by Macy Blake
Sol sat down on the ottoman and balanced his plate in his lap. He let out a breath and looked out the window.
Cody took a bite of chicken and smiled. He loved teriyaki. “Thanks, Sol.”
Sol turned to him and let out another long breath. “You’re welcome, Cody.”
They ate, each of them looking out the window and letting the beauty wash over them. When he was finished, Sol took the plates to the kitchen. Cody forced himself to crawl out of the chair, even if he really didn’t want to. He grabbed the towel Sol had gotten out and began to dry the dishes as Sol washed them.
“You don’t have—”
“Shut up, Sol.”
Sol looked at him for a moment, clearly surprised that Cody had argued.
“Yeah, okay.”
Sol handed him the dishes, and Cody got them dried and stacked up neatly. Sol put them away while Cody went and shut the opened doors and windows. Cody waited by the door while Sol locked up and put the key back beneath the swing. They climbed in the Jeep and when Sol started the engine, Cody turned to look at him.
“I know you didn’t want me to come, but I’m glad I did. Your place is perfect, Sol.”
Sol took his hand from the gear shift and put it on Cody’s leg. He didn’t look his way, though. He kept his eyes on the cabin. “I never know what to say to you. But I’m glad you came, too.”
He moved his hand and turned the Jeep around. Cody leaned against the window and watched the trees go by. He didn’t know what had changed, but the wall had begun to crumble. Sol wasn’t as intimidating as he had been only days before. He was still hot as the sun, or maybe even hotter now that Cody had sneaked a peek at what he was like behind the scowls and frowns. And Sol was trying. Cody wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying for, but he could feel the energy between them changing…almost as if…He caught a glimpse of his own wide smile in his reflection, and wondered what anyone would say if they saw it. But it was for him to know, wasn’t it? The drive back passed too quickly, and before Cody realized it, they were pulling into the parking lot of Hair of the Dog. The very, very packed parking lot.
“What’s going on?” Cody asked.
“Cosmo,” Sol growled in reply.
Sol marched for the door, and Cody ran behind him. Shaq was behind the bar, looking frenzied and desperate. Cody hurried back and began grabbing orders. Drew came over a few minutes later with one of the serving trays in his hand.
“Don’t ever leave again,” Drew said with a laugh.
“No kidding. Is someone having a party or something?”
Shaq made a grumbling noise, and Drew grinned at him before turning to Cody.
“Or something. Just a bunch of old friends of Shaq’s who dropped by to hang out for the night. Not a big deal, is it, honey?”
Shaq tossed back a shot of whiskey and glared at his boyfriend. Drew waggled his eyebrows at him in reply. “Cody, can you make me a fuzzy navel? I was telling one of the guys about it, and he wants to try one. I didn’t dare ask Shaq to try.”
“Fuzzy navel, my ass,” Shaq huffed.
“Sure,” Cody replied. He was trying really hard not to laugh. Drew had a way of getting Shaq out of his grumpy, gloomy moods, and it was fun to watch.
“Hey.” Drew lowered his voice and leaned in. “Everything go okay with your mission?”
Cody nodded. “Everything’s taken care of.”
“And… you’re okay, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Just making sure,” Drew said.
Cody put the drink on his tray and smiled. “It’s for Walt and Shelly.”
And if it happened to spark something between him and Sol, well that was for him to know as well.
Drew nodded and walked away. The next few hours passed in a blur of beer and booze. Cody finally took a break and caught a glimpse of Sol in his usual spot. His face looked a bit pinched, and Cody wondered why the hell he was sitting on a stool with messed up ribs. Cody snuck into the kitchen, only getting a glare from Walt and not yelled at, so he considered it a win. He filled a bag with ice and wrapped one of the bar towels around it.
“You eat?” Walt snarled before he could escape.
“Yeah.”
Walt glared.
“I ate! Sol made me chicken.”
The glare faded. “Well, okay then. You want something else?”
