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Detective Senior Constable Angela Thomas, one of the two detectives that had arrived at the scene and that Lake recognised from that day weeks ago when he had gone to the station that Grady worked at, gave the guy a stern look. “Mr Dixon, if you can’t calm down, I will be forced to cuff you.”
Dixon pointed aggressively at Lake. “They get away with whatever they want!”
“You ran into me!” Lake protested. What thefuck?Lake wasn’t generally someone to brag, because he believed that actions spoke louder than words, but he was one of, if notthe,best drivers that he knew. If it had an engine, he could drive it and withskill. He hadn’t done anything wrong, and the asshole had come out of nowhere. If anyone needed a lesson on proper road etiquette, it wasn’t Lake.
Detective Senior Constable Gideon Clark, the second detective and the one that had been calling Grady for Lake, came back from where he’d been standing by his car. “He’s on his way,” he told Lake. “Everyone playing nice?”
“Soldiers don’tplay nice,”Dixon spat.
Lake resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It’s not like it was the first time he’d had someone come at him because of the uniform, but he’d just narrowly survived being crushed because the wanker couldn’t drive properly. He had no desire to stand around and listen to this bullshit. He hoped that Grady was close by.
Lake tuned the guy’s growling out and twisted to give Detective Clark a wry smile. “Just out of curiosity, if you witnessed someone getting assaulted—punched in their loud mouth, just for an example—what kind of sentence are we talking about? Five to life? A couple of nights in the drunk tank? Community service?” He could clean up a few parks in exchange for the satisfaction.
Detective Clark’s answering grin was infectious. He leaned forward conspiratorially. “If someone gets punched,” he said, his eyes glancing towards where Detective Thomas was barking at the guy to sit the fuck down, “I didn’t see anything. Did you?”
“Not a thing,” Lake said.
The tow truck arrived before Grady did. It at least occupied Dixon enough while he told the truck driver off for being reckless with how he was loading his car. Someone needed to take a chill pill, but it wasn’t being directed at Lake anymore, which he was grateful for.
Lake picked at his cuticles as he waited, no idea what to do with his hands. He wasn’t good at idle, and he didn’t have his phone to fiddle with while he waited. He’d have to get another one, which was a pain in the ass. He’d need to get his number transferred because he wasnotgoing to spend the next eight years remembering a new one or having to remember to give it out to everyone he had ever met throughout his entire life.
A sleek black Toyota Camry pulled up behind the metallic sky-blue Kia Sorento that Detective Clark and Detective Thomas had arrived in. Lake didn’t recognise it, but he certainly recognised the man that stepped out of it.
Lake’s heart skipped a beat as he watched Grady stride confidently towards him. He was wearing a black-suit-on-a-white-shirt ensemble, a thick black belt around his waist, the metal buckle gleaming in the sun. He was a bigger guy, not muscle-junkie level, but solid, and the suit really worked for him, tight in all the right places. His long, thick legs closed the space between them quickly.
Grady stopped just short of him, ignoring everyone around them as his eyes darted over Lake’s frame in a way that made Lake feel warm all over. Safe, protected.
“Are you all right?” Grady asked, his voice low and throaty.
It was only when he was staring into Grady’s warm olive-green gaze that the reality of what had just happened really hit him. Half his car was a crumpled mess. If he’d been in the car with someone else, ifAveryhad been in the car with him, Avery wouldn’t have made it. He’d been upset his phone hadn’t made it, but that was nothing in comparison to the life of a person he cared about. His brother, his best friends, his brothers-in-arms. He dealt with that reality at work, especially during messy deployments, but not at home. Not like this.
He surged forward, barrelling into Grady’s chest. Grady’s arms circled him immediately, enclosing him like a cocoon, one large hand splayed across his back and the other wrapped around his nape, supporting it as Lake rested his cheek against Grady’s beating heart. He didn’t know if it was running fast, or if Lake was projecting his own heartbeat.
If his hands trembled a little as his fingers curled around Grady’s belt, Grady didn’t mention it, and Lake was grateful for that.
Grady’s hand slid up from his nape to curl into his hair, and Lake could have sworn lips pressed against the top of his head, but he couldn’t be sure. He was too focused on the warmth holding him up.
“I’m okay,” he said, his voice muffled against Grady’s chest. He wasn’t sure if he was saying it to himself or to Grady. Maybe both of them.
“What happened?”
“Some asshole ran a red light, came out of fucking nowhere.” He swallowed down his anger. Careless drivers caused so many unnecessary accidents on the road. There hadn’t been any casualties this time, but more often than not there were. Innocent people who never made it home because someone thought they were more important than the road rules.
A growl rumbled up from Grady’s chest, and Lake felt it against his cheek. He didn’t know why it calmed him, made him feel better.
And then the smell hit his nose.
He blinked, wrinkled his nose, and then pulled back enough to look up at Grady. “Why do you smell like you’ve been swimming in sewerage?” he asked. He’d been so one minded, so intent on taking what comfort he could from the big man in front of him, that his brain hadn’t caught up with that god-awful stench.
“I probably have,” Grady said gruffly.
“And you let me touch you?” Lake asked incredulously. He gave Grady a once-over, and the dirt marks on the bottom half of his pants suddenly stood out in a way they hadn’t when he’d been walking toward Lake. “You ruined your suit.” Which was a shame because he filled it out so well.
“Youtouchedme,” Grady pointed out.
They were still touching, and despite the smell, Lake wasn’t inclined to move. He didn’t know if Grady knew that he was massaging his fingers into the back of Lake’s head, but he wasn’t going to bring it up in case it stopped, which would have been a sadness Lake wasn’t prepared to deal with.
“You’re in the Army,” Grady continued. “You’ve never waded in muck?” He was definitely laughing at Lake now, the curve of his mouth strangely distracting.
