Hide, Don't Seek

Chapter 12~

* One Week Later*

Igrowl in frustration as I snap the boxing gloves off my hands. Throwing them onto the mat, I stomp towards the counter on the other side of our gym and angrily swipe my water bottle, guzzling half of it before taking a breath. I spent thirty minutes running my frustration out on the treadmill before trying to take it out on the heavy bags. And yet, here I am, still reeling from that night.

When Bea walked up to Stu last week, I swore I was seeing things. We met at the forest an hour away, and yet, she was close enough to come to the bar near our place. And she’s friends with fucking Stu! What the hell?

He rarely talked about her but the little bit he did say… he left out details. A lot of details. All those curvy, luscious, sensual details. And now my cock is searching for her again. Fuck.

Scrubbing a hand roughly through my hair, I yank the ponytail holder out and head out of the gym. Stu tried so hard to hide his disappointment, even heartbreak, over Bea being the woman I met with the other night. We both know I didn’t know; I never would have hurt him on purpose. But the look he gave me before abruptly standing and walking out of the bar last week almost broke me. He’s my best fucking friend, one of three people I trust more than myself in this world, and he’s hurt. Badly. He”s been actively avoiding me all week. Only reaching out by text, and only if it”s business related. He won”t even open his bedroom door; he just cranks up the music and drowns me out. I”ve had to resort to Danny bringing food to him just to make sure he”s eating.

Opening my door, I realize that I don’t even remember stomping through the living room or coming up the stairs. My thoughts are all tied-up and tangled in Bea and Stu and… fuck!

Stripping out of my clothes, I toss them into the hamper before walking into our massive ensuite. Danny and I refurbished this area a couple of years ago to give us more room, and I fucking love it; every damn day.

The far wall is 6 feet long and consists of 2 windows that take up most of the wall; frosted to ensure no one can see in, but still gives a lot of natural light. The bottom 18 inches is a solid, gray stone bench that stretches the entire length of the wall. The two side walls are filled with the same gray stone used in the bench to give it a cohesive look. Then, the pièce de résistance, or pieces really, are the two 20-inch rainfall systems. Each has its own panel on the wall closest to it, with multiple stream settings and LED options. Whether we want to shower together or separately, need a pressure massage, or a light, calming shower, we have it covered.

Since we didn’t want to block the view, we closed the area with a long glass wall and a single, extra-wide glass door. I step in and start pushing buttons. Maybe a hot, hard, pulsating shower will help relieve the ache in my muscles; and in my heart.

The jets hit me from all sides, pounding into the muscles in my back and sides better than any massage chair could. Leaning my forehead against the thick glass wall, I take in a deep breath. Steam fills my lungs and floods my veins as I close my eyes and try my damnedest to get those big, blue eyes out of my mind.

Groaning, I squeeze my eyes to the point of pain before hauling my body up and backing away from the wall. I swipe my Canyon soap and lather it angrily between my hands. With more force than necessary, I clean the sweat from my body, rinse quickly, and then, squirting far too much shampoo into my palm, begin lathering my hair. I scrub so viciously that my scalp prickles with pain. An agonized growl tumbles out of me as I rinse my hair out.

My phone rings out, successfully pulling me out of my tortuous mind. With a heavy breath, I shake my head, hoping to clear my thoughts and begin conditioning my hair. The ringing ends and immediately starts up again; pushing me to rush through my beard cleaning.

Pressing a few buttons on the panel, I shut off the shower, then step out onto the heated floors. My phone pings with a notification, and I grumble at the disturbance. Jesus. What’s the damn hurry?

Swiping a towel from the hook, I barely dry myself off before tucking the towel around my waist. I pick up my phone and glance at the two missed calls. Both are from Charlie; the unofficial leader of our little team, who is currently away on assignment.

Sighing heavily, I step out of the bathroom and into my room, calling Charlie and clicking the phone over to speaker. The phone rings out, and he answers just as I reach my dresser. “E. Got news. Oasis tonight at cricket’s ring.”

With a click, he’s gone.

I dress quickly, running the towel through my hair. As I jog back to the bathroom, I quickly finger-comb my long hair, then toss the towel in the hamper. After combing my hair with an actual comb, I rub some beard oil into my beard. I don’t have time to balm it since we have to get going now. It will take us just under two hours to get to the meeting location near La Porte

Rushing out of the bathroom, I run straight into Danny. We collide with a garbled “Oomph” and barely remain upright. Danny chuckles, as he asks, “Where’s the fire, Love?”

I feel heat flood my cheeks and know that I really need to get my shit together. Clearing my throat, I barely manage a slight grin before shaking my head. “Sorry. Uh, we have a meeting tonight.”

Danny’s face immediately turns serious. With a nod, he turns on his heel and runs out of the room. Knowing he’s going to grab his favorite knives and shove them in every available hiding place brings a genuine smile to my face. My sweet, little, psychopath.

Feeling my smile grow, I realize that I’m finally breathing normally. Satisfied that my head is in the right space to do my damn job, I grab my phone from the dresser and head out of the room to get Stu.

Hopefully, Charlie finally gets to come home for a bit. His last mission has kept him away for almost three weeks. And we could really use him to reel us all back in. Because, right now, shit is fucked.