by Macy Blake
Remembering the first time he saw Shaq always made him smile. Some big college football thing was happening and everybody had decided Hair of the Dog was where they were going to watch it. The bar had been packed, and Shaq had been working behind the bar alone. Cody had quickly realized it wasn’t the time to ask about a job. Instead, he’d decided to take the chance to check things out and see how the big guy behind the bar treated his staff. And there’d been no doubt he was the owner. There was something about him. Everyone deferred to him, even though he was snarling and scowling at everybody. They all seemed amused by it, though. Or at least not scared. It was odd. This big giant of a man who seemed pissed off at the world, but they still hovered around the bar, talking and laughing. He was curious enough to want to stay and see what happened. Cody had found a spot at the end of the bar and ordered a beer. Shaq had given him a look before giving him his drink. “You’re new.”
“Yeah.”
The look intensified. “You hungry?”
“No.”
“Tell me if you are.”
Cody had nodded, and Shaq had wandered back down the bar, yelling at them all to hold their horses, and he was moving as fast as he could. He should have been scary— and he was, a little. There was something coiled about Shaq. Dangerous in a way Cody wasn’t prepared to face after the breakup he’d just gone through. He’d seen Sol for the first time that night, too. But Shaq had been the one who kept his attention. Eventually, the bar had become so crowded and Shaq so frustrated that Cody couldn’t resist offering to help. The look he’d gotten. Shaq had basically begged him for help. With the two of them working together, they got the bar under control, and Shaq had offered him a job at close after stuffing a handful of cash in his hand that had paid for the deposit on his new apartment.
He’d learned later that he wasn’t the first broken soul who’d shown up on the bar’s doorstep looking for work. They all teased Shaq about his collection of puppies. Cody wasn’t sure he understood the full meaning of the joke— probably something from their commando days now that he thought about it— but he’d recognized strength in Izzy and Shelly that he’d struggled to find in himself. They’d bonded quickly, and Cody had found himself a family that he hadn’t known he’d been looking for. Cody couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. He’d learned from Izzy and Shelly to take the hits life gave them in stride. They picked themselves up and kept on going. They taught Cody how to do that, too.
Case in point: neither one of them had broken down after the events of their evening. They’d taken it all in without question. Cody was kind of surprised to realize that he had as well. He trusted Shaq, Sol, and the rest of them with his life, and no matter what was going on, they had his back. He showed the girls around the cabin and they ended up settling in the kitchen. Shelly had taken one look at the flowers out on the counter and given him a look.
She grinned at the roses before leaning in and smelling them. “They’re adorable. Idiots, but adorable.”
“I know,” Cody said. “But they try.”
“It’s sweet.”
“Yeah.”
“I think flowers are a waste of money,” she whispered. “I’d rather he get my oil changed and fill up the car with gas, you know? Take something off my list and make my day easier.”
Cody sighed. “God, that sounds nice, huh?”
She grinned at him as Sophie began to whimper. She hadn’t gone to sleep after being woken up for the third— or was it fourth? Cody had lost track— time, so she was cranky and miserable. “Come here, Sophie bear,” Shelly said. “I want to pick a movie and I need your help.”
“By the way,” Cody said as Sophie began flipping through the stack of movies Shelly pulled out of her bag, “your boyfriend stole a shopping cart. I still don’t know how he got it here, but it’s outside. I think Sol’s giving him hell about it.”
Shelly snickered and ran her hand over Sophie’s hair. “He’s crazy, but it’s what makes me crazy about him.”
“Yeah.” Cody finished checking the fireplace before striking the match and lighting the kindling. He wanted nothing more than to go curl up in Sol’s big comfy chair and go to sleep, but he had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen for a while. They were all antsy and irritable, not just Sophie. “Hey, Shell?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
She smiled at him, and he knew she knew. He also knew she wasn’t going to tell him.
“Ugh.”
