Fuck this, he needed to burn off some steam.
He went back into the bedroom and got changed, picking sweatpants instead of jeans. No sense in making himself suffer more than he had to after not running for over a week except to chase someone down. He left the Air Force hoodie on, grabbed his phone again, and?—
Shit. Dead. The alarm had killed the last of his battery. He dug out the charger and plugged it in, then headed for the front door. “I’ll be back soon.”
Reed nodded, but Cole did a double-take when he saw him. “Where are you going?”
“Just on a run,” Will said. “Not far, and nobody knows me here but Shelly. It’s fine.”
It didn’t seem that way according to Cole, though. He got up from the couch and came over to the door, pushed them both outside and shut it behind them. It was chilly out here, and Cole immediately wrapped his arms around himself. Will’s hands twitched with temptation.
No. Stop it.
“You seriously expect me to just take it on faith that this guy is trustworthy?” Cole demanded in a low, intense voice.
“Not on faith,” Will said. “On my word. I’m tellin’ you he’s trustworthy.”
“No one in our circle is trustworthy.”
Ouch.He ignored the sting and pressed on. “Reed is. He was my brother’s buddy first, and I brought him in when I asked him to help me out on a job—shit, seven years ago now? Eight?” He shrugged. “Something like that. He only works with me, and I trust him with my baby brother. Reed won’t screw us over.”
Cole stared him down, a look that was promptly ruined when he shivered. Will gave in to his earlier urge and ran his hands briskly up and down the other man’s arms, grinning when Cole started.
“It’s too early for honeybees to be buzzing around,” Will chuckled. “Go drink your coffee and do smart shit. I’ll be back.” He reluctantly let go, then turned and began to jog down the path before he did something stupid.
Running was the worst form of exercise, except for all the others. Will didn’t particularly like it, but he ran whenever he had time anyway; it was a necessary skill, at this point. He spent close to an hour on the trails around the farm, waving occasionally to other visitors but never stopping to talk. By the time he got back to the cabin, he’d stripped off the hoodie and was more than ready for a glass of water or three, but?—
“Oh, thank God.” Reed appeared in the door and threw—literally threw—Will’s phone at him. “Call your brother before he sends a hitman after me.”
Will frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“You missed a check-in.”
Aw, shit.
Will squeezed his eyes shut for a second, then turned the phone on and watched a cascade of messages pile in. He didn’t bother to read them, just hit send.
“Will.”
Completely flat intonation. Davey was either anxious, pissed, or both. Probably both. “Hey, Baby Boy.”
“What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, immediately owning his mistake. Posturing was for everyone else; Davey got honesty. “It was a really late night and I got tired. I let my phone die and I forgot completely about texting until Reed reminded me.”
“You can’t…Will.”
“I know.”
“You never forget to text.”
“It’s been pretty damn busy lately,” Will defended himself—weakly, but it was what he had. “This is turning into a more complicated job than I anticipated, but it’ll be all right.”
There was a long moment of silence. “I’m coming to you.”
The hell?“No, you’re not,” Will snapped. “I’ve got it handled.”
“Reed says you look like hell.”
