“Pop! Let’s go!” Matt hollered from the front of the house.
She could hear Matt’s father chuckling all the way to the front door.
Matt sat across from his pop in Dino’s Diner, watching him talk with his mouth full. If they would have done that as kids, he would have reached over and smacked them upside the head. If their mother hadn’t done it first.
He sucked down some black coffee and thought about last night and also this morning as his father droned on about trimming the Christmas trees and doing farm maintenance. “Bonding time” was quickly turning into “bore Matt to death” time.
He fought back a sigh, but it changed into a yawn.
“Didn’t get much sleep again last night?”
His father knew he didn’t sleep well. But now he thought about it, last night he had the best night of sleep since he’d been back. Hell, the most restful sleep in years.
Even though they were on that couch and not a real bed. Not that he’d slept in a real bed in a long time. His cot did him just fine. “I slept,” he answered his Pop.
“You sure? I don’t know. It’s probably pretty hard to get much sleep with having such a beautiful woman in the house.”
Matt struggled to keep his jaw from hitting the table. Sometimes his father had no filter. No wonder he got along so well with Amanda. The two of them could sear nearby ears and embarrass the whole family in thirty seconds flat. Ma never suggested that the whole family go out to dinner anymore. She had learned the hard way.
“Pop, it’s nothing.”
“Boy have I heard that before.” He shoveled another forkful of pancakes into his mouth. “These aren’t as good as your mother’s. In fact, I’ve heard it’s nothing twice already. I’m not sure why your mother suggested we come here. And now I got a grandbaby and there’s another wedding being planned. See how that works out?”
Matt shook his head trying to keep up with his father’s confusing line of conversation.
Ron pointed his fork at Matt’s plate of eggs, bacon, and hash browns. “Aren’t you going to eat? Ya gotta eat.”
Matt looked down at his cooling breakfast and shoved the plate to the end of the table for the waitress to pick up. He pulled his mug of coffee closer. “I’m not hungry.”
“Didn’t you work up an appetite this morning?”
Matt closed his eyes and counted to ten. Or tried to. He got to four.
“God, I wish I was your age. The stuff your mother and I—”
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I don’t want to hear that kind of thing. Holy shit, Pop. No. There are some things you just don’t talk about with your kids.”
“It’s only natural.”
“Don’t care. No. Off limits. Change of subject, please.”
Ron chuckled, a piece of pancake flying out of his mouth and bouncing off the table. Matt made a quick move so it wouldn’t land on him.
“Okay, then. What do you want to talk about? Your mother wants us to bond, so we’re going to bond, damn it. Or I’ll get hell.”
“Not sex.”
“Well, what then?”
The bell over the diner’s front door rang and then they heard a high-pitched squeal…and clapping. Matt winced.
Teddy, the owner of Manes on Main, rushed up to their table and bounced on his toes, his excited gaze leaping back and forth from Ron to Matt.
“Well, look at the luck I’m having this morning. Two, count them, two Bryon bucks. Move over, handsome.” Teddy shoved his hip into Matt’s arm and Matt reluctantly moved over to let the man squeeze into the booth.
The more Matt moved closer to the wall, the closer Teddy slid in until Matt was practically pinned.
“How you doing, Pop?” Teddy asked Ron.
“Couldn’t be better since I’m having breakfast with my boy and we’re bonding.”
“Ooo. Bonding. I hope I’m not interrupting. But I can’t resist a Bryson when I see one.” Teddy patted Matt’s thigh under the table. “And Matty, you’re the only single one left. I’m holding out hope here…”
“Too late,” Pop said. “He’s a goner already.”
Teddy’s eyes widened and he let out a dramatic gasp with a hand over his mouth. “No! Say it ain’t so! Please don’t tell me your taken.”
Matt almost spilled that he wasn’t, but then realized he’d end up between a rock and a hard place by admitting it to Teddy.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Best not to say a word.
Teddy wanted nothing more than to land himself a “Bryson buck.” And Matt just didn’t swing that way. And never would.
“See?” Ron asked. “He won’t deny it.”
He was going to kill his father. Pop knew exactly what he was doing.
“Well, who is it? I’m all jealous. I want to pull her hair out and scratch her face.”
Even though he knew Teddy joked, he could just picture the man getting into a cat fight, scratching and biting.
“It’s Dr. Carly,” his pop gleefully supplied.
Matt hid a groan by taking a sip of his black coffee.
“Amanda’s coochie doctor?” Teddy asked, surprised.
Matt choked, almost spitting the hot java across the table.
“Yep. Same one,” Ron answered.
Matt might as well slide under the table and hide until the two of them finished. He forgot to add Teddy, their unofficial family member, to the list that included his father and Amanda when it came to loose lips.
“Ooo. I wouldn’t want her job. Coochies aren’t very attractive.”
Matt placed his mug carefully on the table. He wouldn't risk trying to drink anymore.
Beth, their waitress came over to the table, carrying a pot of fresh coffee. “More, Matt?”
“No thanks.”
“Teddy, you want a cup?”
“No thanks, Beth. I’m just here to pick up my order. And to find out the latest news.”
“What’s that, hun?”