“No, I’m good. But maybe before I go home? We’re so busy I don’t think I’m going to get to take a break.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Walt said. “Get out of my kitchen.”
“I’m going.”
Cody carried the bag of ice to Solomon’s spot.
“Shirt up,” he ordered.
“What?”
“Shirt. Up.” Cody repeated the order with an added glare.
Sol lifted his shirt, and Cody pressed the towel-covered bag to his ribs. Sol made a low hissing sound, but leaned against the wall a little more. “You need to get off this stool. Lay down or something.”
“I’m—”
“Fine. Yeah, I know. Ice them, tough guy.”
“Okay.”
Cody nodded and gathered up some empties from the table next to Sol. Izzy was off for the night and Shelly was running around trying to keep up with orders. Even with Drew pitching in to help, they were still slammed.
“Cody?”
Cody turned and found Sol giving him the tiniest smile. “Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Cody got back to work at the bar before Shaq got too far behind again. Something niggled as his mind, though, and he glanced toward Sol. And then it hit him. A tiny black and white strip of elastic showed above the edge of Sol’s jeans.
It couldn’t be. It was a coincidence for sure.
Cody made his next few drinks and cashed out a couple customers before pulling out his phone. He made sure no one could see him as he thumbed through the pictures HellBent had sent him. And there it was. The very first one. With the same black and white elastic band on his boxers.
“Cody?”
Shaq frowned at him so he put his phone away.
“Sorry. Needed to check something.”
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
Shaq didn’t seem convinced.
“Hey, can you make a tray of snakebites for table six?”
Shaq glanced that direction and made another face. They were a group of younger guys who came in a lot and seemed to like Shaq quite a bit. It was so funny. Shaq was nearly twice their size and always scowled at them like they were annoying gnats, but they ate up his attention. The grumpier he got, the happier they were. So weird. Of course, Shaq seemed to have a weird effect on most people.
“Why?”
Cody tried not to laugh at the scowl Shaq had now turned his way. “Because I need to make screaming orgasms for table two.”
Shaq shivered. “Why?” His revulsion with the drink choice was clear. Why he’d decided to run a bar when he only wanted to serve shots and beer was beyond Cody.
“Because that’s what they ordered. I can do the shots if you don’t want to.”
“I got it. I didn’t know they ordered them, though.”
“Oh, they didn’t. But they always do after they get their nachos, and Shelly just put the nachos on their table so…” Cody shrugged.
About that time, one of the guys at six waved Shelly over. Shaq pulled out a stack of shot glasses and lined them up next to where Cody was mixing the drinks for the other table.
“You sure you’re okay?” Shaq asked.
Cody tried to school his expression, unsure of what he was giving away. He hadn’t even had a second to process and his heart was still racing a little while he thought the impossible might be true. He didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it. He did want to know the truth, though.
“I’m okay. You mind if I take a quick break?”
“Go ahead,” Shaq said.
Cody finished up the drinks he was making and slipp
ed into the kitchen. Walt glared but didn’t yell. He seemed to realize Cody needed a minute. Cody positioned himself at the window where he could look out and see the back of the bar. He took out his phone and sucked in a breath. It was probably a coincidence. That’s all. Lots of guys had skin the same color and wore the same boxers. No way would Sol have done that to him. He’d said earlier he’d never lie to Cody, and if hooking up with him wasn’t a lie….
He needed to know.
He put his phone on silent and chewed his lip nervously.
He opened Bear4Me and sent a message.
GoldiLad: Thinking of you.
He waited. A moment later, Sol reached for his phone. He glanced around the bar before opening it. He smiled—a barely there smile but it was a smile—and tapped his phone’s screen. He put it away a second later, and it didn’t escape Cody’s notice that Sol glanced to the bar and frowned when he realized Cody wasn’t there.
Cody sank into the shadows of the kitchen and opened his phone.
HellBent: I have plans for you later.
Cody’s breath caught. It wasn’t a coincidence. It was Sol. It had to be.
