Chapter Six
Chapter
Six
Nick heard Aiden chuckle behind him,
but he refused to give him the satisfaction of turning to scowl at
him. They had arranged to meet Sam at the bar in town at half past
seven, and Nick had been so keen on getting there, that he had been
dressed and ready to go by half past six. Much to Aiden’s ever
increasing amusement.
“You do realize that you
are practically sprinting to the door,” Aiden said dryly, and Nick
stopped to turn back toward him, and refused to acknowledge the
fact that he had to wait a few moments before Aiden caught up with
him.
“It would be undignified
to sprint,” Nick argued. “I got to the door faster because I am
taller than you and my legs are longer.”
Aiden smiled, and Nick felt his heart
melt a little. “I’m just as anxious to talk with Sam and see what
he’s been thinking about as you are. But, babe, if we charge in
there with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop, I don’t
think our boy will react kindly to it.”
Nick took a deep breath and nodded.
“That’s what happened eighteen months ago, isn’t it? I came on too
strong, and drove him away.”
Aiden shook his head and stepped a
little closer to him. “No, Sam was not in the right place for the
conversation I am hoping we can have soon. Did you come on strong?
Yeah, but that’s who you are. If we are going to have any hope at
all that Sam opens himself up to the idea of who we would be
together, then he needs to see the real you and the real
me.”
Nick nodded. Aiden was so damn smart.
It was one of the things Nick had been attracted to when they first
met. Aiden moved forward and walked up the steps to the bar in from
of him, and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face,
as Nick’s gaze locked to Aiden’s ass. It wasn’t just his brain that
Nick had fallen in love with, that’s for sure.
“You’re starin’ at my ass,
aren’t you?” Aiden said dryly, and Nick tore his gaze from his
lover’s phenomenal ass and caught Aiden’s eye as he looked over his
shoulder.
Nick knew the grin on his face was
wickeder than anything else. “Hell yeah, I am! I’m not sure if
you’ve ever taken notice of your own ass when you walk because
physically it would be pretty damn hard, but I have to tell you, it
is a sight to behold.”
Aiden winked and held the bar door
open for Nick to step through. “Nope, but I can appreciate the
reasons for it.”
Nick laughed as he strode to the bar,
and order them both a beer from the bar’s owner, a large older man
called Blake. He turned and leaned back, letting his gaze sweep
through the room. Aiden had taken one of the booths at the side of
the room, and there was a mix of small groups of people in the bar.
His eye immediately went to the small but loud group of young
people playing pool at the back of the room. There were five men
and three women, and from the looks of their flushed cheeks, they
had been in the bar for a while.
“Here you go, Sheriff,”
Blake said as he placed the longnecks in front of him.
“How long has that group
playing pool been in for, Blake?” Nick asked when he turned to hand
over the cash and take the drinks.
“Couple of hours,” Blake
said as he wiped the bar down. “They’ve been good, though, keeping
to themselves and just having a good time. I told the blonde girl
that the last round they had would be their last. They’re all
staying at the motel behind the bar, so they won’t be driving
anywhere.”
Nick nodded, thanked Blake and headed
for his table. It made his job easier when the owners of
establishments like this one were responsible hosts and truly cared
for the patrons who ventured in for a drink.
Sliding into the booth, he passed
Aiden his beer and checked his watch. It was almost seven-thirty.
“I missed you like this.” Aiden’s amused voice had Nick looking
up.
“Like what?”
“Nervous,” Aiden replied,
and Nick felt a warmth rise in his neck and knew he was blushing.
“God, you are even blushing. You were like this with me at the
beginning, too.”
Nick scoffed and took a large slug of
his beer. “And could you blame me? You were out of my league, and I
knew it.”
“Hardly,” Aiden said with
a shake of his head. “I might have outranked you, but I was never
out of your league.”
“It wasn’t your rank that
made me nervous, babe,” Nick said as he leaned forward. “You are
hotter than hot, and I always thought you’d realized you could do
better than me. Add to that your nature and your personality and
you pack a pretty powerful punch.”
Aiden held Nick’s gaze for a moment
then nodded. “I find it funny that I was thinking the exact same
thing. Here you were, this powerful, forceful man, who wore
authority like a goddamn jacket. That dominance and confidence that
you exude is a real turn-on for me.”
Nick sat back and grinned. “Yeah, I
kinda noticed how turned on you got when I ordered people around. I
knew that you’d love it in the bedroom, too. And how right I
was.”
