by PJ Friel
I pulled back. “Sure you want to run?”
She crinkled her nose and nodded. “Mhmm. I’m sure. What’s your prize?
I gave it a moment’s thought and then grinned at her. “If I win, I get to drive tonight.”
Bryn gasped and narrowed her gaze on mine. “Seriously? My driving is not that bad.”
“Your driving is suicidal, but that’s not the point. I get to choose my prize and that’s my prize.”
She sighed deeply then cuddled against me again and rested her hands over my hammering heart. “Fine. How far are we running?”
How far? I was so hard I couldn’t run a yard right now even if I wanted to. “How about to Summit Lake and back?” My hands traced down over her shoulders and gripped her bare biceps.
“Okay. First one back to this bench wins.” She traced one hand down my chest and cupped my cock. “I’ve changed my mind about what I want to win.”
This was madness. Why were we even still talking about running? We should be back on our bikes, riding to her place.
“Tell me what you want, Bryn,” I whispered against her lips.
“I want…” She nuzzled my lips then stepped back, breaking my grip on her. “Your Ducati.”
And then she was off like a shot.
My Ducati? I frowned after her, watching her run down the towpath. Was that a euphemism for...oh shit! She was racing to win my precious and she already had a hundred yard lead.
I got my unruly dick under control and charged after her. “You’re not getting my motorcycle.”
God, I loved how she challenged me.
She laughed and kept running. Really fast.
“Shit.”
A couple of hundred feet later, I caught up with her. She veered a little close to me and I grinned at her then gently nudged her away.
We ran in companionable silence, the stark inner city landscape speeding by. Our footfalls echoed sharply across the canal on the wooden planks of the Summit Lake Boardwalk. It would have been perfect if not for the all goose shit we had to dodge.
Bryn pointed to a section of the boardwalk that looked newer than the rest. “What happened here?”
“Arsonist.”
She shook her head. “People are jerks.”
“Some, but not all.”
A shrug was all I got in answer. I stopped running and stood with my hands on my hips until she noticed and turned around.
“What?”
“You think I’m a jerk?”
“Sometimes.” Another shrug.
I knew why she felt this way about people. She had every right to, but it still bothered me, made me wonder where this thing between us was going. She’d admitted that I made her feel safe, but I wanted more.
Jaw clenched, I asked the question I really didn’t want an answer to. “When am I a jerk?”
Bryn walked back to me and trailed a fingertip in the sweat dripping along my temple. I pulled away.
“Don’t. Answer the question, Bryn.”
One hand snapped up and gripped my hair, held my head in place as the other cupped my jaw. She stared into my eyes as I tried to decide whether her aggression and need for control pissed me off or turned me on. My cock had the answer, but I wasn’t listening to it right now.
“Answer me.”
“You’re a jerk when you go home at night and leave me alone in the…” She trailed off and pressed her forehead against mine, eyes closed.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against me. “Alone in the what, baby?”
“Just alone.” She opened her eyes. “I don’t like it when you leave me, Trygg.”
God, she was trembling and it was breaking my heart. If she’d asked for the universe I would have found a way to shrink it into a charm bracelet and clasp it around her wrist. Instead, all she wanted was me.
How lucky was I?
“Okay. I won’t leave you anymore.”
“Promise?” Her cheeks flushed, voice barely a whisper.
Pressing my lips against her ear, I whispered, “Promise.” Then I bit the lobe. “But I might have to drag you out of bed if Mordechai calls me in.”
She pulled back and kissed me with grinning lips. “I don’t care.”
“Still want to race to the lake?”
“Mhmm.” Her grin widened and that mischievous sparkle was back.
“We could go to your place and do something a lot more fun. Why do you want to keep running?”
“Because I’m a distance runner, babe. I’m just getting started,” she said, then took off running again.
I watched her go. Her Aesir bloodline came shining through and she was magnificent. Feet pounding, arms swinging, legs battling gravity and wind resistance to keep her body sailing through the air. I could easily picture her in armor, fighting beside her great-grandfather, Odin.
She deserved a worthy opponent. I growled, calling on some of the power the Monster gave me and tore after her. I’d promised I would stay with her, but I never promised I wouldn’t beat her ass.
CHAPTER 30
BRYN
The doorbell rang as I finished tying the laces on my combat boots. Another night out canvassing the clubs for Drew. Undoubtedly, that was Trygg, collecting on his bet.
I don’t know how he pulled that win off. I’d never seen anyone run that fast in my life. Regardless, I was stuck being chauffeured on our nightly bar hop. If we hit pay dirt tonight at least it would make my defeat worth it.
This case was driving me crazy. It was barely lukewarm and getting colder as our only lead continued to evade us. Maybe Drew wasn’t even in Ohio anymore. I hoped that wasn’t true.
I crossed the room and looked through the peephole. David. I banged my head against the wood. If I hit it hard enough I could give myself a concussion, match my physical condition to the mental.
“Gonna let me in?” David moved his face closer to the peephole. “Or jess stand there…stare at me all night?”
Oh, no. Was he slurring his words?
I opened the door. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
“Yeah, well. I haven’t appreciated you…dodging my calls either. So, jess gonna have to take your licks.”