“Cody?”
Walt had somehow managed to get right in front of him without Cody noticing. He blinked up at him and fought to keep his expression bland. It did nothing to fool Walt, but he tried. He pasted on the fakest smile he’d ever faked. “Sorry. Just saw something that upset me. I’ll be okay in a minute.”
“I can get Shaq—”
“I’m fine, Walt. There’s nothing Shaq can do. We’re too busy, anyway. Don’t worry about me. I’m going to get back to work.”
He grabbed a case of the fancy beers he’d talked the cute twink guys into trying and went back to the bar. Shaq glanced at him, did a double-take, and put down the half-full mug he’d been filling. “What’s wrong?”
He really needed to work on his fake smile. He obviously had lost his touch. Part of being a great bartender involved stuffing your own dramas down so you could successfully deal with others. No one wanted a morose bartender. They were depressed enough on their own. Hair of the Dog’s customers were a little different from the other bars where Cody had worked, but he’d still kept his personal life separate.
At least he thought he had. He snuck a quick peek at Sol and found him scowling Cody’s way. He ignored the look and got to work. Nothing to see here. Nothing at all. No need to think about the fact that he’d seen Sol’s dick. That he’d shown Sol his own. That he’d talked to HellBent like there might be something there, only to find out he’d been playing some sort of game with Cody.
The thought stopped him in his tracks. He grabbed the tequila bottle and poured himself a shot. After tossing it back, he shivered as the booze hit his stomach. Drew came over, a concerned frown on his face. Cody plastered his fake-smile on. “I’m fine. Just let me work.”
Drew didn’t seem convinced, but the bar was too busy for him to settle down at a stool and twist Cody’s arm to get him to talk. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I know.”
Solomon
Sol had plans for Cody. Big plans. And he couldn’t wait to get started. It had taken forever to get the herd of fauns out of the bar, and even longer to get everything cleaned up and shut down for the night. Sol got home a couple of hours later than he normally did and wanted nothing more than to message Cody and see what kind of fun they could have. He’d felt the itch again after showing Cody his cabin. The itch that made what he was doing not so horrible. The connection was there in real life as well as online. He wanted to find a way to merge what he was doing with Cody online to the connection he’d felt earlier. To take him back to the cabin, but this time with Cody knowing who was on the other end of the app. He wanted to make the spark he’d felt earlier burn.
But first, he needed to make sure Cody was okay, and Sol hadn’t quite figured out how to do that over the app. Cody had been acting off for the latter part of the night, but the bar had been so busy Sol hadn’t been able to talk to him. Cody had even sent Drew away, declining to talk over whatever was bothering him. Sol wondered what had happened, and if Cody would even be up for talking to him tonight. He was half-inclined to take a picture that showed his face, to go ahead and reveal the truth while the spark between them was still growing strong, both online and in person. It made sense, at least in his head. He wondered how to go about it and where he should be in case Cody didn’t react well. He needed to be close to Cody’s apartment so he could at least explain. But that would be terrible if it went badly and then he was there like some crazy stalker. But if it didn’t go badly, and Cody was relieved to know, things could heat up between them in person.
Of course, that was when his phone rang and his plans for Cody were put aside. He grabbed it and answered quickly when he noticed the caller ID. Izzy never called him unless something was wrong.
“Iz?”
“Sol.” Izzy’s whispered word was filled with fear. “My ex is here. He’s trying to get in the apartment.”
“Where’s Sophie?”
“Asleep.”
“I’ll be there in a sec.”
Sol ran for the door and had a portal formed before he hit the grass. He was through it a moment later and stepped out in the woods behind Izzy’s apartment building. He ran around to the front of the building and up the stairs. She was on the third floor, and Sol himself had checked the locks on both the door and windows to make sure they were secure.
Izzy’s ex, Chuck, hadn’t even heard Sol coming. He was too busy slamming his shoulder into the door, trying to break his way inside. Sol could smell the whiskey fumes from halfway up the stairs. Sol grabbed Chuck by the neck and had him face-first on the floor a second later.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sol asked.
