Chapter Twenty-One
Irving
From the rest stop, we had a long view of the rolling hills and steep cliffs of Snoqualmie Pass. We found a few picnic tables off beside the main building and drank our paper cups of coffee while gazing across the snow-capped peaks of the mountains. It had been a winding, steep drive in my Prius, but now that we were here, I was able to appreciate the scenery.
“I don’t know,” I said, tapping my fingers against the table. “That apartment was pretty bleak. Did you see how trashed it was? Maybe there isn’t some grand conspiracy with crime bosses and assassins. Maybe he’s just some guy who is hard on his luck.”
“Maybe?” Ezra said, not convinced. He was wearing his overalls and pulling pencils out of his bib pocket to sketch the mountainside while we talked. “Even if that’s true, though, we’re still tangled up in whatever mess he’s got himself into. It will be a lot better to clear the air before he leaves town, instead of sitting around fretting about what might happen next.”
“At least no one has messed with the shop in a while.”
Ezra shrugged, his pencil scratching the paper. “That’s one good thing. Clark and the other employees are pretty relieved about it. They even stopped teasing me about my crush on Brick.”
I startled, a shock hitting my gut. “You have a crush on Brick?”
Ezra looked up, the sunlight reflecting off his glasses. “Duh. Wasn’t that obvious? I mean, nothing has ever happened between us, like it did with you. But yeah, he’s pretty sexy, you know?”
It was silly to feel thrown off by Ezra admitting how sexy Brick was. Obviously, I didn’t disagree, and he had that dominant top energy that we both craved. Anyway, we had settled pretty easily into a friendship, and I wasn’t exactly looking for something more. Just having someone who wasn’t Karis to talk with made such a difference in my life. Who cared if Ezra had a harmless crush on a guy that was speeding his way out of town and out of our lives while we spoke?
“He is sexy,” I admitted.
“Those thick neck muscles and the way he’s always flexing his biceps when he crosses his arms over his chest…” Ezra made a low purring noise, like a horny cat, and I laughed and kicked him under the table.
“Don’t forget he rejected me in the back of the bar. There’s nothing sexy about that.”
“Here comes our last chance to ogle him, anyway. Maybe he’ll even say more than a few words at a time, now that he’s leaving.”
I turned to glance over my shoulder. Sure enough, Brick was heading our way. Behind him, a beat-up truck was filled with his possessions, and a couple of tarps were strapped down over the bed to hold it all in place. In a tight pair of black jeans and a sleeveless black shirt, he looked almost like a shadow, stalking his way toward us.
“Thanks for meeting us,” I said, making a motion to stand up and greet him. Before I could, however, he plopped down in the seat beside me. I immediately noticed his scent, like cedar trees, which reminded me of being on my knees in the back of the bar, nuzzling my face up against his crotch.
Damn it. He really was sexy. I couldn’t ignore that.
Brick ran a hand through his auburn locks, glancing between Ezra and I. It was like he was trying to assess us all over again, but from the glassy look in his eyes, I could tell he was just as worn and tired as earlier in the day.
“It’s fine,” he said. “What questions do you have?”
Ezra pushed his foot against mine beneath the table, and I felt the charge of connection between us. It had been intimidating to be in Brick’s house earlier, from the moment he answered the door shaking a baseball bat like a damn maniac, but there was a different kind of energy at the rest stop. Brick still felt unpredictable in a way that was almost dangerous, but sitting beside him, I also had a strong desire to please him and to help push away the cloud that was hanging over his head.
“Mainly,” Ezra said, “we just want to know whether the comic shop will be safe.”
Brick looked out across the hills. “Why wouldn’t the comic book shop be safe?”
“Gee, I don’t know,” Ezra said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe because the teenage assholes who have been vandalizing it keep mentioning the name of a notorious East Coast crime boss, and you’re running away from the thugs who tried to rough you up at the bar?”
My heart thumped in my chest. I couldn’t believe Ezra was sassing Brick like that, and I fully expected him to stand up from the table and storm away right there. Instead, however, he reached out and grabbed Ezra’s coffee cup, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile as he took a drink from it.
“I’m not running away from that thug, like you call him. You remember I wiped the floor with his ass, not the other way around.”
Ezra scoffed, tapping his finger against the scrape on his face. “Yeah, dude, I remember.”
Brick flinched and looked away when he said it, but Ezra seemed unfazed. He spun a pencil in his hand and kept his eyes trained on Brick. It was strangely impressive to see him still shooting his mouth off, even considering how aggressive our guest had been, and I felt torn between stomping on his foot to get him to shut up and encouraging him to keep pushing.
When Brick turned back our way, the half-smile had left his face, but he didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
“Those guys were looking forme. Period. Once they figure out that I’ve skipped town, I can guarantee, you won’t hear another word from them. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to erase this whole thing from your memory, including my name.”
“Easier said than done,” I replied, feeling a little emboldened by Ezra. “Do you know that Justin Frisk guy comes to Seattle every year around this time? If he’s trying to track you down, the only leads he will have are your old bar and Ezra’s comic book store. Not to mention you literally threw that one guy into us.”
