly. “I can’t wait. So much fucking up. So many complications.”

  “And I agree not to give up when there is fucking up and complications.”

  He opened his mouth to respond but Biscuit mournfully howling outside the door interrupted. A laugh tumbled from my mouth.

  “Ugh,” Dominic muttered. “Living here is driving me crazy. Things with my father have been better, but I need a place.”

  Dominic’s room was fine, but it was hard to picture him living in this cramped space for a long period of time. There was barely enough room for his furniture, and I could tell there were still remnants of his teenaged years evident everywhere. As he frowned at the door, I stroked his bare skin.

  “Move in with me.”

  Dominic’s gaze flew to my face. “What?”

  I folded my hands behind my head. “Move in with me. I got the room. If you need your own space, I can make you an office or something in the basement. But you in my bed at night and at my breakfast table in the morning is a dream.”

  He kept gaping at me, and I couldn’t tell if he thought I was crazy or amazing.

  “You’re seriously asking me to move in?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you decided this just now?”

  It was unlike me, but I was trying to be less Luke-like. “Yeah. Don’t give me an out. I don’t want an out. When we fight, I want to talk about it and know you’ll be in my sheets at the end of the night.”

  “And you’re sure about this?”

  “I’m positive.”

  He was still slowly nodding, and probably weighing my words. But after a beat, he glanced around and said, “I don’t have much. This furniture has been here forever. They used the basement as a guest room when I was in the army.”

  “So?”

  “So it’ll take me like an hour tops to pack my shit.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yeah.” That big Costigan smile split his entire face. “Don’t you need to run it by the kids?”

  “Nah, after all of that went down with the convention, they said they’d be cool with it.”

  I expected some skepticism or hesitance, but Dominic’s entire body relaxed against my own. And just by taking in the softening tension in his body and the excited cast of his expression, I knew things were going to be okay. More than okay. We were going to be amazing.

  Silence briefly fell between us as he appeared to digest this new part of his life, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. It felt good to let go of all the burdens of the past that had been weighing me down.

  But then just like that, the peace was broken by him squirming on the bed.

  “Man, I’m hungry. I’m gonna go get some snacks.”

  I laughed as Dominic pulled on a pair of sweatpants. “Peanut butter sandwiches?”

  He winked. “You know it.”

  Epilogue

  Dominic

  No matter how many times I told Luke not to do it, he picked me up after my shift. Even when I finished up in the dead of the night, he’d wait outside the hospital I was based at in Brooklyn and drive me home.

  I’d complained about him spoiling me since I had two good feet and a Metro Card, and we’d bickered about it until he’d finally agreed to only pick me up if my ending shift aligned with his end-of-business hours. That was fine with me. I liked seeing his face after a long, difficult day. And I liked that he always greeted me with a kiss.

  This day was no different. I’d started work in the early morning hours, eyes barely open as the ambulance driver cracked jokes and pushed coffee at me, and now it was late afternoon. It was also sweltering. I’d skinned out of my dark blue uniform as soon as I’d been able to, but sweat still trickled down my undershirt.

  Squinting against the sun, I hurried out to Luke’s truck and sighed deep when the AC hit me.

  “Hey,” he rumbled, pulling me in for a brief kiss. “You look tired.”

  “I’m fucking exhausted, baby.”

  “Hmm.” Luke rubbed the back of my neck, causing me to lean back with a moan. “But you love your job. Don’t forget that.”

  “I won’t. Trust me on that one.”

  Another graze of lips against my jaw, and then Luke was plowing through the congested streets with skill and ease I doubt I’d ever have. I loved watching him drive because it was like living vicariously through him. The lazy way his large hands held the steering wheel and the way he weaved around without cursing or yelling or snarling at other drivers. There was no way I’d have his patience. Put me behind the wheel, and I’d turn into Duffy Costigan.

  “You falling asleep over there?”

  I arched my back, yawning. “Almost. The AC feels good and being in your truck always makes me all comfortable and sleepy.”

  Luke snorted. “It’s not that comfortable. You’re just a secret toddler who’s rocked to sleep by vibrations.”

  I guffawed. “Yeah, maybe. I’m hoping you give me some vibrations that will put me in a fucking coma later on.”

  His mouth curved up into a dirty smile. “Count on it.”

  “Kids home?”

  “Uh. Yeah. So it’ll have to be way later.”

  At that, I pouted. “Guess I’ll just dehydrate in the meantime.”

  “Heh. You won’t, but feel free to regale me about all the ways you’re thirsty for my dick.”

  “Nah. I’m not going to torment myself with dirty talk. I’ll save it for later.”