“They’re mine,” Chuck bellowed. “Mine!”
There was something off about him. Sol inhaled and under the scent of booze was something else. Something worse. He pinned Chuck by the neck and grabbed his phone.
“Sol?” Shaq answered on the first ring.
“I need you at Izzy’s. Bring backup.”
“On my way,” Shaq said.
Chuck kept fighting, and although Sol had no trouble keeping him contained, he could feel that Chuck’s strength was more than it should be. Even though rage had a way of giving humans more strength than they would have normally, this was different, and the implication had Sol shaken. That scent. It was one that haunted his nightmares.
“Sol?”
His alpha’s voice brought him more comfort than he cared to confess.
“Up here.”
Shaq stormed up the steps with Vice on his heels. When he caught sight of Chuck, Shaq barely contained his snarl. “Where are Izzy and Sophie?”
“Inside.”
“Vice,” Shaq barked.
“On it.” Vice stepped over Chuck and knocked on the door. “Izzy, it’s Vice. Open up.”
Sol focused on her footsteps. She paused at the door, obviously looking out the peephole for safety. Good. The door opened a crack, stopped by the extra chain Sol had installed for her. “Is… is it okay? Sol?”
“I’m here, Izzy. Go ahead and let Vice in. He’ll stay with you while we take out the trash.”
She sniffed, obviously crying and shaken, but closed the door. The chain rattled, and then she opened it once more. Vice slipped through and closed the door behind him. The chain rattled once again, and the deadbolt slipped into place. Sol let out a sigh of relief, even as Chuck continued to thrash against his hold.
“What’s wrong?” Shaq asked.
“Magic.”
“What?”
“Smell him.”
Shaq inhaled and his eyes blazed red. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
“I know. He’s human.”
“We need to get him to Zaire.” Shaq bit back another snarl.
“I can—”
“No. I’ll do it. I’ve been waiting for a clue to this mystery
for nearly a decade. I’ll be damned if I don’t find a way to end it this time.”
Sol nodded. “We need to gather the pack. All of them.”
“Take care of it,” Shaq ordered.
“I will.”
“Drew—”
“I’ll bring everyone to your place. We’ll figure it out from there.”
Shaq nodded again, and Sol moved out of the way, letting his alpha take over the task of hauling Chuck upright and down the stairs. He put up quite a fight, but he was no match for Shaq. Sol imagined that the only reason Shaq hadn’t knocked him unconscious was so he could question him with Zaire. After that… well, Chuck would probably be taking a nice long nap. When he woke up, Zaire would make sure he didn’t remember anything that had happened.
Sol pulled out his phone and sent a text to the pack once Shaq was clear of the steps and around the building. He wouldn’t leave his pack’s omega and his alpha’s mate unprotected. Protecting Drew was their first priority. He and Vice could handle the rest. He knocked on the door, and Vice opened it a second later.
“What’s the plan?”
“Go get my Jeep,” Sol said. “The backdoor is unlocked. You know where I keep the keys.”
Vice nodded and left.
“Sol?”
“I’m here. Everything’s fine.”
Izzy came down the hall and plastered herself against his chest. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You did great. But I need you to do something for me, okay? Pack a bag for you and Soph. We’re going over to Shaq’s for the night.”
“I don’t want to put anyone out.”
Sol gave her a squeeze. “Are you kidding? Because Shaq has been chomping at the bit for an opportunity to spoil Soph and this gives him that chance. You know your kid has him wrapped around her cute little finger.”
She nibbled on her lip and looked up at him. “You sure? I don’t really want to stay here by myself.”
“They’re expecting us. Vice will be back in a few minutes. He’s bringing my Jeep. So let’s get packed up, okay?”
She nodded and turned to go down the hall before pausing and looking over her shoulder at him.
“How’d you get here without your Jeep?”