Shelly laughed and took the movie Sophie picked out of her hands. She got the TV turned on and put the movie into the player. It only took another minute for Sophie to be settled on the couch with her stuffed puppy in one hand and her fluffy blanket in the other.
Izzy sighed as she came out of the bathroom. “Thanks, Shelly.”
“No problem, hon. You want some coffee or something?”
“I want to sleep,” Izzy said. “But I keep picturing Chuck banging on my door and…” Her voice drifted off and she shivered.
“Is that what happened?” Cody asked. “No one told me. Sol just called and said pack and you and Soph were with him.”
“Yeah. I think they think he was put up to it for some reason? I don’t know what it is those boys get up to, but tonight was the first time I was scared, you know?”
Cody nodded. He understood completely.
“It’ll be fine,” Shelly said softly. “Shaq and Sol will take care of it.”
“Where did Shaq and Drew go, anyway?” Cody asked.
Shelly put one hand on each of their shoulders. “I know this is all crazy and you have a million questions. I don’t blame you. But you can’t ask them right now, okay? And I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I need you to trust me. You do trust me, right?”
“Of course, we do,” Izzy said. “But Shell—”
“They can’t tell us, can they?” Cody said softly.
“They can’t. But I promise you, they’ll make sure we’re okay. They’ve got bigger connections than you’d think, and they’ll pull any string they have to.”
Izzy let out a soft sigh. “I do trust you. And them. But my kid is here, Shelly. She’s scared and confused and quite frankly so am I.”
Izzy sniffed and Shelly pulled her into a hug. She looked over Izzy’s shoulder at him and mouthed, “Go get Sol.”
Cody nodded and went for the front door. He opened it and found four strangers standing in the yard, along with a dark-haired woman in leather who looked vaguely familiar. Cody was pretty sure she’d been in the bar before, but the memory was a bit hazy. He wasn’t too worried about the memory, though, since she was currently looking at him like she planned on gutting him. And since she had what appeared to be a rather large and sharp looking knife in her hand, he was going to guess that gutting him was definitely an option for her. Cody gulped and she started walking toward him. Big knife. Very big knife.
“Sol?”
Cody would like to say his voice hadn’t trembled at all, but he’d be lying. Sol was at his side a second later, though, and the crazy-knife lady lowered her weapon.
“You okay?”
“Izzy’s upset. Shelly said for me to get you.”
Sol nodded and went inside. Cody followed behind, taking one last look at the strangers gathered in the yard. The scary lady was looking at him again, but it was the four guys who drew his attention. They were all about his age, and they appeared to be chanting or something. What the hell was going on?
“Cody, come inside.”
Cody glanced over his shoulder and found Sol watching him from only a step or two away. He closed the door and walked with him over to Izzy and Shelly.
“She needs you,” Shelly said softly.
Sol pulled Izzy close, and she cried quietly against his chest. He murmured words to her that Cody couldn’t hear, but a few minutes later, she nodded and pulled away. After wiping her cheeks, she looked up at Sol and the trust Cody saw in her eyes… it caused a wave of somethi
ng to pass through him. Something solid and real. Something he didn’t understand but wanted more than anything to claim as his own.
“Come on,” Sol said gently. “You need to sleep. We’ll watch Sophie.”
Sol glanced Cody’s way and he took the hint. He sat down on the couch and Sophie curled up against him without taking her eyes off the movie playing on the screen. Sol smiled at him and led Izzy through to the guest rooms. Shelly followed behind them with Izzy’s bags. When Sol came back alone a few minutes later, he ran his hands over his face tiredly before glancing over at Cody.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Is Walt planning on leaving the groceries outside all night? Because seriously.”
Sol grinned. “We got distracted.”
“I saw. Who was that, Sol?”
Sol stiffened for a moment before answering. “A friend.”
“I didn’t hear another car pull up. You must have really good windows on this place.”
“I do.”
“Well, good. You aren’t going to tell me who they were, are you?”
“I can’t.”