“If you’re going to lick me, you can stay out there.”
David stepped into my space and I winced at the alcohol on his breath. “Shut up and move, smart-ass.”
Not a happy drunk, then.
I motioned him in then stood there for a moment, looking down the hallway, praying that Trygg would show up and get me out of this. Or at the very least let me lean against him while David ripped me apart.
The thought jarred me. No silly damsel in distress here. Ergo, no white knight needed. I slammed the door.
David sat on my couch and stared at his phone, sipping from a can of beer. Pretty sure it came from my fridge.
“Do you think you really need more beer, David?”
“Yesss.” He took a long swallow, but kept his eyes on the video he was watching.
I glanced at the screen and wished I hadn’t. It was Gideon when he was a little boy. He couldn’t have been more than five or six years old, giggling as David pushed him higher and higher on a swing.
“Is that at Abigail’s place?”
“Yeah. Our home. She got it. You know, in the divorce. Didn’t wanna uproot Gideon.” David drained his beer and turned off the video.
“That had to have been hard for you. Leaving them there without you.”
Maybe if I kept him talking, he’d forget that he was here to yell at me and I could drive him home.
“Yeah. Best for my boy, though. Made it easier.” David crushed the now empty beer can. “Only thing we did right was that boy, Bryn. We fought so much…fought about every-damn-thing. Except one. What’s best for our boy.”
My heart cracked in my chest. I hated seeing David like this. He was usually an upbeat guy, always had a joke to share, but Gideon’s death might as well have killed him. His gaze was de
ad, his story being told by a walking corpse.
“That’s admirable of you, David. Most parents fight over the kids, use them as a weapon against each other.”
“No…our fuckup. Not his. Never put him in the middle.”
I wasn’t so sure that Abigail hadn’t used Gideon as a weapon against her husband. David just hadn’t been aware that he had a gun cocked against his skull. Without talking to Gideon, I’d never really know if that was true or not. It wasn’t like I knew the signs myself. My parents had never fought over me. Eugenia had walked out of our lives without a backwards glance.
After finding out what Frank and Eugenia were, it made a lot more sense why she’d just upped and left. She’d been assigned to some other mission. It didn’t hurt any less, though. The fact that my birth father was a psycho hunting my birth mother like an animal didn’t exactly make any of it any better, either.
“Abby and Gideon were closer. Gave her full custody. He visited me when he wanted. Always let him decide. But it was never enough time for me.”
I smiled. “Sounds like you did right by him.”
His face crumpled. “Do you really think so? I dunno.” He held out his hands. “Feels like I let him slip through my fingers. The older he got, less time he wanted to spend with me. Tried to hold on tighter, but he just pulled away all the more.”
“That’s not your fault, David. Kids grow up. They think they’re too old and too smart to listen to their parents. Eventually, they come around.”
My heart plummeted to my stomach and I wanted to snatch the words back as soon as they left my lips. Gideon would never come around. That opportunity had been taken from him and from David.
“Except when some son of a bitch steals your boy’s life.” David threw the beer can against the wall. “Then all you got left are home videos and regrets.”
“David…”
“Why you been avoiding me?”
Here it came. The moment I’d been dreading since I talked to Abigail. There were things that David deserved to know, but I couldn’t tell him any of them. That I would be putting his life in danger if I did come clean was poor solace. I’d make sure Gideon was avenged, but David could never know about it.
“I’ve been avoiding you because there’s nothing I can tell you. There’s not a human being on this planet that I can point my finger at for Gideon’s murder. I’m sorry, David. I’ve done everything I can.”
“You’re giving up?” David said, his gaze piercing mine.
And here comes the part where I twist the truth to suit my own agenda, where I become like every other Outlander on this planet.
Even Trygg?
I quashed that voice and straightened my shoulders. “I’m being forced to.”
“By who?”
“Feds. I had a run-in with them and they told me if I didn’t back off, they were going to toss me in jail for obstruction of justice.”
“Fucking feds.” David got up unsteadily and weaved his way to my kitchen. “Wanna beer?” he called out.
“No. I was on my way out.”
“Too bad. I need another beer to wash down that bullshit you’re spewing.” He popped the tab and took a long draw.
I followed him into the kitchen. “How much have you had to drink today?”
“Not enough,” David snarled. “But not so much…can’t tell you’re full of shit. Didja think I wouldn’t track you down…see what the fuck was going on? You out partying with that piece of shit instead of hunting down the animal that caved in my son’s face?”
Oh, no. He’d seen me canvassing the clubs with Trygg and had come to the worst possible conclusion.
“You’re drunk, David. You need to sleep it off.” I stepped towards him. “Let me take you home and get you in bed.”
David crowded against me, pinning me against the kitchen counter. “Is that an offer to fuck?”
My fists clenched and I drew in a deep breath. “You don’t want to do this.”
“You’re right. Never wanted to. Not like half the guys at the station. Treated you with respect. Always your goddamn friend. Shoulda fucked you instead. Big dick is all it takes, right?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Sure it is. Heard all about you. Love the D, but you don’t do relationships.” His gaze raked down my body. “Who would want you for a girlfriend anyway?”
