Chapter Eleven #2
I hugged him back, noting how good it felt to hold his smaller body against mine. He looked up at me and for just a second, his gaze dropped to my mouth, holding it just long enough to make me wonder where he wanted this to go. The spell was broken as he was the one to let go, stepping back.
“I’m so excited to get out of the house.” He flicked a glance over to the couch and Marvin. “That book is pretty boring.”
I chuckled, thankful for the change of topic as he headed down the hallway to the bedroom. I sat on the sofa next to Marvin, stroking his back and loving the feel of his silky hair. He opened big, green eyes and glanced up at me as he started to purr. “You like our houseguest, huh?”
He rolled over, exposing his white belly.
I scratched it as he stretched his front paws over his head, contorting his round body so I could get full access to his fat underbelly.
I had no idea how much Marvin weighed, but I hadn’t nicknamed him Garfield for nothing.
He was a big tomcat, so large that the shelter in Houston had a hard time getting him adopted.
My vet told me he was at least a year old when I’d taken him for his first check-up after bringing him home.
He’d settled into our new digs in California nicely.
I glanced up when I heard Joshua coming back into the room. He was wearing a Laker’s basketball jersey and shorts. I glanced at the number eight on his chest and grinned.
“Kobe Bryant fan, huh?”
He glanced down and grabbed the hem of the jersey, holding it out on both sides to look at it. “Hell, yeah, I am.”
“You were just a kid when he retired ten years ago,” I said, standing.
“Yeah, but I’m a native Angelino, man. My grandfather was a rabid sports fan. I was raised on the Angels, the Dodgers, and the Lakers.” He grinned. “Sitting in the house with him to catch a game on TV are some of my best childhood memories.”
I nodded. It was a childhood love my dad and I had shared before he’d discovered I was gay. I forced the memories of that day away, returning to the present. “For me, it was the Oakland A’s.”
“You’re from the Bay Area?”
I nodded. “I was born and raised in Silicon Valley.”
He whistled. “Nice area to be from.”
Shit. I hadn’t expected to get into personal territory with him.
That wasn’t how this assignment was supposed to go.
The captain was the only person who knew the whole story and I sure as hell didn’t want to elaborate about my past or tell him about my shitty family.
If I’d told Joshua my father made millions by investing in tech early on, he’d only ask why I’d joined the military and then I’d have to open up.
I wasn’t ready to open that lockbox, so I ignored his comment.
“Anyway…just gonna go change,” I muttered, hooking a thumb at the hallway.
“Sure.” He turned and walked into the kitchen as I made my escape.
In the bedroom, I was safe, away from his knowing gaze.
I stripped out of my T-shirt, glimpsing the brand on my left shoulder in the bathroom mirror.
It was reflected in the mirrored closet door behind me.
I cringed, promising myself to replace those doors so I wouldn’t constantly be reminded of what had been done to me at the lowest point in my life.
I quickly pulled on a sleeveless tee which would hide the mark on my shoulder blade, cursing the bastard who’d taken away my dignity for the thousandth time.
After pulling on shorts and running shoes, I grabbed a shaving kit big enough to store my gun, checked my appearance in the mirror one last time, and headed back to the living room.
Joshua was sitting on the couch petting Marvin who was soaking up the attention.
Two sweating bottles of Gatorade sat on the coffee table coasters and the minute I walked into the room, Joshua smiled.
He stood up, grabbed the bottles, and joined me at the front door, holding a backpack.
“I packed a couple of towels for us. I hope you don’t mind that I took some Gatorade for us.” At my nod, he unzipped the backpack and shoved the bottles inside.
I smiled at him. “Thank you.” His gaze dropped to the shaving kit I was holding. I held it up. “I have to bring my weapon,” I explained, wishing I had enough space to hide a fully loaded TEC-9. “I don’t expect problems, but it never hurts to be cautious.”
His brows drew together. “Oh…yeah, well that makes sense.”