  If Luke was a pouter, I’m pretty sure it’d be his turn to stick out that lower lip. But he settled for huffing out a breath and putting a hand on my thigh. He squeezed meaningfully. I had to close my eyes and think about something else to keep from giving him ideas about what else he could do with that hand.

  We’d been together, officially, for nearly a year, and we still couldn’t get enough of each other. I couldn’t tell if we both just had raging libidos or if our sexual chemistry was just that bomb. Going with both options was more fun.

  With my eyes closed, Luke kneading my thigh, and Nine Inch Nails playing softly on the radio, I really did lull into a doze. My eyes flashed open briefly to see the Verrazano Bridge up ahead and then again as we sat in traffic on the island, but I didn’t rouse fully until Luke cut the engine in front of the house.

  “Fuck, sorry.”

  Luke waved me off. “Stop apologizing.”

  “No way, man. You drive all the way over there—”

  “—it takes thirty minutes.”

  “—and then I conk out and can’t even make the ride back fun for you.”

  Luke shouldered his door open. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “I’m immune to that comment now,” I said, stepping out onto the steaming sidewalk. “Try a new one.”

  “Okay.” Luke shut his door and came around to my side of the truck. “You’re also old.”

  “Uhh… Okay. I guess that’s a new one.”

  “Er. You’re older.”

  I cocked my head. “Luke, are you losing it?”

  He barked out a laugh. “It’s your birthday, dumbass.”

  “No it’s—” I glanced at my watch and blanched. “Wow, it is my birthday.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Luke snagged the front of my white tee and drew me in for a longer kiss than what he’d greeted me with. Right there on the sidewalk in front of our neighbors and the nuns at Blessed Sacrament. My heart thudded, and happiness wiped away my exhaustion. The taste of him always got me energized.

  When we pulled away, I was grinning the cheesiest of grins. “Man, it should be my birthday every day if it’s gonna prompt awesome PDA.”

  “Heh. We’ll see.” Luke jerked his chin at the house. “Go inside.”

  “Are there presents inside?” The idea was mystifying to me. “I haven’t celebrated my birthday in years.”

  “Even better,” he said mysteriously.<
br />
  Curious and pumped up that he’d remembered, I unlocked the door and quickly realized that the smoky BBQ smell that had been wafting through the neighborhood was coming from our house. Upon entering the house, I also heard… familiar voices. Namely, my parents bickering over how long to let the meat cook.

  With dawning realization, I followed the sounds to the backyard where I was greeted by the sight of my parents, the kids, Nadia, and Anderson in the backyard. My parents were hovering around Luke’s grill while Micah and Adriana put up a giant Happy Birthday banner, and Chelle critically observed the patio table she’d set up. Nadia and Anderson were putting out containers of side dishes on the other table.

  “Holy shit.”

  They all turned to me, grinning.

  “Happy birthday!”

  I kept staring, mouth open, at the joint effort by both our families. No… by our family. All of them together, working together, and getting along.

  “How—” I shook my head, blinking back dampness. Shit, I was getting teary-eyed. “What…”

  “Luke planned for us to come over with a cake,” my mother said adoringly. She fucking loved him. And had taken to bringing over giant containers of food every Sunday. “Then your dad and Adriana put their heads together about making it a party, and Nadia said she was dying for the Costigan BBQ she’d heard so much about from Micah.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” I said.

  “Say thank you,” Duffy suggested, grinning broadly. “And tell your mother to stop trying to overcook the chicken!”

  “Oh! Thank you. Shit, sorry,” I said, laughing. “Jesus, you guys are incredible. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

  “Oh, we can tell,” Adriana said wisely. “You’re tearing up.”

  I waved her off, still laughing even as I wiped a sweaty arm over my eyes.

  “Seriously though, thank you. I love you guys. And I’m starving, so this is awesome.”

  “Good,” Nadia chimed in. “We have three cakes!”

  Oh my God. It figured the combo of our families would result in enough food to feed an army.

  I spent the next few minutes hugging everyone, shaking hands with Anderson and talking baseball with him since he was the only one besides me to have switched allegiances to the Mets, and then I discreetly tugged Luke into the kitchen.

  He was stoic as always, but his eyes were twinkling. “You seem happy.”

  “You have no idea,” I said. “I’m so fucking emotional right now that I want to bawl, and that’s literally never happened to me before. Okay, it has, but not much.” When his expression turned a little concerned, I laughed and shook my head. “It’s just… dude, everything has come together, you know? The shop is finally in the black, everything’s getting back on track, and I haven’t seen my parents this lively and happy… shit, maybe ever. It’s like… I don’t know.”

