Absinthe Dreams (Wine Country Alphas #4)

Chapter One

Trystan

"You are one persistent little psychopath, aren't you?

" I mutter, keeping one watchful eye on the fluffy white Chihuahua currently snarling like he'd like to eat my face off as I pass in front of the gate holding him back.

And by snarling, I mean the little shit is screaming that godforsaken battle cry invented by Huskies and perfected by Chihuahuas. It's loud, shrill…full of drama.

The dog probably weighs five pounds soaking wet, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for with attitude. Specifically, one spawned in the pits of hell.

The PTSD-ridden Malinois at my side whines softly, butting up against my thigh as if seeking protection from the tiny demon screaming at us like a banshee from the opposite side of the neighbor's front gate.

"Easy, Thanos," I say softly, one hand on his back to keep him from bolting. He's sniffed out bombs in literal war zones. But that was before he retired to live a life of luxury on my best friend, Wyatt Walker's couch. Now? Well, Thanos draws a hard line at overdramatic Chihuahuas.

Can't say I blame him.

He's done his time. The dog deserves a peaceful, easy life. But every time we pass by Wyatt's neighbor's place, the old lady's Chihuahua loses his fucking mind.

"We're almost home," I mutter to Thanos.

Thanos whines again, rolling his eyes toward the Chihuahua as if to ask me what the fuck his problem is. I wish I knew. Chihuahuas were born full of fury and spite. Antagonistic and loud are their natural state of being.

The little dog stops screaming long enough to hike one leg.

"Really, man?" I narrow my eyes at him. "You're just going to make eye contact while you piss on the post?"

A growl is the only response I get…which I assume means fuck you very much, this is my house. Either that, or he has a bladder the size of a walnut. Who the hell knows?

I hurry my steps, keeping Thanos glued to my side until we're safely past. It doesn't stop the Chihuahua from screaming his tiny head off at us again as soon as he's done with his piss-of-intimidation.

But I'm fairly confident he isn't going to slip through the gate and try to attack me or Thanos just to remind us that he runs this block.

I'm counting it as a win.

I need one of those today. A goddamn cat jumping out of the bushes nearly had Thanos shitting himself in the park. He ran halfway back home before I managed to catch up to him. And then there was the incident with the mailman.

Cats and Chihuahuas, Thanos will not do. But I guess even PTSD-ridden, highly trained Malinois have an ingrained hatred for mail carriers. I had to carry his big ass away while he howled and the mailman cowered.

We're both hot, tired, and irritable. And it's not even noon. Wyatt only shipped out on a mission two days ago. I don't know where the hell they sent him this time. Shit is always classified with him. But if the rest of the week with Thanos is this eventful, it's going to be a long one.

We're right outside Wyatt's gate when my phone rings. I sigh, pulling it from my pocket. And then I groan when I see my brother, Jax's name, lighting up the display.

"What?" I growl into the phone, juggling it between my ear and shoulder so I can open the gate.

Why are my brothers always calling me? If it isn't Jax, it's Gabe, or Liam.

And if Jace weren't currently in Syria, he'd be calling me all the goddamn time, too.

The only one of my siblings who isn't constantly on my phone is my baby sister, Avery.

She's busy living her best life at UCLA, pretending she doesn't have five pain-in-the-ass older brothers.

"Well, damn," Jax says, amusement lacing his voice. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"Did not," I mutter, latching the gate before unleashing Thanos. He immediately walks to the very center of the yard and flops down in a patch of sun with a loud grunt. "I've been dealing with Thanos."

"What'd he do?"

"Slipped his leash while fleeing from a cat, tried to eat a mailman, and just got bitched around by a Chihuahua." I scrub a hand through my hair. "Actually, I think we both got bitched around by a Chihuahua. He made eye contact while marking his territory."

Jax laughs abruptly. "When are you going to learn not to fuck with Chihuahuas, man? They lead Satan's army."

"It's not like it was on my list of shit to do today," I mutter defensively. "He belongs to Wyatt's neighbor. I swear to Christ, he stands in the window, just waiting for us to step outside Wyatt's gate. As soon as we do, he comes busting through that goddamn doggie door like the Kool-Aid Man."

Jax laughs again.

"Why are you calling me?" I narrow my eyes, suspicious. "If you want me to help convince Bastian of anything, you're shit outta luck until I get back next week."