“Let’s go.” I picked up my gym bag—always at the ready near my front door—and locked up the house.
I led him to the courtyard, keeping a close eye on our surroundings, just to make sure no one was lurking in the shadows near the buildings that circled the garden.
A few of my neighbors were working in the communal vegetable patch.
I was a little surprised because at this time of day, the sun was hot.
Most everyone did their gardening in the morning before it got too uncomfortable. It was nearly two in the afternoon.
I led Joshua around the building to a back parking lot, walking toward my Jeep which sat in a back corner, completely covered with a white car cover.
I relied on my senses, waiting for the sensation of eyes on us, and felt better when I didn’t perceive anything out of the ordinary.
Thank God for Marine Corps training and experience out in the field.
“I completely forgot that your team drove us here,” he remarked as I dropped my bag and handed him the shaving kit before pulling the cover off my vehicle. He whistled as I revealed the shiny, white paint with gold accents.
“My God…this is your car?”
I wadded up the car cover and threw it in the back with my bag as he held out the shaving kit. I took it as he walked around the front to get a good look at the hood. The golden eagle painted on top was my pride and joy.
“What year is this?” he asked, stroking a hand over the painted bird.
I grinned. “1979. It’s a limited Jeep Golden Eagle edition.”
He glanced up and grinned at me, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it. Where’d you find something like this?”
“I’ll tell you all about it once we get going,” I said. “The ragtop won’t provide any protection from bullets, but I’ll be a hell of a lot more confident when your blond head isn’t attracting eyeballs.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, opening the door and diving inside. I slid into the driver’s seat and started the Jeep with a roar, using the manual stick to back up out of the space. As soon as we were out on the open road, I felt better. “This really is a beautiful car,” he remarked.
“Thanks. I picked it up in New Orleans at a police auction if you believe that.” I could hear the pride and happiness in my voice as I talked about the second most important thing in my life. The car had earned second place status after I adopted Marvin.
“A police auction? I’ve heard about those but didn’t think you could find anything this beautiful at them,” he replied.
I chuckled. “Trust me, it looked nothing like this when I bought it.”
“Tell me what happened.” He sounded relaxed.
I checked the rearview mirror as I drove down Santa Monica making sure no one was following. “It had been owned by a criminal who’d made the mistake of taking it on a police chase. When he ran over police spike strips, his tires blew, and he ran right into a telephone pole.”
“No shit!”
I dragged my gaze away from the road for a few seconds to look at him.
His eyes were wide with surprise. I returned my attention to the road and nodded.
“After they pulled the perpetrator out of the vehicle, the parish police decided to tow the car since it was pretty fucked up. It sat in their lot for a long time before going to auction after the guy was convicted of robbing several convenience stores. I picked it up for a little more than five grand and then went about restoring it.”
“Wow,” he said, running a hand over the dashboard. “It looks brand new. You did all this work yourself?”
I spotted the driveway to our destination up ahead.
“I had a couple of buddies who helped.” I chuckled.
“Okay…actually, they did most of the work while I ran around looking for parts since I’d never so much as changed a tire in my life.
” I wasn’t about to admit to having staff who did all that for the virtual fleet of cars my fucked-up father owned.
He chuckled as I realized just how easy it was to talk to him.
It felt natural. I pushed those dangerous thoughts aside as I slowed down and pulled into the parking lot.
I checked our surroundings again as I waited for a guy to saunter across the parking lot in front of us, holding a gym bag in one hand while he scrolled on his phone with the other.
I pulled into an empty space and checked the rear and side view mirrors again before grabbing the gym bag and shaving kit to get out.
He followed suit, meeting me on the other side of the car, paying little attention as I eyeballed the parking lot and the insides of parked cars just to make sure no one was lying in wait. I was a little paranoid but at the same time, I felt like the caution was warranted.
As I walked into the gym, I ran another check.
There were women on the treadmills, stair climber, and five guys at the back, lifting weights.