He shoved away from me and staggered over to the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the living room. Sinking down onto one of the barstools, he buried his face in his hands. His shoulders shook and I wanted to go to him, offer comfort, but I didn’t want him to add injury onto the insults if he decided to swing at me.
The doorbell rang for the second time tonight.
Who would want you for a girlfriend anyway?
I swallowed the lump in my throat. For the past two weeks I’d spent so many evenings with Trygg. Dinners together then working Gideon’s case, followed by scorching sex and pillow talk. Mornings with shared showers and breakfast before we both went to work. What was I playing at?
You don’t do relationships.
David was a drunk, wounded animal lashing out at anyone close enough to hit. Logically, I knew that. It didn’t make his words any less true.
“Bryn?” Trygg’s voice sliced into me. Apparently, I’d left the door unlocked.
“Your fuck toy’s in here,” David called out before I could even open my mouth.
Footsteps pounded across the floor and a red-faced Trygg filled the doorway. “The fuck you say, asshole?”
“Trygg, don’t. He’s drunk.”
“I don’t give a shit what he is. He doesn’t talk to you like that.”
David staggered to his feet. “Just calling ’em like I see ’em, asshole.”
I lunged between them and gripped Trygg’s shirt. I wanted to press my face into his chest, but that would mean I wanted his comfort, was worthy of it. I shoved him away instead.
Tried to. His giant flipping body barely moved.
“Just leave. Okay? I’ll take David home and talk to you tomorrow.”
“You’re not going anywhere with him,” Trygg gritted.
“Not goin’ anywhere with you,” David slurred behind me.
I turned my back to Trygg. “You can’t drive, David.”
“Duh.” He beat his fist against his chest. “Cop. Got a cab waiting.”
“Good,” Trygg growled by my ear. “Get the fuck out.”
“Trygg!” I glared at him over my shoulder then looked back at my drunk, hurting friend. “Sleep it off, David. We’ll talk tomorrow when you’re sober. Okay?”
David exited out the other side of the kitchen. “No. Don’t wanna talk. Not less you…unless you find him. No killer. No talk. Ever. Again.”
The door slammed behind him.
CHAPTER 31
TRYGG
I walked into the nightclub beside Bryn, our second of the night. She moved away from my hand on her lower back. As soon as we’d entered, I’d felt the need to touch her, to make it clear to any man who might want her that she wasn’t available. Because after the sex we’d been having, I felt like she was mine. This gorgeous woman was mine and I’d rip the eyeballs out of any man who looked at her, and shove them up his ass.
Oblivious to my need to lay hands on her, Bryn plowed through the crowd like an icebreaker. The woman was on a mission and tonight that mission appeared to be getting to the bartender as quickly as possible. I couldn’t blame her. The shit that went down with David made me want to drink, too.
This nightclub was one of several that we’d frequented in our search and we’d been here enough that all the bartenders knew our names. In fact, we were on a first-name basis with just about every bartender in the local area.
At first, we’d focused on just the gay bars, but when we hadn’t found Drew, we’d widened the search. I had even asked around at the Dance Stage, but no one remembered seeing a man matching Drew’s description.
The pace we’d
set was wearing on both of us, especially tonight, but for different reasons. Bryn was smarting over David’s accusations and feeling guilty that she couldn’t tell him the truth about what his son and ex-wife actually were.
I was stressed out by the possibility that Eamon Duff was still in town and searching for Bryn. So several hours of canvassing clubs wasn’t something I was looking forward to. The fact that I couldn’t tell her that the berserkers were also looking for Drew just doubled my frustration. We could be in bed while those assholes did all this legwork.
But that would mean coming clean about who I was and what I knew and how I felt about her. Maybe I should tell her. Just this morning, she’d confessed that she didn’t want to be alone anymore. That felt like a big step forward in our relationship.
“How are your Long Islands?” Bryn eyed the bartender.
The guy didn’t look familiar. Must be new. He shrugged at her question and that was answer enough for Bryn. Probably tasted like shit.
“Give me a Sex on the Beach then, and he’ll have a Guinness,” she said, hooking her thumb at me.
I looked at her and clamped my mouth shut. I’d give her sex anywhere she wanted it, all she had to do was say the word. Bryn glanced at me then turned her gaze to the crowd. She ignored me while I stared at her for several long moments, drowning in just how damn beautiful she was and how much I wanted her. It was all I could do not to drag her up my body until she wrapped her strong thighs around my hips and ground her—
She slid the Guinness over to me. “This is what you wanted, right?”
No. What I wanted was her naked body spread out on a bed underneath me, her mouth begging me to fuck her harder. The filthy things that came out of her mouth when we had sex made even me blush.
“Trygg?”
“Yep.”
I pulled my wallet out and slapped down some cash. Bryn gave me the hairy eyeball while I gulped down half of my stout, but she didn’t fight with me anymore about who was going to pay. We’d squabbled about it the first couple of nights, but I’d invoked the “old-fashioned man” clause and had refused to budge. She eventually got sick of the bartenders always taking my money instead of hers. Apparently, my glare was more intimidating.