Page 6 of Lifeline

“But he doesn’t want to murder you,” Colin reminded him. “And you know we can’t trust Jake to do it; he forgets where he is half the time.”

“It’s true,” Jake said, looking far too pleased with the idea.

“And Trevor, love you, buddy, but if we make him give the tour, he’ll use up his word allotment for the month, and then where will we be?” Trevor didn’t seem to mind. Then Colin turned his attention to Reno, raising a brow. “Unless you wanna make sure Xander isn’t about to burn something down?”

“Oh, hell no, I’ll take my brother’s angry ex,” Reno said, and you could practically see the alarms going off in his head as he turned to me with wide eyes. “Shit, I’m so sorry.”

“No,” I told him, trying not to laugh at the look of terror on his face. I glanced around and wasn’t surprised that the dirty bastard had taken the chance to take off when I wasn’t looking. He wasn’t one to avoid confrontation, but I knew he hated the idea of an audience even more than I did. “I’m his ex, and I am pissed. But you’re safe, I promise. You don’t look like him.”

“We’re literally identical,” Reno pointed out.

“In looks, but you don’t make the same stupid expressions he does,” I told him quickly, then turned to Colin. “I promise I can be professional; this won’t be a problem.”

“You’re getting a free pass because it’s obvious no one was expecting this,” he told me softly, and I felt a rush of relief. If I had been warned about what was waiting for me, I wouldn’t have been so obvious about my emotions. It was nice to know I was going to get the chance to prove myself before I was judged. “But make sure this doesn’t bleed into the work, alright? Be awkward and weird about it for a bit, but don’t spread any shit.”

“Promise,” I told him quickly, knowing that workplace drama from a soured relationship was one of the biggest fears for many people. Especially when you were working in such a tight-knit, isolated group. “And you can throw me in the back of the truck and make sure Jake hits every bump on the way back if I don’t.”

“Can I?” Jake asked, sounding a little too eager.

“No!” Colin yelled at him, turning his attention back to me. “But I get your point. I’ll catch up with you guys later, alright?”

“Better you than me,” Reno muttered and went to grab my shoulder, watching the way I leaned away. “Probably shouldn’t touch you…shit, this is weird. I dunno how you’re dealing with it.”

“Hmm, you single?” I asked, knowing I was probably making Colin regret giving me the chance to prove I wasn’t a drama bomb waiting to go off. But damn it, there was a little imp in my brain that couldn’t resist the opportunity to be a little shit.

“And straight,” Reno said with a grin as he motioned for me to follow him. “Even if I wasn’t, I’m not helping you get revenge on my brother…not that kind of revenge anyway. But if you tell me what he did, I’ll give you a list of approved revenge I’m willing to help with.”

“Yeah, as much as I love the idea,” I admitted. “I don’t think I want to be doing that. Maybe when I’ve got a few beers in me, but right now? Your face is enough of a reminder of what, or who, has pissed me off.”

“It feels weird to apologize for my face, of all things,” Reno said with a shake of his head, noting the large bag on the floor and grunting to pick it up.

“Don’t,” I said with a sigh. “I need to get used to seeing his face. But yours? The more I’m around you and talk to you, the easier it’ll be for me to see Reno instead of Mikhail.”

“It’s a little weird to hear people say that,” he said as he picked up my bag and made a face that told me he wasn’t expecting it to be as heavy as it was.

“They told me to pack well, but not my whole life…but nothing about packing light,” I said by way of apology as he corrected his balance and stood upright.

“Obviously,” he said, and there it was: Mika’s voice coming out of Reno’s mouth. Not that I expected them to be so different there wouldn’t be anything similar, but it was a little jarring. Which was fine; I wasn’t lying when I said I needed to be around both of them. Mika because I needed to figure out how I was going to work alongside him without wanting to tear him a new one, and Reno so I didn’t keep seeing Mika in his face and unconsciously treat him poorly because of it. The men didn’t need to suffer because I couldn’t control myself…or because one of their own was a⁠—

I cleared my throat. “Lead the way.”

Reno stared at me, lingering in the doorway. “Anyone ever told you that you should skip the middleman and just slap a neon sign on your face that broadcasts your thoughts? Because you have a terrible⁠—”

“Poker face,” I finished with a sigh. “And no, I’m actually pretty good at poker. I’m good at hiding my feelings when I’m thinking about it, but not when I’m…off balance.”

“I’m—”

“Reno?”

“Am I about to get yelled at for apologizing?”

“You’re about to be told that if you apologize one more time because you unfortunately share genetics and once, a womb, with the son of a bitch I’m mad at, I’m going to find the largest boot and shove it up your ass.”

“Kinky?” he wondered, then wrinkled his nose. “And that would be Xander's or Jake’s boots. One of those two would be more willing to give up their boots for that than the other…no, wait, Jake would probably think it was funny if you beat my ass, he might help.”

“Noted. Now, can we do the tour?”

“Sure,” he said and swung into the room that was a shared bedroom from the looks of it. “Rooms are shared unless you’re Cait or Xander; they have their own small cabins. Uh, some of us don’t sleep in our rooms all the time. Carter and Mav crash at the forward building, still not sure how that works, but whatever, we’re all weird here. Jake usually sleeps in his room, but Colin…I don’t know, he sleeps wherever and whenever he wants, including at his clinic.”