by Shea Balik
But was that going to be enough if Spencer stubbornly refused to see the truth? What if he took a chance to have a relationship with Spencer and the man remained steadfast in his resolve? Was the chance of possibly developing something with Spencer worth chancing that Reese may end up with a broken heart?
“What if we start out as friends?” Reese wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, but he also wasn’t ready to give up. Nor was he willing to put his heart on the line to have it shattered. He blushed as he looked up and down Spencer’s very naked, very handsome body. “Okay, so maybe we did this backwards,” Reese admitted. “But I like you and I would like to see if this could lead somewhere.”
He wanted that more than he’d ever imagined. “That said, I also realize neither of us is ready to jump feet first into a relationship with the issues we have between us. Maybe by just being friends, we could find some sort of middle ground.”
Even as Reese said the words, he knew they were ridiculous. He’d hoped to keep his heart somewhat safe by being friends, but there was no way that was going to happen. He already felt more for Spencer than was good for him if he didn’t want to end up hurt. Becoming closer as friends would only make it that much worse if they discovered there was no middle ground.
He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Because the one thing Reese did know was, he wasn’t about to just throw in the towel. That meant they either became friends, or boyfriends. Both would end up breaking his heart if it didn’t work out.
“What about the presentations we have to give in a couple of weeks?” Spencer asked.
Great. Now there was a timeline on top of everything else.
“We still give them.” He hoped what he had to say wouldn’t push Spencer away. “We both have our opinions. But friends often have differing views about things. That doesn’t mean they can’t get along, right?”
While that was true, Reese also wasn’t stupid enough to believe for one second that this was the same thing. If he didn’t find a way to help Spencer deal with his past, there was no hope for a future between them.
Spencer nodded. “You’re right. I’m willing to try being friends.”
Then the man got up and started getting dressed. Not wanting to be the only one naked, Reese put on sweats and a t-shirt, since he wasn’t planning on going back outside. Hell, after that encounter with whatever it was they saw, he wasn’t sure he’d ever leave his house again.
At the door, Reese smiled at Spencer. “How about we have a drink tomorrow at the Frosted Mug?”
The smile he got in return had his heart soaring. “I’d like that,” Spencer said.
When Reese shut the door after his new friend left, he looked at Sammy, who was standing there looking at him with his tail wagging and what he swore was a grin on his face. “Now, you and I need to come up with a plan to change Spencer’s mind, don’t we boy?”
Sammy let out a yip before coming up and licking Reese’s hand excitedly.
CHAPTER 9
“Is it true?” Axom raced up to Spencer, practically shouting the question across the street, the following day.
Frowning, Spencer asked, “Is what true?”
Axom let out a huff of exasperation. “Did you see Bigfoot?”
Spencer shook his head. Apparently, his warning to Reese went unheeded. He probably should have explained why it was so important not to say anything about what they saw out in those woods, but he hadn’t exactly been doing much thinking once they’d made it safely back to town. Hell, he wasn’t sure his brain even knew how to work after Reese’s lips had touched his.
“Axom, I don’t know what we saw. For all I know it was a bear.” Expect, after living in Alaska for the past eight months, that was highly unlikely. Spencer had seen his fair share of bear, moose, and other large animals to know that whatever had been in those woods hadn’t been anything he’d seen before.
“So, it could have been Bigfoot?” his friend challenged.
“It could have just as easily been the tooth fairy, Axom.” Spencer loved all his friends, he really did, but Axom’s obsession with Bigfoot, aliens, and any other phenomenon in the world tended to be a bit much at times. That was especially true when Axom was excited, like now.
Nodding his head, Axom said, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Of course, he would. But then again, Axom didn’t need confirmation to believe whatever crazy theory he had.
“I can’t wait to go search for him.” Axom grabbed a hold of Spencer’s sleeve and pulled him toward the tavern. “I’ll walk you to your date with Reese and you can tell me all about Bigfoot.”
