Craft Brew

by Layla Reyne

  Cam stiffened at first, but after another hitched breath, he relaxed into the hold, and Nic hugged him tighter, same as he’d done earlier. He nuzzled the nape of his neck, inhaling deep. “I wish you’d let me go with you,” he whispered.

  So I can make sure you come back.

  Cam’s “I do, too” was so quiet Nic barely heard it.

  But it landed like a kick to his chest.

  “Then why—”

  Cam rotated in his arms, silencing him with a quick, hard kiss. “Please wait until I get back to move on Vaughn.”

  Maybe he was worried about the mess Nic’s family was in somehow reaching his in Boston. “Is that—”

  “Your turn to be quiet and careful. I can’t be there dealing with my family and worrying about you back here. Just wait to make any moves, please.”

  Nic nodded, because at least Cam was talking about returning. “Okay, we won’t move on Vaughn until you’re back.”

  Cam lifted his hands, framing his face. “And think about telling Aidan, at least about the mole inside the Bureau. And go to Moore. I trust him.”

  “Shh, Boston.” Nic laid his hands over Cam’s. He was rambling again, worrying about him and Vaughn instead of what was truly terrifying him. “Don’t worry about me,” Nic reassured him, making up for the earlier lost opportunity, as best he could. “I’ll fly under the radar. I’ll be safe. You worry about your family.”

  “You are—”

  Using Cam’s own moves against him, Nic kissed him quiet, silencing the demanding flutter of his own damn heart as well.

  “Call me if you need me,” Nic said. “I’ll be on the first plane out. Or I’ll phone a friend again, if need be.”

  “Thank you, for doing that.” One corner of Cam’s mouth hitched up, and it was the best thing Nic had seen since the call from Bobby. “Kind of nice having rich friends sometimes.”

  “They do come in handy.”

  Except for when they were traipsing up the stairs.

  Loudly.

  As if in warning.

  Nic stepped out of Cam’s arms just as Jeremy came through the door, Aidan and Jamie on his heels. “Did you find what you left, Mr. Price?”

  Behind Nic’s back, Cam slipped his keys into his hand. Nic held them aloft, pretending they were his. “Got ’em.”

  The pilot poked his head into the cabin. “Report from the flight deck. We can be up in five, if we taxi now.”

  “Go,” Aidan said, giving Jamie a last kiss. “Love you, Whiskey.”

  Jamie slapped his ass as he turned toward the door. “Love you too, Irish.”

  “Anything,” Nic said to Cam, “you call me.”

  “Be nice to Bird.”

  “I can’t promise he won’t answer to ‘Joe’ when you get back.”

  Cam’s answering smile was worth every second he’d spend taking care of the furry beast.

  “Later, Boston.”

  “Sooner, Price.”

  * * *

  They’d been in flight an hour, and despite the plush leather seats, Cam hadn’t been able to get comfortable for a single minute of it. Thoughts raced through his mind, and while he could normally harness that energy for good, tonight his thoughts kept slipping out of his grasp, spiraling.

  He scrubbed at his face, the beard he hadn’t had time to shave itchy. Maybe a couple hours’ sleep would help shut down his jumping thoughts. Jamie wouldn’t mind, engrossed in whatever he was watching on his screen. He reached down to retrieve the pillow he’d tossed aside earlier and found a monochrome blue tie underneath it.

  His favorite of Nic’s, the one that perfectly matched his eyes.

  Picking it up, he wove the cool silk around his hand, mentally contrasting it with the warm and sticky body he’d dragged his fingers over a few short hours ago. It’d been a roller coaster of a night, or rather morning. Nic arriving home, the fire, their reunion at Cam’s place, then the call from Bobby. Nic had steadied him in the wake of the unexpected blow, helped get him here with the same focus and efficiency Cam depended on when they worked cases together. And now Cam was leaving him in the middle of a messy one, the shit with Vaughn still up in the air. He felt pulled in two different directions. Who would have Nic’s back while he was in Boston?