“That the last Bryson brother is taken!”
Holy fuck.
“What? Well, that’s depressing!” Beth exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at Matt.
“I know!” Teddy crowed. “I think I may need a tissue.”
“Aw.” Beth patted him on the back. “You’ll find the right one, Teddy. Don’t you worry.”
“Not in this Podunk town. All my dreams are dashed now.” With a loud, fake sob, he turned on his crocodile tears and twisted toward Matt. “Can’t I even get one kiss before it’s too late?”
Ron snorted from across the table as Matt regarded Teddy in horror. “Sweet weeping Jesus! No.”
“Just one…” Teddy started to lean in, puckering his lips.
“Teddy, I swear…”
Then Teddy’s sad face burst in laughter. “Oh, you should see your face, Matty. I got you good.”
“You’re an asshole,” Matt told him and shoved his shoulder hard.
“One kiss wouldn’t have hurt,” Ron said before picking a piece of cold bacon off of Matt’s discarded plate and shoving it into his mouth.
There was only one person Matt wanted to kiss. And Teddy wasn’t it.
10
Matt tightened his grip on his prisoner’s elbow. The fool was not only drunk but belligerent. Enough so that Marc had come along to bring the guy in for blood work. Matt suspected the drunk’s blood alcohol level would be double the legal limit.
He also doubted it was only booze in the man’s bloodstream. The area had a meth problem as did most rural areas.
While they were administering the test, he’d have to ask a nurse to check out the guy’s head wound. The fool had insisted on bashing his head against the backseat window. Luckily, it hadn’t shattered.
Even though the hospital was small, the emergency room seemed to be as busy as ever. Full moon would do that. Emergency workers of all sorts dreaded that time of the month.
The man he escorted continued to curse up a storm, and no matter how many times Marc or Matt told him to pipe down,
the man refused to cooperate. Not that they expected the asshole to suddenly turn into a model citizen. Though, it would have been nice if the alcohol in his system would make him drowsy.
No such luck.
Matt knew he could handle the cuffed guy on his own, but since they were surrounded by innocent people waiting their turn to be seen, he preferred Marc to hurry up and park the cruiser, and get his ass inside pronto.
“You think you can behave like a gentleman? There are women and children in here.”
The man let out a string of foul words, even ones Matt would never use. He had to admit, the variety of curses the man could come up with almost impressed him. Almost.
“Why am I in the hospital?” The question sounded slurred and spittle gathered in the corner of the man’s mouth.
Not that Matt needed to give the guy an explanation, he did so anyway. “Because you refused to blow in the breathalyzer.”
“So, you cock-sucking cop? So what? I have rights.” His head bobbed forward like he was about to pass out and then it snapped back up.
“I read them to you already,” Matt said grimly, dragging him over to an empty seat away from the majority of the waiting patients and their families.
“I don’t remember.”
“I’m sure you don’t,” Matt murmured. He turned his head toward the double sliding glass doors, wondering where the hell his brother was. Seriously, it was a police cruiser; he didn’t have to park legally, he just needed to park it out of the way of the ambulances.
The guy tried to stand up and Matt jerked him back down into the seat by yanking on his elbow.
“Sit. Don’t move.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“So I’ve been told,” Matt answered, not taking offense.
Just then, he saw a tall blonde heading his direction and groaned. Even with her no-nonsense hair-do and her plain white lab coat, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. And the last thing he needed at the moment was a distraction.
Or a hard-on.
Fuck.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she approached, taking in the two of them. She inspected him from head to toe with just her eyes. “Did he get blood on you?”
Matt didn’t stand, because if he did, he’d have to release the grip on his prisoner and he couldn't risk that. He glanced up at his wet dream. “No. I’m okay.”
“Lookie, lookie. Ain’t you a tall drink of water.”
Carly took a fleeting glance at the bleeding head wound on the man, then did a quick assessing look around the room before pinning her gaze back on Matt. “It will be a bit of a wait. The ER is busier than normal tonight. It must be the moon.”
“I see that. I need to get this guy’s BAC before it starts dropping and get the head wound looked at before I take him to central booking.”
“You got those long legs that’d wrap around me—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Matt growled at him, keeping his voice low so anyone nearby wouldn’t hear him.
“You need to put that blonde hair of yours down. I bet you have some nice titties. Lemme see ‘em.”
Matt wasn’t the only who stiffened at that comment. Carly scowled.
“Is this your girlfriend, cop-sucker?”
Matt ignored him, digging his fingers harder into the guy’s arm. “Why don’t you go back to work?” he recommended to Carly, wanting to get her far away from the drunk fucker.
Her brows raised to her hairline at his suggestion. Yeah, she didn’t appear to take orders very well; she seemed more comfortable at giving them.
She planted her hands on her hips and narrowed her gaze at him. “I’m waiting for one of my patients who thinks she’s going into labor.”
He wanted to ask her to wait elsewhere, to just get the hell away from this guy, but he knew that would go over like a lead balloon. Then the asshole jerked upward and out of his grip, lurching toward her. Before Matt could grab him, the drunk fell into her, head butting her chin. As if in slow motion, Matt saw Carly fall to the ground, blood tricking from her mouth, surprise in her eyes, and then his prisoner landed on top of her in a drunken heap.