“It’s not a date,” Spencer said automatically. It was the same words he’d had to tell himself over, and over again all day long whenever he thought about seeing Reese.
“Yeah, right.” Sarcasm was one of Axom’s best weapons and it was razor sharp at the moment. “Because meeting another man at a bar after having sex is what? Just drinks?” Axom shook his head and waved his hands out before him as if he were trying to erase what he’d just said. “Never mind. We can talk about your repressed feelings later. Right now, I need details about Bigfoot.”
Since the last thing Spencer wanted to do was talk about his feelings for Reese, he asked, “What do you want to know?”
Axom pulled out a rolled up map and shoved it in Spencer’s face. “Tell me exactly where you saw him. Where you were. Where he was. What he looked like. The sounds you heard. Oh, and most importantly, did you feel anything before Sammy started growling?”
Spencer had stopped, mainly because he couldn’t see where he was going with the stupid map in his face. Quickly, he pointed to the area where he thought the rock he liked to sit on was at. “There are four large rocks that are about ten feet, at most, from the riverbank. They are all together in a group. I sit on the one that is the tallest, which is just above my waist height.”
Then he pointed to a spot on the other side of the river. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but whatever we saw stood about here. It was somewhat hidden by the trees, but I’d say he was twenty feet from the riverbank.”
“What did he look like?” Axom asked excitedly after marking the two spots and putting the map back in the pocket of his purple jeans. At least he was wearing pants.
Spencer shook his head as they started walking toward the tavern again. “Honestly? I don’t know. I mean, he was tall. His eyes were about ten feet from the ground. But it was hard to judge much of anything else because he was mostly hidden amongst the trees.”
“Was he hairy or no?” Axom fired off as if he were some type of reporter.
“Hairy.” Spencer grimaced. “I think. I mean, whatever he was, he had to be somewhat darker toned or he would have stood out more against the bark of the trees, right?”
Axom was nodding emphatically. “Exactly. See, you are good at this.”
Spencer had always told Axom he would make a terrible Bigfoot chaser because he wasn’t great at noticing details. Like right then, even though he had seen the purple jeans, Spencer honestly couldn’t say what color shirt Axom was wearing without looking at it again.
“You said you saw his eyes. Did you see what color they were?” Axom continued to ask his questions quickly as if trying to get in as many as possible before they reached the tavern, which wasn’t far in the first place.
“Again, dark.” This time Spencer shivered as he thought about staring into those damn eyes. “I would even guess black. It was like staring into a bottomless pit.
“And did you feel anything before he appeared?” Axom asked when they were about ten feet from the door of the Frosted Mug.
The question stumped Spencer. “I’m not sure what you mean.” He hadn’t planned on letting Axom into the bar where he was to meet Reese, but Spencer had to admit, for the first time since meeting Axom, he was kind of curious about this Bigfoot thing as he opened the door and gestured for Axom to go on in.
He still wasn’t sure he believed it was
real, but after yesterday, he definitely had questions.
“There are theories, especially in the Alaskan Triangle, that Bigfoot actually comes from another dimension. If that’s true, it’s possible you might have felt the shift of one of those dimensions opening up.” As they walked in, Axom had gone right up to the side of the bar. When he finished his explanation to Spencer, he batted his eyelashes at Dane. “How’s it going, my tall drink of water?”
Dane rolled his eyes. “You know the rules, Axom. There is no flirting with the owner and if you’re going to stay, you have to order a drink.”
Axom scowled. “That wasn’t flirting. I was just being extra nice to someone who is uber hot.”
A beautiful laugh sounded from the door and Spencer turned to find Reese standing there with his blue eyes dancing with merriment. “Seriously?” Then he shot Dane a look. “I have to agree with Axom.”
Spencer frowned. Sure, they were only friends, but that didn’t mean he wanted Reese calling another man hot in front of him.