Cody sighed. “I don’t like this, Sol. But I trust you. I’m struggling, but I trust you.”
Sol gave him a heated look and Cody swore he saw the little red sparks again in his eyes. He must be more tired than he felt.
“Good. I won’t let you down.”
They stared at each other for a minute and Cody’s nerves settled a little more. Sol gave him a nod and turned for the door.
“I’ll send Walt in. Give him some quiet, okay?”
“I know. He’s out of sorts, as usual. He’ll be fine since Sophie’s here. Don’t worry.”
Sol smiled at him, gently, like he was proud Cody knew Walt so well. Which was ridiculous because of course he did. They’d been working together for years. It didn’t stop his stomach from giving a little flip and flutter of happiness at the look. Which was also ridiculous.
“I should get outside.”
“Yeah. And you’re still going to tell me what’s going on, Sarge.”
“I’ll get right on that.”
Cody shook his head as Sol turned and went outside. Walt came in a few minutes later with his arms loaded down with bags of groceries. “Let me know if you need help,” Cody said softly.
Walt gave him a head bob in acknowledgment as he glanced their way. Sophie looked over at him before wiggling down from the couch and going into the kitchen.
“Uncle Walt?”
Walt’s breath hitched loud enough for Cody to hear it on the other side of the room. Cody fought a grin as the older man knelt down in front of Sophie. “Yeah?”
“I’m hungry. Will you make me some chickey nuggets?”
Walt gave her a stern look. “You know how I feel about chickey nuggets.”
Cody bit his lip to keep from laughing.
“But they’re tasty, Uncle Walt. And you can dip ‘em in ketchup.”
“Well, if that’s what you want. Although I was going to make some pancakes with sprinkles. But if you’d rather have chickey—”
Cody lost control and a snicker escaped, drawing Walt’s attention. He got a really terrifying glare before Walt turned to Sophie.
“— Chicken nuggets, I suppose I can make those.”
“Sprinkles?” Sophie asked. “On pancakes?”
Walt shrugged. “I can do chicken. It’s—”
“No, no. Sprinkles, Uncle Walt.”
Cody buried his face in a throw pillow and laughed.
“We’ll make pancakes with sprinkles, then. Only Cody doesn’t get any.”
“But Uncle Walt, Cody is my friend.”
Walt sighed, and Cody peeked over the pillow at him.
“Fine.”
Sophie threw her arms around Walt’s neck and hugged him. He made a very suspicious sniff and made sure he wasn’t looking Cody’s way. Like Cody hadn’t already figured out that he was a giant softy.
“You have to stir,” Walt said grumpily. He picked Sophie up and sat her on the counter. “I don’t want to hear any arguments.”
“I can stir.”
“I know you can. Now tell Cody to get his ass…uh…dorable self over here and put away the rest of the groceries while we work.”
“Uncle Walt, what’s ass-dorable mean?”
Cody couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so hard. Walt glared at him again as he got out the ingredients for pancakes so Cody forced himself to calm down and got up to help with the groceries. He pecked a kiss on Sophie’s cheek, earning a sweet giggle from her, before he unloaded the bags and began finding logical spaces to put things. He’d worked with Walt long enough to know how he organized the kitchen at the bar, so he tried to find a similar way of sorting. When he wasn’t sure, he asked. Walt always glared at him like he was an idiot, but then he told him where to put stuff. Walt seemed to be the most anxious of the super commandos about what was going on, so Cody figured keeping his kitchen space organized would help him with his worries.
He finished putting everything away when he felt something weird. He got goosebumps on his arms and the hair rose like he had spidey senses that were tingling, but he didn’t and they weren’t. It was weird. Walt let out a sigh of relief and mumbled, “That’s better.”
“What happened?” Cody asked.
“What?”
“Look Uncle Walt, I got the goosebumps!” Sophie held up her arm. Cody held his up, too.
“What just happened?” Cody asked again.
“Uh… static electricity. The… uh… air…uh… get to work, both of you!”