Bastian Grayson, our cousin, was probably a Chihuahua in a different life. The man is a terrorist. He has no chill, especially when it comes to our family's vineyard. He stresses everyone out, all day, every day. But he is not my problem for the next week. It's someone else's turn to play mediator.

"Nah, he's actually been decent lately." There's a smile in Jax's voice. "Constance is good for him."

"Yeah, she is." I jog up the steps to the front door, whistling for Thanos. He lifts his head, looks at me, grunts, and then flops back down. Guess he's staying out here for a while, then.

I sigh and head inside, leaving him to sunbathe.

"I actually called to see if you'd seen Chloe."

As soon as he says Chloe's name, I feel it echoing in my fucking soul.

Wyatt's sister is the bane of my existence, the love of my life, and my favorite fantasy all rolled into one.

I've been wild about her for as long as I can remember.

It's the kind of love that takes root and never lets go.

My feelings grow a little wilder and a little deeper every year.

Unfortunately for me, I'm pretty sure she's hated me for just about as long as I've loved her.

Believe me, that's a long fucking time.

She spent every summer at my family's vineyard, slowly driving me out of my mind when we were kids. For a while, we were joined at the hip. I taught her how to fight. She taught me patience.

And then she grew boobs, and everything changed.

I'm not sure exactly when I realized that what I felt for her wasn't friendship, or when she began hating me. But it's been that way for a long fucking time now.

Everything I say pisses her off. If I say right, she goes left. If I say the sky is blue, she'll argue just to argue.

There isn't a damn thing I can do about it, either. Even if she didn't hate me, Wyatt is my best friend…and my uncle Carter is her uncle, too. We aren't related, at least not by blood, but we might as well be.

I think about what it'd be like if shit like that didn't matter a lot more than I should. I think about her more than I should.

"Why would I have seen her?" I growl at my brother.

"You mean aside from the obvious?" Jax snorts. "You're at Wyatt's, you idiot. Jade mentioned that they hadn't heard from her. I told her that I'd check with you in case she decided to come there."

"Why are you talking to Jade?" That's the other problem. Not that he'll ever admit it, but Jax is in love with Chloe's older sister. It makes shit even more complicated than it was to begin with.

"I wasn't talking to her," he grumbles like he's pissed about it. "Haven was talking to her. I just overheard and told her that I'd check with you. Jesus. Is that a crime?"

"Whatever. I haven't seen Chloe."

"Fine."

"Fine."

I flop down on the couch as silence stretches between us.

Eventually, Jax mutters a curse. "We're going to have to talk about this shit sooner or later, you know."

"So talk."

"You first."

"You're the one who said we needed to talk."

"Yeah, well, I've got nothing to say."

"Then neither do I." I kick my feet up on the ottoman.

"Jesus Christ." A loud bark of laughter echoes down the line. "We're so fucking stupid, you know that, right? Uncle Colton will kill us both."

"Yep," I agree, closing my eyes. He's right on both counts.

We're idiots for thinking we've got a chance with Chloe and Jade, and Colton will absolutely murder me if he finds out what I fantasize about doing to his baby girl.

And when he's done, Uncle Carter and my dad will finish off whatever is left of my miserable corpse.

Chloe would be worth it, though.

We never discuss it, but I know Jax feels the same way about Jade.

"If you hear from her, let me know, will you? Jade is worried."

"Why?" I sit upright, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Not entirely sure," Jax admits. "Jade just told Haven that she quit her job yesterday morning. Said she was supposed to come to dinner with their parents, but she didn't show. She stopped by her place to check on her, but the neighbor said she didn't come home last night."

"Jesus Christ. She quit and then didn't come home?" I ask, my knuckles white around the phone.

"She sent Aunt Cadence a text to say that she was fine and that she'd be back soon, but she needed some time." Jax sighs. "I'm sure it's fine, and she's just processing. You know how Chloe is."

Yeah, I do know how she is. And I know she wouldn't just quit her job and disappear. She's loud, opinionated, and independent as hell. She never knows when to quit or ask for help, but she loves her family more than anything. She wouldn't worry them for no reason.

What the fuck is going on with her? It pisses me off that I don't know.

And it pisses me off even more that I'm not allowed to call her up to ask.

Once upon a time, I could have done that.

But she was twelve then. Now, she's as likely to tell me to go fuck myself with a rusty pole as she is to tell me what's going on with her.