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Another rumble of thunder shook the ground when Harrison avoided him and got into the car with Clay, Dane, and Wiley. Said they had spell talking to do, but Hale knew that Harrison just didn’t want to ride with him. Furious, he climbed into the SUV with Cort, Grey, and Baer, sitting in the back seat with Baer.
“You look pissed,” Baer said as he moved his legs around, stretching them out as much as he could. The rain was so noisy on the roof of the SUV, forcing Baer to speak louder than normal.
Hale wrenched open the soda he’d brought with him, though he was really in the mood for coffee. The maker in their hotel room hadn’t worked. He took a long swallow and brushed his wet hair off his face. “Everything’s fucking drenched. If it’s not the pestilents, it’s the damn weather trying to stop us.”
“That all that’s bothering you?”
Grey started the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot, throwing Hale a glance over his shoulder. “No, there’s tension between him and Harrison.”
That’s right, Grey could read his mind. For the first time, it kind of bothered him because his thoughts were for no one but him right then.
Cort turned in his seat to look at Hale. “What’s wrong?”
Hale glanced at all three of them and scowled. But then, maybe it would help to spill some of what he was feeling. These guys had been through the soul-mate bond; they could probably shed some light on this. He aimed his first question at Cort, who still faced him. “Did you feel something before you knew you and Grey were soul mates?”
Cort nodded, his brown eyes twinkling. “I felt a connection to him I’d never experienced. It was so strong, it threw my whole world out of whack.”
Hale frowned. “That’s what I feel toward Harrison.” He looked at Grey. “Are you sure he’s not my soul mate?”
Grey brought the vehicle to a stop at a red light. “There’s no ribbon between you two. I’m sorry.”
“Well, something is there and it’s driving me crazy because I can tell he feels it, too. But he’s determined not to get in the way of me finding a soul mate, so he’s backed off.” He took another swallow of his soda, feeling the burn in his throat. “What about you?” he asked Baer.
“I felt something, too. Of course, I thought he was a Weaver and spilled all our secrets to him.” Baer chuckled and shifted in his seat again. “But yeah, there was a connection there even before Grey told us about the ribbon—which he could have done sooner.”
Hale’s eyes snapped up to Grey and then he looked back at Baer again. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t you tell them? Does that mean you’re messing with me now and there is a ribbon between Harrison and me?”
Grey glared at Baer, seeming to curse him to one of the lower levels of Hell before turning his attention to Hale. “No, I promise, I wouldn’t do that. Not when we’re down to the line like we are. With Baer and Wiley, I wanted to give them time to come to terms with how they felt first. If I had told Baer that Wiley was his soul mate the second I saw them together, he would have fucked it up.”
Baer flashed a crooked grin and nodded. “He’s right. I would have.”
Hale was so damn disappointed there was no ribbon. He wanted Harrison. Wanted him so much, he didn’t even like being separated in different vehicles.
The rain grew fiercer, and Grey cursed as he tried to see out the window. “We may not be able to get far in this. Weird thing is, there was not one mention about a storm on the local news this morning.”
Hale looked outside, but there was nothing but gray sheets of rain with the occasional lightning splitting the sky.
“I thought you two might be hooking up when Harrison got so jealous over the park ranger,” Baer said, amusement lacing his voice. “He shut that down fast.”
“That’s what’s so frustrating about this. It’s obvious he wants me, because he doesn’t want anyone else to have me, but he’s fighting it. We don’t know if I’ll have time to find a damn soul mate, and I really don’t care if I do at this point. I’m interested in Harrison, plain and simple. At least to me it is. He’s the one being so hardheaded.” Hale screwed the cap onto his soda and set it in the holder. “But part of the problem is he’s never been with a man before either. He’s probably all kinds of mixed up over this. I feel for him, I do, but chemistry like we have doesn’t come along every day, you know?”
“He’s always been straight?” Baer asked. He scratched his furry jaw. “That has to be an issue. Damn. Here he is with this sacred duty, and he’s jonesing for a man for the first time in his life. Probably fucking with his head.”
