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“He seems a little better. Cracking some jokes.”
Andrei nodded and started walking. Rowe was a few yards away now and Jude was ahead of him, calling the little boy’s name. “He has good days and he has bad days.”
“Gee, thanks. Can you be just a little more helpful?”
Rolling his eyes at Snow, Andrei moved a little to his left so that Snow could walk beside him on the narrow path. “He’s in the office more now. He didn’t come in much during the winter. Maybe once a week. Now, he’s there at least three days a week. He’s talking to people a little more, cracking a few more jokes. He seems less distracted now and talking a little more about expanding. It’s all good.”
“But…”
Andrei shrugged and looked away from Snow. “He’s not the man he was. May never be.”
He knew that, but it didn’t stop the words from hurting. Mel and Rowe had been perfect together, seemingly two halves of that same whole and all those other silly, hokey clichés that he’d never believed until he saw Rowe and Mel together. Snow didn’t know how Rowe kept going day after day without his other half, but he did and Snow had a feeling it had a lot to do with the man walking beside him.
“Thanks,” Snow murmured.
“For what?”
“For watching out for Rowe and Lucas.”
“Rowe’s my best friend. Has been for a few years now. I’d do anything for him. And Lucas…” Andrei’s voice drifted off and he gave a little shrug. He finally lifted his eyes to meet Snow’s despite his cheeks growing red with embarrassment. Yeah, Andrei didn’t need to say. He was as completely in love with Lucas as Lucas was in love with him.
“I’m glad.”
“I’m glad you found Jude.” Andrei paused and carefully took the lead as the path narrowed further, winding down and around an outcropping of rocks. “Lucas told me some stuff. From your past. Not a lot. Just some.”
“I told him he could.”
Andrei gave a jerky nod. “I just…you deserve to be happy and I’m glad you’ve got Jude and Lucas.”
“Thanks.”
“And me.”
Snow stopped walking. He’d never expected to hear those two words come from Andrei. They’d gotten off to an awkward start when he’d started dating his best friend and they’d never talked much.
Andrei stopped walking as well and turned back toward Snow, one corner of his mouth going up. “I mean, I get that I’m not your first choice and that there’s sort of this waiting list to be your friend. But, you know, if you ever need something, you can call me.”
“You’ve gotta stop. I’m beginning to believe that Lucas doesn’t deserve you.”
Andrei snorted and turned to continue down the path. “He doesn’t. He’s just lucky the sex is really fucking good.”
Snow shook his head.
“Hey!” Jude shouted ahead of them. “I think I hear something.”
Snow followed close on the heels of Rowe and Andrei as they ran down the trail toward where Jude was standing under a tall rock overhang. They had been walking along with a high wall of seemingly solid rock on their left while the right side of the path dropped off in a collection of dense trees and bushes. Far below they could hear the faint trickle of water. Rowe had led them off Rough Trail some time ago, picking up what he called a hidden trail, but Snow had yet to hear what even the local name of the trail was. Not the most comforting idea that possibly only Rowe knew where the fuck they were, but the former Army Ranger had managed to pick out little hints that a small child had been through the area not long ago. They followed him, hoping for the best.
Jude paced back and forth, calling for Mikey and then pausing, listening. Snow strained to hear anything besides birdsongs, the rustle of leaves, and the splash of water, but there was nothing. Snow glanced over at Rowe who shook his head. They’d been hiking for hours, exhausted from the constant changes in elevations and navigating the sometimes-treacherous trails. Snow knew he’d never convince Jude to pack it in for the day—hell, he didn’t want to give up on looking for the little boy—but they needed to rest before one of them got seriously hurt.
Walking over to his lover, he reached out to grab Jude’s shoulder when he finally heard it. So soft. It was almost animal-like, but not. The sound echoed slightly as if it were bouncing off the stone.
“Mikey? Mikey Bonner?” Jude called again, hope lifting his voice a little higher.
“Help!”
This time the young voice was clear enough for them to get a bead on it. In a narrow opening between two massive boulders and half-hidden under a thick nest of twisted roots from a tree growing on the rocks above them, they spotted the child.