And that was the last thing Matt saw.
Everything became a blur and then faded to black.
Matt couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t feel anything. A voice pierced his brain. Female. Panicked.
Then a male voice. Deep. Yelling commands. Almost as panicked.
His vision started to clear. At first, only a narrow opening. The little he could see appeared blurry, then as his brain tried to process the voices and who they might belong to, the pin-like opening widened and he could see a face in front of him. Purple. Also panicked.
A hand gripped the neck of this person, the fingers wrapped so tight they were white. What had this person done to deserve this?
The voices became clearer, and he could finally make out some words.
His name. They screamed his name.
He had no idea what was wrong.
Hands pulled at him. They were strong, but he was stronger.
His brother’s voice yelled commands. Telling him to stop. Something about killing someone.
Who was dying? Was it him? How could it be him? He still stood upright, so it couldn’t be him.
Matt blinked. His vision cleared even more. It was his hand around the man’s throat. His fingers held it in a death grip, and he had his prisoner pinned to the wall by his neck. The man’s mouth open and closed like a fish out of water, though no words escaped.
“Matt!” Carly’s voice. “Matt! Let him go!” she pleaded with someone.
Marc repeated the exact same words, then, “Jesus Christ, brother, let him go before you kill him!”
They were talking to him. No. Not talking. Telling him to let go. He tried to release his fingers, but they wouldn’t cooperate. It was as if the connection between his brain and his hand was missing. Then another hand gripped his, pulling at his wrist. Someone yanked at his shoulder. Someone tugged at his waist above his duty belt.
Matt blinked again. He breathed. He took a great big inhale of oxygen before releasing it. Suddenly his hand was no longer attached to the guy’s throat. He stared down at his fingers, still locked in a curled position. They didn’t seem a part of his body. They belonged to a stranger.
He had to tell himself to breathe again. He watched as if through a tunnel as someone pulled the other man away, out of his line of sight.
It became quiet. Very quiet. Except for someone coughing. The cough sounded raw, painful. He recognized that sound because he’d been there before. Once. A long time ago.
He stared at the empty plastic seat before him. Why did he just stand there? If he was in danger, he had to move. He had to take cover. He had to find his unit.
Without warning, sounds crashed around him and he winced, clapping his hands over his ears. He dropped to the ground in a ball in an attempt to make himself a small target.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to sort through the sounds, figure out what happened. Where he was at.
“Matt.” The voice sounded feminine, familiar. Carly again. She repeated his name several more times. “Come back. You’re okay. I’m okay. It’s safe.”
He pushed himself slowly to his knees, his back still toward the voice. “Where am I?”
“The hospital.”
Then everything hit him at once. He remembered why he was here, who he was with. And the reason he had blacked out.
Grabbing the seat of the plastic chair, he pulled himself up and turned around to look at the woman before him. Her blonde hair fell in disheveled waves, no longer in a neat bun. Her face appeared pale and a thin line of blood ran down from the corner of her mouth over her chin.
That motherfucker hurt her.
His prisoner hurt his woman. He glanced around and couldn’t find the drunk anywhere. His brother wasn’t anywhere to be found either.
Then his chief stormed through the ER’s entrance,
his face a mask of displeasure, pure anger. As soon as he spotted them, he beelined over.
He glanced at Carly, nodded his head once at her, then pierced Matt with his gaze. “What the fuck, Matt?”
When Matt didn’t answer him, Max turned back to Carly. “Is there somewhere we can go that’s private?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, follow me.” She escorted them through the automatic double doors leading deeper into the hospital and, at the first hallway, bore right down an empty corridor. Three doors later, she used her key card to swipe. The lock clicked and she pushed it open.
Max shoved Matt through the doorway and then spun on his heels to stop Carly from entering. “Thanks, Doc. You need to have someone take a look at that.”
Even standing behind Max, Matt could see Carly didn’t want to leave.
“I’m fine.”
“You probably are; however, I’d feel better if you get checked out.”
“Max—”
“Look, I thank you for finding this room. We won’t be here long. But you need to go about your business. Please.”
Carly stared up at Max for moment, hands on her hips, then her gaze dropped behind him.
Matt forced himself to meet her eyes. “I’m okay,” he assured her. “Go take care of yourself. And your patient.”
Obviously, she didn’t believe he was okay. She frowned, then looked at Max again. “Don’t do anything stupid in here. Don’t make me regret letting you use this room.”
Max nodded. “I won’t.”
She sighed and left. Max shut the door and turned on Matt.
“What the fuck was that all about? I need answers. And I need them now. Jesus Christ, Matt. Shit like that can’t happen. I took a risk putting you back on the force after your medical discharge from the Marines. I told you, one of the requirements was that you had to attend therapy. Are you doing that?”
Max’s anger appeared carefully controlled, even though Matt could see the conflict on his brother’s face. Max was both his brother and his chief. Even though he may be personally concerned with Matt’s reaction, he realized he had to handle it like his boss.
Brothers in Blue: The Complete Trilogy: Brothers in Blue Boxed Set - Books 1-3 Page 48