Whisper studies me intently. “I’m not one of those people who thinks love solves everything or overcomes every challenge. I think sometimes it’s the wrong time or wrong situation and there’s nothing that can be done about that.”
“Yeah.”
“But listen—I do believe that when the love is rare and strong, it’s worth fighting for. It’s worth being uncomfortable and even sacrificing things. Love isn’t always easy or fairy-tale. It doesn’t always fall into our laps without any effort or difficulty. Sometimes you have to work to keep it. And that fight is what makes it all the sweeter.”
I can tell from his tone that he’s speaking from experience. There’s an unhealed wound there.
“And if you still lose it?” I ask.
“At least you had it for a while.” He claps my shoulder. “Most people never even get that, but how fortunate to be one of the few who have known true love, however fleeting.”
“Are you good,bror?”
He nods, offering a slight smile. “It was eons ago, but it was worth everything that happened after.”
“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here for you.”
He nods. “I’ll remember that.”
Before we can continue talking, Specter walks in. “You guys about ready for the morning meeting?”
“Let me run some coffee up to Pax and then I’ll join you in the rec room.”
I pour a cup quickly then hurry back up the stairs. I find Pax still in bed, lying on his side facing the window with his back to me, but he’s not asleep. He’s staring at his phone.
“Everything okay?”
He glances up, smiling softly. “Just checking for messages from Boone. Nothing yet.”
“Brought you some coffee. Figured you could use it.”
Pax sits up. “Thank you.” He takes a sip as I sit on the edge of the bed.
Damn, it was nice sleeping next to him and waking up with him beside me. I could get used to it, but that would be stupid.
“Whisper found out that Boone is traveling towards Crestvale now. It seems like he intentionally left the car for a while and then changed direction.”
Relief floods his face, but it’s brief. “Are we sure it’s Boone?”
“Well, no, but it’s a good sign. If…” I pause, then push forward. “If someone hurt him there would be no reason to leave the car and then return to it. It’s a rental. It would be better for it to be abandoned.”
“Right.” He sips his coffee again, nodding. “So he might be okay?”
“Yeah. I have a meeting with the team, but once that’s done, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
“I have a game tonight.”
“I know.” I squeeze his knee. “We’ll find him.”
I rise from the bed and head into the bathroom to brush my teeth and run some water through my ratty hair.
My nerves get worse as I pull a sweater over my t-shirt. I don’t know what Shadow plans to say about the news I dropped on him, but I’m sure he hasn’t thought of anything else since he heard it. Despite what we do, Shadow is a good man. He’s loyal and caring, and when you’re his to protect, he takes that seriously.
I linger in the doorway, wishing like hell that I could crawl back into bed with Pax and love on him some more, but duty calls.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Pax nods, his soulful eyes searching my face. “I fucked up your whole life, didn’t I?”