  He couldn’t sleep until he knew Nic was safe too. Mel was already on Team Nic. Time to officially add more players. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Lauren.

  Need a favor.

  The text registered as Delivered, but not Read yet. This time of morning, she was probably mid-commute to the office. He set the device on the armrest and went back to staring at the clouds, sleep a long lost cause.

  “You keep at it, you’re going to tear a hole in Nic’s tie.”

  Cam’s gaze shot to the man across the aisle. Headphones off, Jamie was no longer focused on his laptop screen but on the piece of fabric clutched in Cam’s hands. “It’s not—”

  “Well, I hope you’re not mooning over one of my husband’s ties, or one of Danny’s, assuming you value your life.” Mel would probably end it, if Cam’s thoughts had ever strayed that direction. “And seeing as Nic was on this plane last night...”

  Cam forced his fingers to uncurl from around the tie, smoothing it out on his lap. “I just needed something to do with my hands.”

  “Right.” Jamie shut the laptop and set it aside. He ruffled his light brown hair and propped an elbow on the arm rest, chin in his hand. “That why Nic was with you when Bobby called this morning? And don’t give me that bogus apartment flooded excuse.”

  “It’s not bogus.” Nor was it the entire truth. Cam tossed the tie into the adjacent seat. “Why did I ever convince you to join the FBI?”

  Jamie ignored the dig, too focused on his other line of inquiry. “Seriously, Cam, what’s going on with you two?”

  “This you trying to distract me?”

  “In part. Now, stop deflecting.” He gave Cam the fess-up look, the same one he was used to getting from his real brothers.

  As much as Cam wanted to tell his friend that he was falling in love with one of the best men they knew, he didn’t want to have that conversation without getting Nic’s okay. They’d agreed to keep things quiet while they were “building something.” Past complications and present uncertainties had made them both cautious. Construction, however, had been halted while Nic was in San Diego. Last night, they’d started swinging hammers again, but once Nic learned the real reason Cam hadn’t wanted him to come to Boston, would he take away his tools and renewed affection, leaving the project forever unfinished?

  “We got close on the Kristić case,” Cam hedged. Not a deflection, but not the whole truth either.

  Jamie called him on it, immediately. “Close?”

  “He’s a good friend.”

  “Cameron.”

  “Jameson.”

  The big man chuckled, rolling his bright blue eyes. He turned serious a second later, dropping his arm and leaning forward. “I know this is going to sound horribly egotistical, and feel free to tell me to shut up—”

  “Shut up,” Cam said with a smirk.

  Jamie shot him the middle finger. “But if this is about my past dustup with Nic over Aidan, don’t let it be.”

  Cam tilted his head, encouraging Jamie to continue. This particular air needed to be cleared, be it now or in the future Cam still hoped for with Nic.

  “That’s ancient history,” Jamie said. “And it was Aidan’s fault, not Nic’s. I’ve made my peace with that.” He glanced down, rubbing his thumb over the emeralds in his platinum wedding band. “I made my peace with Nic too, at the wedding. Hell, I even helped upgrade the security at Gravity. From everything I’ve seen, he’s a good man.”

  “He is.” Cam knew that down to his bones. Nic was a better man than he let on or gave himself credit for. Stri
ving to atone for the sniper’s kill count inked on his skin, taking a special interest in abuse and exploitation cases, holding himself back from Cam for fear of making their friends uncomfortable. And for fear of repeating whatever mistake the cypress tree and GS on his back represented.

  Cam’s buzzing phone saved him from saying more than he should.

  “Bobby?” Jamie asked.

  Cam shook his head. “Lauren.”

  Anything, her reply text read.

  “Everything okay?” Jamie said.

  “Case we’re working on.” Not exactly, but that was more than Jamie needed to know. “Just making sure she’s set.”

  Another text popped up. Aidan told me about your mom. Hope she pulls through.

  Thank you.

  Favor?

  Nic knows we know about DV. Work with him, he texted. And call Mel in, if you need backup. She’s been helping him.

  She replied with the thumbs-up emoji. Cam, however, needed to be sure she understood the gravity of the situation and the full scope of his ask.

