It jars me for a second. Ryker is the talker, Liam is not, but Ryker still can’t look me in the eye, and my gut twists into a knot when I think of Alice. Not the woman, but the name. I replace Alice with the word “Don’t” said by Liam and my insides unfurl a little.
Ryker would’ve gone back inside the bar if it hadn’t been for his brother.
“Okay,” I reply.
“At our place,” Liam says before pushing off from Ryker’s car. “Who do you want to ride with?”
“Neither of you. I’ll drive my own car.”
Liam’s jaw stiffens, flashing the sharp bone beneath the skin. His hand presses to his hip and the handcuffs he keeps clipped to his belt. I’m sure he’s not allowed them on display like that when he’s off duty, but there they are, and it’s a not-so-subtle threat that he could overpower me if he so chooses.
My stomach flips with excitement, but I don’t want to think about why.
I lay out my conditions. “I drive myself, or I don’t come.”
Liam looks at Ryker, but Ryker doesn’t look back.
“Okay.”
Liam says it in a tone that means it’sabsolutelynot okay, but I’m not putting myself in a position where I can’t escape them. Besides, after we’ve concluded our “talk” I’ll need to drive myself back here to sleep in the canteen.
“Let’s get this over with,” Liam says, which is Ryker’s and my cue to get in our cars while he watches over us, making sure we do exactly as he wants.
14
Liam
I would’ve preferred if Freddie had got in either Ryker’s or my car, because that way I could’ve controlled where he ended up staying the night . . . which would’ve been at ours. But I concede, and give Freddie his fake victory. Ryker leads the way home with Freddie’s car sandwiched between our 4x4s, and I stick to Freddie’s bumper by putting my foot down at junctions and turns, ignoring the blare of horns and squeal of tires.
I’m shepherding him home and I’ll be damned if I lose him.
Ryker pulls onto the driveway, Freddie pulls up next to him, then I block him in by parking directly behind.
Freddie narrows his eyes at me as he gets out, and I read his lips through the windscreen.“Seriously?”
Yes, I’m serious. I’m extra angsty at Ryker not being able to find out who Freddie’s staying with, and he won’t be leaving our place until he’s at least given up the person’s name and address. If I have my way, Freddie won’t be leaving at all, but Ryker keeps telling me we can’t lock him up in the house against hiswill. There are laws against that, which I’m well aware of, but I frankly don’t give a shit.
Ryker unlocks the door then steps inside without looking back. He’s kept it open for Freddie and didn’t slam it back in his face—which is something, I guess. It’s unsettling to see Ryker this . . . well . . . unsettled. He’s not sure how to act around Freddie, and I’m wondering whether he thinks “Alice” really had been on Freddie’s mind when he came.
It’s ludicrous, and he tells me he knows Freddie only said it to hurt him, but there’s a difference between knowing with a roll of the eye andknowingdown to your bones.
A doubt, as small as can be, can still grow.
After a hesitation, Freddie goes into the house. I follow behind him and lock the door. I slip out of my shoes, then hang up my stab vest.
Ryker’s headed into the kitchen where he starts prepping the coffee machine while Freddie hovers in the doorway. When I’m a few feet from his back, he steps inside but sits down on the chair closest to the door. I don’t like that, but I take a deep breath and remind myself his car is blocked in and if he chooses to run, I’m faster.
I sit down on the seat opposite him. Ryker left red marks on Freddie’s neck that pop from his pale skin. Two are a deep burgundy, and the faintest is at his throat beside where his Adams apple bobs. The rash on the other side of his neck is all mine, a big expanse of skin I’d scraped my beard against.
The domestic sounds of Ryker making coffee sets my teeth on edge. I usually enjoy silence, but right now it’s just a reminder that something is very wrong between us. Ryker and Freddie should be chatting away, filling our kitchen with laughter while I listen with a warm feeling in my chest, but that isn’t what’s happening.
The chime of Ryker tapping a teaspoon against a cup raises the hairs at my nape. This silence is hollow andhurt, and it’s coming from both of them.
“We know about you and Keegan,” I say.
Freddie hits Ryker with a venomous glance before turning the look on me. Ryker doesn’t notice with his back to us, and I’m more equipped to deal with fury than my brother. He’s the heroic firefighter, and I’m the meddling police officer, that’s how it goes, so I soak up Freddie’s anger.
I don’t tell him I’m sorry about the news, because I’m not, and I also don’t ask him why he didn’t reach out to us because both Ryker and I know.
