I nod. “Tonight.”
Ryker beams. “Tonight sounds great, doesn’t it, Liam?”
I’m caught in another of Liam’s glares. He’s attempting to pierce my skull and find out what I’m hiding, but I mean it, we will talk tonight. Maybe not face to face like Ryker’s assumed, but we’ll talk without the fear any heated argument will end with my jeans and boxers halfway down my thighs. My cock stirs under the table, inciting a flare of panic. I momentarilywiden my eyes, and fire blasts my face at my reaction. Ryker’s by the sink filling his water bottle, but Liam—goddamn Liam—is always watching.
He sees but he doesn’t say anything.
“After work,” I say.
Ryker nods with enthusiasm, but Liam flicks his eyes to my plate.
“Eat,” he orders.
I do to satisfy him, to appease him enough that he stops trying to crack me. A piece of toast scratches my throat as I forget how to swallow properly. I cough to clear it while my eyes stream.
“Careful,” Ryker says filling up a glass of water for me. He places it on the table, then squeezes Liam’s shoulder. “Ease up,” he says to his brother.
“I’m trying,” Liam growls back. When he gets to his feet, I jump in my chair. “I’m going to put my vest on.”
When he leaves the room, I hurry to finish my breakfast. Ryker stays with me, but he doesn’t watch, he just busies himself rinsing off plates and cups before loading the dishwasher.
“Thanks,” I tell him when I’m done.
“You’re welcome.”
He takes my plate before I can offer to wash it and slots it into the dishwasher.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
I nod, desperate to be out of here. It’s a first for me to want to be at work, but it’s better than this stifling atmosphere. I compare it to gas in the air, one spark and it’ll go off.
We leave the house together with Liam locking the door. Ryker calls out to me as I rush to my car.
“Tonight . . .”
“Tonight,” I agree before climbing inside.
He’s the first to leave, and I’m forced to wait for Liam who gets into his car, starts the engine, but doesn’t reverse. Instead,he revs the engine, makes it growl and huff at my bumper, and my eyes clash with his through the mirror. It feels like a warning. I want to cower, climb into the passenger footwell, and curl up into a ball, but I fight these instincts, and beat my fist on the horn.
It’s early morning, and I know the brothers like the street and their neighbours. They won’t want them being woken to a droning car horn. Liam’s expression scrunches with a curse, then he pulls out of the driveway, letting me go.
I drive away with my heart pounding in my ears.
I am going to talk to them tonight, but on my terms. When they drive to my work to collect me, which I’m sure they will, my car will already have gone.
They’ll have to make do with a phone call between us. It’s the only way I’ll be able to think clearly when we talk. Any inappropriate reaction I have will be hidden from them, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage our friendship.
16
Ryker
Thankfully, the station is quiet.
We get days like this when the call-outs are minor or false alarms, and whatever almighty deity is up there has blessed me with one. I request the afternoon off, and it’s granted as long as I agree to work an extra night shift on Thursday.
It’s a small price to pay.
The extra few hours in the afternoon allow us to put our plan into action before we chaperone Freddie back to the house. Liam had wanted to go to extremes to keep Freddie with us, the “handcuff to the radiator” kind of extreme, but I told him absolutely not.