  I need you to have his back, Lauren.

  On it.

  That’s what he wanted to hear.

  And then because she was Lauren... Well, not on it, on it. That’s more your job, she added with a winky-face.

  Cam laughed for the first time in hours.

  Chapter Five

  Cam’s nieces and nephews were waiting for him at the hospital doors, charging him with shouts of “Uncle Cam!” For a few blissful seconds, Cam forgot the frustrating hours it’d taken to get here, forgot that he’d been a continent away when his family needed him, and just reveled in having his family in his arms again. The reunions continued upstairs in ICU, Quinn and Bobby greeting them in the hallway with back-slapping bro-hugs.

  “Was hoping you’d show up with a girlfriend,” Quinn said to him.

  “Hey!” Jamie mock protested. “What am I, chopped liver?”

  “We knew you’d be here,” Bobby said. “You’re family.”

  Cam wondered if his brothers would say the same about Nic, eventually. Once they got over the shock of him bringing home a man. As far as they knew he was straight. He hadn’t told his family he was bisexual. He’d only dated girls in grade school, and he’d kept his college conquests contained to campus, not bringing anyone home. He’d let the years pass without correcting his family’s assumptions. It’d never seemed like the right time, and now definitely wasn’t it. That’s why he’d turned down Nic’s offer to accompany him. If Cam had had what he really wanted, it’d be Nic by his side, hand on his back, keeping him steady, like he’d done early this morning. Meeting his family, especially—

  “Where’s Keith?”

  “In with Mom and Dad,” Bobby said, leading them into a nearby lounge. “He’s due back at base tomorrow. Supposed to ship out sometime next week.”

  His younger brother was an active-duty Marine stationed at Lejeune, though he’d spent more days deployed than on base during his service so far. “Can he get his leave extended?”

  “Tried,” Quinn answered. “Not looking good.”

  Unless you knew someone with juice. Like a retired SEAL sniper, JAG Corps captain, and federal prosecutor. Granted Nic was Navy, but USMC technically fell under the Navy’s umbrella. He bet Nic knew some higher-ups there too. “I’ve got a friend with connections.”

  Phone in hand, Jamie, following his train of thought, was already heading back into the hall. “I’ll call Price.”

  “The ex-special forces prosecutor?” Bobby said.

  Cam nodded. He’d mentioned Nic to Bobby when he’d called his brother for a gut check on last spring’s undercover assignment. That case had required him to tap into the less-than-legal past he and Bobby had shared and worked so hard to put behind them. They’d lost their sister because of it, Cam and Bobby out on a job the day Erin went missing, walking home alone from the library. She’d been presumed dead for two decades now, but the wound they’d inflicted on their family had never fully healed, especially Keith’s. He and Erin had been “Irish twins,” born only nine months apart, five years after Cam.

  Behind the rest of them in age, Keith had latched on to his mother after losing Erin. Cam didn’t want to think what losing her would do to him.

  “How’s Mom?” Cam asked.

  “In and out,” Bobby said.

  Cam’s heart leaped, buoyed by the first bit of hopeful news in hours. “She’s been awake?”

  “Wouldn’t miss an opportunity to remind Dad to take his meds,” Bobby said.

  “Or tell me how to run our fishing boats,” Quinn added. “Like I haven’t already been doing that since Dad retired.”

  That sounded even better. His mom was awake and aware enough to nag.

  “Don’t get too excited yet,” Bobby cautioned, motioning him to sit.

  He filled him in on their mother’s status, bringing Cam back down to reality. She was conscious and stabilized, but it was a temporary reprieve. She was being scheduled for surgery—no, surgeries—starting with a double bypass. Cam propped his elbows on his knees, spinning head held in his hands. There’d be risk at every step of the way, keeping them on pins and needles for at least the next week, then after, during her recovery.

  When he’d be back on the opposite coast.

  Fuck.

  “She’s awake now.”

