“Yeah, well you won’t have to tonight.” Cole went to pick up his bag again, and?—
“We could share.”
It fell into the air between them like another fake Puffin, heavy and awkward and probably about to get shattered with a “no.” But Will didn’t want Cole to say no. “It’s a big bed,” he went on, hopefully not so fast that it came off as a ramble. “And the couch really is shit. Neither of us should sleep there if we can avoid it. It’ll be fine.”
Cole looked at him for a long moment before finally nodding. “All right. I still get the bathroom first, though.” He stepped past Will into the hallway, and Will…
Bless my motherfuckin’ heart, I’m an idiot.
But he was an idiot who was going to have to live with the consequences, so he went and got his own bag and didn’t think about the fact that he was going to get into bed with Cole in a few minutes. A freshly showered, minty smelling Cole wearing stupidly soft sleep clothes and, shit, maybe even reading glasses if Will was really lucky.
He was even luckier—Cole was fast asleep by the time Will got out of his own shower and back to the bedroom. Will breathed a sigh of relief as he crept around to the far sideof the bed and slid under the covers. The sheets were almost uncomfortably cool, but he knew he’d warm up soon enough.
All on my own, God willing and the creek don’t rise.
Surely his body wouldn’t betray him like that. He’d trained himself out of that habit years ago; he almost never ended up plastered to whoever he was in bed with these days. It would be fine.
Will set the alarm on his phone to wake him up a little before nine—almost six hours from now, luxurious—and closed his eyes.
It would befine.
He woke up deliciously sweaty, the kind of warmth his body craved after a childhood spent living in the humid heat of Texas. God, it was nice. Felt like the first time he’d been really warm since… he couldn’t even remember. His phone was being annoying, though. Will grunted where he had his face pressed to someone’s shoulder blade and reached back with his top hand for wherever he’d stuck that damn?—
Fuck.
Will froze for a second, then followed through on his first impulse and found his phone, thumbing off the alarm with a minimum of movement. It seemed like Cole was still asleep, breathing so softly Will could barely even feel it, and he didn’t stir as Will carefully loosened the octopus-like hold he had on his bedmate.
Bedmate. Ha.I wish.
But as much as Will could be an asshole, he didn’t actually want to make Cole feel cornered after he’d basically forced the man to sleep beside him last night, so he pulled awayas delicately as he could, filling in the space with blanket immediately after so Cole didn’t feel the chill of the room. Shit, it was cold here in the morning. Thank God it wasn’t winter.
Will pulled the Air Force hoodie he’d stolen from his brother out of his bag and slipped it on as he escaped into the hallway, leaving Cole none the wiser behind him with a little sigh of relief. There was a little regret, too, but it was what it was. And his back did feel a lot better, so…
Twenty minutes and one and a half cups of coffee later, there was a knock at the cabin door. Will glanced out the window, then opened the door. He found Reed on the doorstep, a Styrofoam cup in one hand and a laptop bag in the other. He was wearing torn, faded jeans and had a vintage Metallica T-shirt on beneath his red flannel shirt. A shock of black hair fell over his forehead, obscuring one eye, and Will could just make out the chain of his dog tags around his neck before they vanished under the shirt.
“Hi,” he said, raising the cup in an awkward air-toast. Somehow, awkward seemed appropriate for him. “Um, I’m here.”
“Right on time,” Will said. “Thanks for meeting us here.” He gestured for Reed to come inside, then pulled him into a quick hug once he was over the threshold. Reed, like every time he ever got a hug, took a few seconds to get over the shock of it before returning it with the cup hand.
“I mean, you said you need my help and I was close enough, so…yeah.” He glanced around after they separated, eyes wide and interested. “I’ve never been to this one before. Did you know Shelly’s store sells maple creemees?”
“Yeah, they’re good,” Will said as he headed for the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“No thanks. I need to finish my creemee first.”
What the…“You got an ice cream at nine in the morning?” Will demanded.
“I mean…yeah?” Reed pried the top off the Styrofoam cup, took a plastic spoon out of his pocket, and stuck it into the mound of maple soft-serve ice cream that was a local favorite.
How Reed had survived in the military was beyond Will. “Let me know if you end up wanting some caffeine with your morning ice cream, ‘kay?”
“Sure.” Reed sat down on the couch, which creaked ominously, and began to set up his computer. “Where’s Mr. Dalton?”
“Still sleeping, so if you could keep your voice down, that’d be great.”
Reed blinked. He had big, brown cow eyes that were the focal point of his face, and they showed every emotion he felt. Right now, it looked like he was pretty damn confused. “Why is he asleep? It’s after nine in the morning.”
“We got in late,” Will said as he refilled his cup. “He’ll probably be up soon.” He sat down next to Reed on the couch as quietly as he could. “All right, talk to me. You find anything at all about Marcus?”