The two of the laughed, then became
aware that they were no longer alone almost at the exact same
moment. Nick turned to the man who stood beside their table holding
a beer in his hand, and a carefully blank expression.
“Hey, it’s good to see
you,” Aiden said first and slid further into his side of the booth.
“Have a seat.”
Sam hesitated for a moment, and Nick
shot a quick glance to Aiden. He had no idea what the hell was
going through the man’s head, but Sam seemed like he regretted
having turned up. Sam’s face cleared to a friendly expression, a
smile on his handsome face, but it didn’t reach his brown
eyes.
“Good to see you, too.”
Even Sam’s tone sounded off to Nick, and his frown deepened. “The
rest of the team are just coming in, and Dev wants to catch up on
some business stuff, so I thought I’d come over and say hey. Sorry,
I can’t join you for that drink, but maybe some other
time.”
Nick caught Aiden’s look of confusion
and knew that his lover was just as confused as he was on how to
continue. So, Nick knew that if they were going to get to the
bottom of Sam’s sudden change of heart, it would be up to him. He
should probably go softly, try to coerce Sam into taking a seat and
talking about things calmly, but that just wasn’t him.
“Sam, sit down in the
booth.” Nick’s voice automatically dropped to the tone he employed
when he was delivering his men’s orders. Sam’s eyes widened a
little, but Nick noticed that his relaxed posture, as fake as it
obviously was, because the man was anything but, seemed to snap
taller as if he were standing at attention. “Now.”
Sam slid into the booth immediately
and seemed both shocked to find himself sitting there and pissed
off at himself for complying. “I really should—”
Nick figured Sam was about to launch
into a reason why he should leave and cut him off before he could
do it. “Unless the end of that sentence is ‘tell you both what was
just going through my head’, then we don’t want to hear it.” Nick
locked his gaze to Sam’s and held it.
Aiden chuckled, drawing his and Sam’s
attention. “Christ, are you two gonna just stare at each other,
waiting for the other to blink? Let me tell you something you might
have suspected about the good sheriff here, Sam. He is stubborn as
hell and won’t ever back down. Especially when it is in regards to
someone he wants.”
Nick saw Sam shoot him a quick glance
as if to see how he would react to Aiden saying Sam was someone
that Nick wanted, but his expression remained clear. Aiden spoke
the truth, and as soon as Sam came to realize that, the
better.
Sam sat back in the chair, his eyes
narrowing. “You know, I’m a Marine rifleman. I can be pretty damn
stubborn myself.”
Nick grinned. “Hell, I know that.
Aiden and I witnessed that in Afghanistan, but this is different. I
want you enough to fight to get you to tell me what happened
between the phone call this afternoon, and you standing by this
booth tonight. And I reckon you want me and Aiden enough to put
aside that stubborn streak of yours and tell us. The attraction we
had for each other was immediate and off the charts. The night the
three of us got together was pretty fucking powerful, too. Aiden
and I want the chance to see if the three of us can have that with
you on a more permanent basis, and I reckon that phone call this
afternoon, and the fact that you’re sitting with us now, means that
you do, too.”
Nick waited, and hoped like hell he
was right.
****
Hearing Nick talk about the night the
three of them had been together, drove Sam’s mind straight back
into that memory.
It was six days after the
attack on the base, and things were still a little tense. Sam had
been working long shifts, walking the perimeter of the base as well
as routine checks in the villages near them. Because of the
increased possibility of IEDs on the roads, they had gone with an
EOD. It seemed to Sam that God had been feeling more than a little
unfavorably toward him because Aiden was the man assigned to his
team every damn shift.
Nick even managed to
somehow end up coming with them on occasion, and the three of them
had worked seamlessly together, clearing the roads, keeping the
teams safe, and removing each and every threat they encountered.
Despite working with the two of them being as easy as it was
working with any of his Bravo team, Sam had become increasingly
tense. It didn’t affect his actions or the role he had to do
because he wouldn’t let it, but having the two of them in his face
time and time again was wearing his patience thin.
At the end of the sixth
day, he’d had enough. He’d marched over the Aiden’s quarters,
knowing that the two of them would be there together to demand that
they ask to be reassigned to another team. He only had one more day
on this base, and he wanted it to be free of the tension that had
been building within him over the past few days. He knew he was
being ridiculous, but he didn’t give a fuck. It just seemed so damn