  Cam dropped his arms and looked up, meeting his youngest brother’s blue eyes across the table. He was struck by how similar Keith’s bearing was to Nic’s, but that was the only thing the two military men had in common. Just under six feet, Keith had a bruiser build like Cam’s, like their mother’s, and at thirty-one, he still had his fresh face and headful of dark hair.

  “She’s asking for you,” he said, voice clipped, bubbling with the low-level resentment that had taken root the day Erin disappeared. Since the big brother he’d worshiped had let him down and cost him his sister and best friend. They’d never been close again.

  Didn’t mean he didn’t want to have his little brother safe and sound in his arms again, especially when Keith regularly put his life on the line. Cam stood and drew him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Awkward as it was, Cam didn’t hold the embrace for long, but then Keith clasped his upper arm, keeping him close. “Don’t do what she asks,” he whispered. “This family has been through enough.”

  This family, spoken like Cam wasn’t a part of it.

  He was still trying to digest the words, his stomach tossing and turning, when he nearly ran into Jamie in the hallway.

  “He’s right here.” Jamie held his phone out to him.

  “I’ll get your brother’s leave extended,” Nic said, no greeting and no hesitation. Just getting things done, for him.

  Cam’s rioting insides calmed, a little. “Thank you.”

  “I wish you’d let me do more.”

  Cam angled away from Jamie, hiding his blush at Nic’s softly spoken words. “You got any Gravity distributors out here?”

  Nic’s deep laugh warmed his insides, soothing him more. “I’ll check my list.”

  “Seriously, Dominic, doing this for Keith will go further than you know.” If Cam could take the threat of imminent deployment off Keith’s shoulders, then he’d feel like he was at least here for his brother now, like he hadn’t been before.

  “I’ll get right on it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Jamie said you’re at the hospital.”

  “Yeah.” He raked a hand through his hair, pacing the area to the side of the elevators. “Getting ready to go up and see Ma.”

  “Call me later. Let me know how she’s doing.”

  “Will do.”

  “Boston,” he said, voice brooking no argument, “call me.”

  Cam felt the urge to salute, which he hadn’t
done since his Bureau swearing-in ceremony. “I will. Now go.”

  He hung up and handed the phone back to Jamie. They were outside his mother’s room when his own phone buzzed with an incoming text. Reading it, he couldn’t help but smile. True to his word, Nic had sent him a list of Gravity distributors in the Boston area. His uplifted mood, however, was short-lived, disappearing as he entered his mother’s room.

  Edith Byrne was a fisherman’s wife and mother of five, a stout Southie who took no shit off of anyone, especially her husband and sons. She was loving, she was tough, she commanded any room she walked into, and she was the high standard Cam held anyone he’d dated up to. She’d been the glue that had held their family together after Erin disappeared. Her only daughter gone, presumed dead, she’d saved her husband from the bottle he’d almost drowned in and wrestled all her sons onto the right path. Seeing that woman, his mother, laid up in a hospital bed, looking frail and helpless, hooked up by wires and IVs to a dozen monitors and machines, was going to haunt Cam’s nightmares forever.

  His dad rose from the chair next to her bed. His salt-and-pepper hair was mussed, his Sox polo wrinkled, and his blue eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed. He was the picture of misery. Cam hadn’t seen him like this in twenty years.

  “Cameron,” he said, hauling him into a firm embrace.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Missed you, son.”

  Lump stuck in his throat, Cam couldn’t make the words come out, so he held on tighter. Fuck, he’d missed them more than he’d realized.

  “Kenneth,” Jamie said, laying a hand on the older man’s shoulder.

  “Jameson.” Ken shifted his attention and hugs to Jamie. “It’s good to see you too. Thanks for coming out with Cam.”

  “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  “Always such a good boy,” Edye said from the bed.

  She held out a shaking hand and Cam clasped it between both of his. “He’s married now, Ma. He’s never going to run away with you.”

  His mom was also an incorrigible flirt, though there was no question her heart belonged one hundred percent to her husband and kids. Cam still liked to tease, especially since she’d been a little starstruck by the too-handsome Whiskey Walker.