Mason marched over and hauled the bleeding bearded guy to his feet. “You need to get gone, friend.”
The guy wiped at his nose. “Fucking lunatic.” He stomped off, and Ryden stepped forward, only to have Jay grab his arm again. Reluctantly, Ryden stayed put. When the guy disappeared around the building, Mason turned to Ryden and threw his arms up.
“What the fuck, man?”
“He came at me first,” Ryden growled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Fine. So he did. I’m not telling you not to defend yourself, but you know better than this. Where the hell’s your head at?”
That was a really good fucking question. Where the hell was his head at? He instinctively turned, but Jay was gone. Fan-fucking-tastic. It was probably for the best, considering how things were going and how quickly everything had escalated.
“Ry?”
Ryden rubbed his hands over his face. “Sorry, man. I don’t know what the hell got into me.” He pressed his lips together, ready to bury it all down, but he could hear his therapist’s voice in his head reminding him to do the opposite.
Like Saint, Mason was family to Ryden. When Ryden accepted King’s offer to work at Four Kings Security, he’d done so with the knowledge that he’d be sharing an office with a man he’d tried to murder. A man Ryden had wrongfully blamed for all his misfortune.
Instead of sending Ryden to prison, Mason had refused to press charges. Then he’d offered Ryden his apartment, while Mason’s boyfriend, Lucky, and the rest of his Green Beret buddies had offered Ryden a job. They took him under their collective wing, introduced him to a great therapist, and helped him get back on his feet.
Six years had gone by since that night. It had taken a lot of therapy and hard work for him to reach this point. He was finally in a good place. Hell, a great place. Except where Jay was concerned.
Ryden shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. “I said somethin’ real shitty to Jay and I meant to apologize, but instead….” He waved a hand around, indicating what Mason had diffused.
“You put your foot in it. Again,” Mason replied, shaking his head. “What is it with you two?”
“That’s an excellent question,” Ryden muttered. “Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer.” Maybe because anytime Jay popped into his head, he quickly moved his thoughts onto something,anythingelse. Unfortunately, Jay popped into his head far more than Ryden was willing to admit.
Monday was going to be an interesting day at the office. They both worked in the same department within the same open-planoffice space, and due to their job responsibilities, they had to see and speak to each other daily.
Jay wasn’t going to let this one go, and whatever hell he gave Ryden, he’d brought it on himself. He had to find a way to rise above it and not let Jay get to him. They could be civil. Mature. Professional. He could ride the rough string. All he had to do was not be reactive to anything Jay said or did.
Easy as pie.
CHAPTER TWO
“Are ya freakin’kiddin’ me?”
It took a great deal of willpower not to look. Despite Ryden’s growls and curses carrying from across the floor, Jay kept his eyes on his book. He congratulated himself on not lifting his gaze at the sound of heavy boot stomps approaching his desk.
King’s office faced the front of the open plan office floor, which meant Jay’s desk did as well, since it was just outside and to the right of King’s office door. Jay could see everything that happened in the office at all times.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
Jay held a finger up, finished reading his sentence, and leisurely placed his bookmark between the pages. He then put the book on his desk and looked up at Ryden.
“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Foster?”
“For one, stop callin’ me Mr. Foster. Makes me sound like a kindergarten teacher about to hand out apple slices and juice boxes. Two, I know you’re the one responsible for this nonsense.”
Jay blinked at him. “You forget where we work. You’ll have to be more specific about the nonsense you are referring to.”
“Fair enough, but you know what I’m talkin’ about. What did you do to my computer?”
“Me?” Jay fluttered his lashes. “I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t touched your computer.” And he hadn’t.
“You don’t have to touch my computer,” Ryden hissed. “You probably just batted your lashes and got someone in Cyber to mess with it.”
Thathe had done.