A guy on the abductor machine carried on an animated conversation with someone, and a trainer was working with a woman.
Two people sat behind the square kiosk talking to each other and both stood up when we approached.
The guy was young with a familiar face. He flashed me a big smile, recognizing me.
“Hey, Nash. Nice to see you during the day,” he said, glancing at Joshua as I punched my phone number into the keypad.
“Day off,” I muttered, glancing at his nametag. “Todd, I’m gonna need a guest pass for my friend.”
He smiled at Joshua. “Sure. Name?” he asked and tapped something into his terminal.
“Joshua.”
“Okay.” Todd issued a guest pass and handed it to him as I glanced around again. When I returned my gaze to Todd, he sent me a friendly smile. “Have a good workout.”
“Thank you.” I looked over at Joshua. “Where do you want to start?”
He smiled at me, lifting his backpack. “Lockers?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” I headed to the back of the room, keeping an eye on everyone and entered the locker room first. I checked the bathroom and shower stalls.
Satisfied we were alone, I walked to an open locker and held the door for him.
We shoved our bags inside and he shut the door before putting a lock on it.
I accepted a towel and a drink from him.
“Let’s go,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to this.”
He seemed almost relaxed as I nodded and draped the towel over the shaving kit with my weapon inside. We were walking out as one of the guys who’d been working legs walked in. The minute I got a look at his face, I recognized him. He smiled brightly.
“Nash?” He walked right up into my personal space and lifted his chin, batting long eyelashes at me.
“I thought that was you!” A second later, he threw his arms around me.
I felt my entire body stiffen as Joshua went still beside me.
I wrapped one arm around the young man, looking helplessly at Joshua over his head.
To my great annoyance, he seemed to be trying to hold back a smile as though thoroughly enjoying the exchange.
The twink clung to me way too long, even after I dropped my arm.
I was relieved when he stepped back. “Where’ve you been? You never called.”
Because I can’t remember your name. I stared down into his hopeful face, noting the pouty lower lip and petulant expression on the elfin features as I struggled to remember his name.
I had no fucking idea who he was, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary for me.
I never slept with the same guy twice, but I was now certain, I’d had him under me at some point in time. He was just one more forgettable guy.
“Sorry,” I muttered, pushing by him.
He grabbed my forearm.
“Hey, wait a minute. I’m talking to you.” The anger wasn’t a surprise to me. I knew I was an asshole when it came to guys who wanted a repeat performance. It happened in clubs all the time and as my wingman, Mickey was always quick to point it out to me. Damn him.
I stopped and looked at the man, sliding my arm out of his grip. “Just came here for a workout. See you later,” I said, trying my best not to sound like a dick as I gave him the brushoff.
“Oh, sure,” he insisted. “I bet you don’t even remember me. I was probably just another nameless lay…you fucker!”
He was…but it was kind of an inconvenient time to point that out. “Actually—” I shook my head. “Never mind. I’m sorry. See you later.” I started moving again when his buddy rounded the corner and started walking over.
“Josh?”
I felt like someone just dumped a bucket of ice over my head as I looked over at Joshua. There was a confused look on his face and as he opened his mouth to say something, the twink standing in front of me, replied, “Yeah?”
I spun around and looked at them both. “Josh?”
The twink sneered at me, putting both hands on his hips. “I knew you couldn’t remember my name. It’s Josh, asshole.”
I felt all the tension in my body bleed away as I slowly nodded.
“Sorry,” I repeated for the third time. “Anyway, we’ve got to go.
” I reached over and grabbed Joshua’s arm, dragging him out of the bathroom as the twink behind me muttered something about what a whore I was.
I felt my face heat as Joshua remained silent, walking beside me.
When we got back out into the large space, I heard him snort.
“Awkward much?”
When I turned to glare at him, his gray eyes were dancing with mirth.
“Shut up,” I said, unable to stop my own smile.