  “Your parents don’t seem like the same people,” Luke agreed. “Chelle and Micah have even noticed since they started working at the bagel shop over the summer. It’s amazing how money can affect you.”

  I bobbed my head in agreement. “But also I think… the fact that we have a bigger family now helps. My parents have always been isolated from their own tribes, so they did everything on their own, and now they have like… support. From me but also from you. And the kids are always around now, and everyone is getting along, and shit, I might actually cry.”

  Luke put his arms around me. “Is it a bad time to tell you about your birthday present?”

  “Dude, this is present enough. You don’t have to—”

  “Shut up. It’s already done.”

  “What’s done?”

  He got that little smirk again. “Plane tickets to Chicago for those three days you have off next week.”

  My eyes bugged out of my head. “Chicago? Why—” It hit me like a baseball bat to the head. “So I can see Garrett?”

  “Uh-huh. We talked about it.”

  “You talked to Garrett?”

  “Well, Adriana helped. But yeah.” Luke shrugged like it was no big deal. “I was going to book a hotel near them, but Kai said they weren’t too far from Chicago.”

  “You planned this with Garrett… and Kai. And Adriana helped.” I sounded like an idiot, but my mind was blown. “Dude.”

  “George is gonna cover me while we’re gone.”

  Luke kept wanting to talk about the logistics, but I was ready to blow his mind in return with insane thank-you sex. Since we had a house full of people, I settled for pulling him into another kiss. Soft and slow and full of promises for later. He smiled against me.

  “That mean you’re happy?”

  “It means I’m ecstatic. Thank you, Luke.”

  “No, Dominic. Thank you.” He kissed me again before dropping another against my forehead. “For not giving up on me, and for making my life so fucking full. The fact that I willingly threw a party should say a little something.”

  “Oh, it does. It means you’re a social butterfly now.”

  “Heh. I dunno about all that, but I do… truly appreciate our family. All of them.”

  I dragged him into another hug, a tighter one, and said against his ear, “I can’t believe we met by chance on Grindr. I’d never have expected to meet the person I want to spend my life with on a friggin’ hookup app.”

  Luke’s laugh shook his shoulders. “Me either.”

  “But I’m glad I did. I love you, Luke.”

  “I love you too, Staff Sergeant.”

  Want more Cyberlove?

  As a thank you to fans of this series, we wrote a special FREE bonus scene of Dominic and Luke visiting Kai and Garrett!

  Click here to access it.

  And to receive release announcements from the Cyberlove series, sign up for our newsletter here.

  Acknowledgements

  We have been overwhelmed and grateful for the love readers have shown this series. We didn’t know what to expect, but the reception was better than we could have imagined. These characters and this world are so fun to write, and we’re glad you’ve told us that you’re enjoying reading as much as we’re enjoying writing.

  So thanks so much to everyone who loved Garrett and Kai from Strong Signal, and who wanted more Cyberlove stories. We hope you enjoyed Costigan and Luke.

  Thank you to our beta readers: Ashley Hayes, Lia Riley, AJ Pine, Natalie Blitt and Eddie Clark. Getting feedback that you laughed in the first chapter was encouraging, and all of your suggestions were spot on.

  Thank you to Natasha Snow for working with us over and over again on this cover. We love this concept and look forward to working with you again in the future.

  Thank you to Edie Danford for fabulous and thorough copy edits, Keyanna Butler for excellent proofing, and Daniel W. for the beautiful formatting.

  And once again to the readers, thanks for accepting that for some people, love starts online. We can’t wait to bring you more stories.

  About the Authors

  Megan Erickson worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction. She’s a multi-published author with Avon, Berkley, and Entangled. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats.

  Website: http://meganerickson.org/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeganErickson_

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormeganerickson

  Santino Hassell is a writer of queer romance heavily influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, his belief that human relationships are complex and flawed, and his own life experiences.

  Website: https://www.santinohassell.com

  Twitter https://twitter.com/SantinoHassell

  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/santinohassellbooks

  Other books by Megan Erickson

  In Focus series

  Trust the Focus

  Focus on Me

  Out of Frame

  Overexposed
/>   Bowler University series

  Make it Count

  Make it Right

  Make it Last

  Mechanics of Love series

  Dirty Thoughts

  Dirty Talk

  Dirty Deeds

  Gamers series

  Changing His Game

  Playing for Her Heart

  Tied to Trouble

  Leveling the Field

  Other books by Santino Hassell

  After Midnight

  Stygian

  In the Company of Shadows

  The Five Boroughs series

  Sutphin Boulevard

  Sunset Park

  First and First

  Interborough – Coming October 2016