Jurassic Heart by Anna Martin

said with a weary sigh. “This isn’t exactly easy for me. I didn’t come here with the intention of leading a dig, I just wanted a bit of fucking peace and quiet so I could do a bit of excavating for the first time in ages.”
    His expression softened. “Yeah, okay. I’ve put a few feelers out to see if anyone I know might have heard about it, but to be honest, this isn’t our style. We don’t make physical threats to your people. We’re about raising awareness and education.”
    “That’s what I thought,” I said with a nod. “It didn’t seem like the sort of thing you would do.”
    “There are a few groups that will resort to violence or nonpeaceful protests, but not with this kind of setup. They’ll riot against corrupt governments. Not scientists.”
    I huffed a laugh. “Thanks. Anyway, I should be getting back….”
    “Okay. I’ll see you later, Nick.”
    “Yeah. See you.”
    I hated that he’d done something nice for me. Now I felt like I owed him something in return. I also wasn’t crazy about the fact that he was turning into a real person rather than remaining a cartoon villain. It was much easier to think of him alone in his mansion, twirling a moustache and plotting our imminent demise. Instead, I found myself thinking about him alone in his house, not wearing any clothes. I seemed to be pretty good at imagining what he looked like under his neatly pressed khakis.
    When I got back to the dig, River was well underway with her geology master class in the lab, which was open to anyone on the team who was interested. Apparently that turned out to be everyone except Raven, Boner, and me. I’d been to a few of her lectures and was more than happy for her to teach a class; education within the team was as important for us as it was in the wider community.
    It meant the site was a lot emptier than it was normally, so I could go and sit in Boner’s area without worrying about anyone overhearing what I had to say.
    “Boner,” I said, calling over the sound of his headphones. I think he noticed me more because I was blocking his sun, but that didn’t matter.
    He pulled the earbuds out and gave me a wounded look that told me he was still upset.
    “C’mere,” I told him.
    Sniffing, he sat next to me on a convenient rock.
    “I’m sorry we argued,” I said. “I don’t like arguing with you. You’re my best friend.”
    “You’re my best friend too.”
    “Where did you stay last night?”
    “On the couch in the apartment River and Raven are staying in.”
    “Will you come back to my place tonight?”
    “Yeah,” he said.
    “Are we okay?”
    “Hunter Joseph is still an idiot.”
    “I won’t contest that at all,” I said, raising my hands. “He is an idiot not worth arguing with you over.”
    Boner cracked a smile. “I agree.”
    “Give us a smooch?” I asked him.
    Boner smiled and tugged me into a big, wet kiss that quickly progressed into something with tongues and teeth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close, and felt absolutely no sexual urges toward him at all. We finished our big kiss with a couple of smaller ones, laughing, and I laid my head on his shoulder so he could hug me properly.
    “I love you, you stupid idiot,” I said softly.
    “Love you too,” he said, punctuating his words with another kiss to the top of my head.
    That night, when we closed up the dig, he swung by the Goth Twins’ apartment and picked up some stuff he’d left there, and then came back to my room. Our routine was good: shower, food, TV, snuggle. We added making out to the routine, but it felt different somehow. Any spark between us had fizzled away to nothing.
     
     
    “I THOUGHT we had an agreement,” I snapped at Hunter as I climbed out of Boner’s truck the next morning. It was early, and I wasn’t great with mornings. On top of that, I’d finally taken the rental car back and was now relying on Boner to transport me around. Being without a car always made me