“That definitely wasn’t flirting,” Reese said. “Or at least, not good flirting.”
Spencer might have laughed a bit harder than was warranted, but he’d been so damned relieved that Reese hadn’t been talking about how hot Dane was. Sure, the man was gorgeous. He was fairly sure even straight men would go home with Dane, but he really hadn’t wanted to hear Reese commenting on his looks.
“Hey.” Axom stuck his tongue out at Reese, which really wasn’t a good look on a twenty-six-year-old man with bulging muscles and a beard. Then again, he was certain no one actually looked good sticking out their tongue like that. “I’ll have you know that was a good line.”
Then, without missing a beat, Axom came over to Reese, who was now standing next to Spencer. “By the way, I was just asking Spencer if he felt anything odd before seeing Bigfoot.”
Reese glanced over at Spencer in surprise. “I thought you said we weren’t supposed to say anything?”
“I did,” Spencer told him, a bit confused by the question.
“Then why did you tell him?” Reese had his hands on his hips as if exasperated by Spencer.
“I didn’t.” Had he entered one of those other dimensions Axom had been talking about? “You did.”
“No, I didn’t,” Reese insisted, which made absolutely no sense. They were the only two people who knew. It had to be Reese who had told Axom.
Right?
“Well, I didn’t either.” Then again, if he had entered one of those other dimensions, maybe his other self had. Wait. Was that even how they worked? He wasn’t sure, but as he and Reese stood there staring at each other as if they could make the other admit wrongdoing, it suddenly dawned on them there was one person who could clear it up.
As one, they turned on Axom.
The big man took a step back and put his hands up to hold them in place. Since they weren’t advancing, it wasn’t necessary, but then again, a lot of what Axom did wasn’t needed. “Oh no,” Axom said as he edged toward the bar, as if hoping Dane, who was standing there watching them with amusement but clearly not getting involved, would save him. “I know my rights and I don’t have to reveal my sources.”
“What?” Spencer should be used to Axom’s eccentricities, but he wasn’t. More than half the time he didn’t understand anything the man said. “You do know you’re not a reporter, right?”
Axom’s hazel eyes widened with surprise. “So?”
“So, that law doesn’t apply,” Reese said. “Although, even if you were, we aren’t the law, we’re your friends, which means we’d still expect you to tell us how you found out.”
“Stop, just stop,” Axom cried out. “I give up. God, you two are relentless.”
Spencer glanced over at Reese, who rolled his eyes at Axom’s dramatics. No way was he going to mention that they’d hardly said anything when Axom was willing to tell them how he’d discovered what happened the day before.
“It’s not my fault,” Axom told them. His lip came out in a pout. “Spencer’s the one who talks in his sleep. When I went to bed last night, I heard him mention a monster in the woods. Curious, I went into his room. I mean, who wouldn’t, right?”
Dane snorted, grabbed a towel, and went to work polishing a rack of glasses before putting them away.
But Spencer barely noticed because his stomach had dropped at Axom’s announcement. “You went into my room and listened to me talk in my sleep?” No way was that what Axom had said. No one would invade a friend’s privacy like that.
But as Axom’s face went from pale, to pink, to bright red, Spencer knew the truth and he felt sick to his stomach.
“Hey guys. I thought I’d just come in for a…” Kip stopped talking as he saw their faces. “What’s wrong? Did Spencer and Reese already break up? Man, I miss everything.”
Spencer whirled on Kip. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Axom waved his arms as if trying to stop Kip from saying anything else. “Nothing. He didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just, you two have been arguing about this pet thing at the hotel and he probably figured you two had just had a fight.” Then Axom looked right at Kip and said, “Right, Kip?”
Kip took a step back toward the door. “Actually, I forgot. I’m supposed to make dinner tonight, so I better get back home.”
“Cass is making dinner tonight,” Spencer said with a tone that had Kip stopping in his tracks. “Did you know I talked in my sleep?”