Cody rolled his eyes, but Sophie shrugged and stirred the pancake mix. Instead of waiting for an answer, Cody went to the front door and pulled it open once more. He caught a flash of something… it looked like a fire in the woods but it was gone a second later. Cody rubbed his eyes tiredly before looking around for Sol. He found him walking out of the woods where the flash had come from. He’d probably been using a flashlight or something, which explained what Cody had seen. Although it was still mostly dark so why didn’t he still have it on?
Sol walked straight to him and hooked his hand around Cody’s neck. He didn’t understand why they did that all the time but Cody liked it. It was like a freaking hug, which made no sense at all. “Walt’s making pancakes.”
“Good. You need to eat.”
Cody arched a brow. “Pancakes don’t have iron.”
“I don’t feed on iron. I feed on sugar. Get your blood sugar up and I’m a happy vamp.”
Cody cackled. “Jerk.”
“I like seeing you smile,” Sol said quietly. “You don’t smile nearly enough.”
Cody’s breath caught and he looked up into Sol’s golden brown eyes. “It’s hard to find a reason to, most days.”
Sol grunted. “We should fix that.”
“You volunteering?” Cody asked.
Sol looked down at him and the intensity in Sol’s gaze sent another round of goosebumps through Cody. He shivered and his heart began to race. “And what if I am?”
Cody swallowed. He arched his neck to the side. “My blood sugar is yours.”
Sol leaned down and slowly pressed his lips to Cody’s neck. “Go eat,” he whispered against the skin. “Then get some rest. Take my room, okay?”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be in soon.”
Cody couldn’t help but frown and he didn’t fully understand why. He wanted Sol inside where he could see him. God, he must be more tired than he realized. “Okay.”
It wasn’t okay. But he stepped back and tried to turn. Sol’s arms around him stopped him. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Sol growled. The vibrations went down Cody’s spine. “I don’t lie to you. You don’t lie to me.”
Cody froze, his entire body tensed for a moment as the words went through him. “I’m sorry.”
Sol huffed and tucked his face into Cody’s neck. He nipped at the same
spot Cody had teasingly offered him a minute before. “Tell me.”
His breath heated the skin of Cody’s neck, sending a different kind of shiver through him. “It’s stupid.”
“Cody.”
“I want you to stay where I can see you, okay? I know it’s stupid and you have other things to—”
“Okay.”
Cody shivered again. “It’s not okay. It’s ridic—”
“Walt, enough pancakes for me?”
“Ask Sophie.”
The little girl beamed from her position on the counter. She had a little shaker bottle with multicolored sprinkles in her hand. “We can share, Uncle Sol. Do you want sprinkles?”
“Extra sprinkles for me.”
Sol gave Cody a gentle nudge and guided him over to the counter. The cooktop was in the central island and the once impeccable butcher block counter was covered with flecks of pancake batter and sprinkles. Cody was pretty sure there were sprinkles all over the floor, too, but Walt— who kept the kitchen at the bar so clean you could eat off the floor— was nodding at Sophie as she shook the bottle with all her might like she was an expert sprinkler who could do no wrong.
“I think I’m in an alternate universe. Can vamp… uh, you know whats… induce hallucinations?”
Sol snorted out a laugh.
Walt glared at him. “Don’t say shit…ake mushrooms like that.”
Luckily, Sophie was too busy adding an extremely colorful amount of sprinkles onto the pancakes in the pan. Walt had his arm between her and the stove to keep her from leaning too close.
“That was clever,” Sol said. “Nice save.”
Walt grunted. “Time to flip ‘em, Soph. You done?”
She nodded. The pan was a sprinkle-covered mess of melting goo, but Walt flipped the pancakes and scraped off the mess like a champ.
“Eat ‘em while they’re hot,” Walt said. He moved a couple small ones onto a plate and pushed it to Cody. “Cut ‘em up for her.”
“Sir, yessir!”