Axom was shaking his head as hard as he could, which Spencer could easily see from the corner of his eye. The man was about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
“Were you listening to me last night, too?” Spencer accused.
“No,” Kip said instantly. “Axom told me about it this morning.” Then he winced as if realizing what he’d just said. “I mean… I gotta go.” Then he raced back out the door without saying another word.
Turning back to Axom, Spencer glared at the man he’d thought was a friend. “How often do you listen to me talk in my sleep?” He was completely mortified that anyone would do that.
Axom hung his head. “At first, most nights, but in fairness, we shared a room in college.”
He hated that anyone would listen to something he said in his sleep, but Spencer had to admit, in college at least, it wasn’t as if Axom had much choice.
“And after?” Reese demanded, sounding just as horrified as Spencer felt.
“Well, only when I wanted to know something.” Those hazel eyes pleaded with him to understand. “You often respond to questions, so sometimes me and the guys would ask details about your dates, or, you know, other stuff.” Axom had the decency to wince at how bad that sounded, but Spencer wasn’t sure he cared.
He felt… well, violated.
Unable to even look at anyone, he said, “I gotta go.” Then he practically ran out the door and didn’t stop until he was at the one place he’d sworn to himself just yesterday that he’d never return. The river.
CHAPTER 10
Reese glared at Axom after they’d watched Spencer run from the tavern as if he were being chased. It killed him to watch the pain that had flitted across Spencer’s face as he realized, first, that his ‘so called’ friends had betrayed him. But it was when Spencer had glanced at Reese with fear and shame that had really affected Reese.
It was like being punched by a prize fighter. Not something Reese wanted to feel and he was more than willing to take it out on the people who were supposed to have Spencer’s back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked Axom. “Spencer is supposed to be your friend.”
“He is,” Axom declared loudly. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. He wasn’t supposed to know.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have said anything about Bigfoot,” Dane suggested as he started to wipe down the bar top. “By questioning him about it he was either going to find out what you were doing, or he would have thought Reese had told when he told him not to. I’m thinking neither of those opt
ions were good.”
Axom’s face fell and his whole body appeared to cave inwards, which for someone who was six-foot-five – maybe?- that was saying something. “I’m sorry,” he whined. “I would never intentionally hurt Spencer.”
When a tear tumbled down his cheek, Reese knew it was time for him to leave. Maybe Axom really did regret what he’d done, but Reese just didn’t have it in him to forgive Axom. Listening in when someone was talking in their sleep was an infringement of trust that Reese wasn’t sure could ever be repaired.
That more than one of Spencer’s friends had done it, was… well, it was criminal. Or it should have been. If he’d been on jury for a case like that, Reese would have easily convicted everyone who participated.
Pushing open the door, he went outside but there was no Spencer anywhere. If he had to guess, the man went to his spot by the river. It worried him that Spencer would go there after what had happened the day before, but Reese also couldn’t blame the man. It’s what Reese would have done if he felt the need to lick his wounds, so to speak.
Reese considered going to find him, but he wasn’t done telling Spencer’s friends what he thought of them. Heading home, he opened the door to find his best friend waiting for him at the door, with his tail wagging and a cheesy grin.
Dropping down to his knees he hugged Sammy tight. “You would never betray me, would you, boy?”
Sammy rubbed his head against Reese’s then pulled back and licked his cheek. With a happy yip, he pushed back into the hug.
Peace flowed through Reese knowing he could always count on Sammy. If only Spencer could feel that same loyalty.
“I need you to do me a favor,” he told Sammy as he leaned back on his heels and looked into those patient brown eyes. “Spencer is hurting right now. He really could use a friend. Would you mind finding him and doing for him what you have always done for me?”
He received another lick, then Sammy rushed past him and headed into the forest in the direction of the river. Relieved that Spencer would have someone to talk to, Reese locked the door as he headed to the house Spencer and his friends shared.