Magnus kept his hands to himself. He knew better than to push too hard, and here, at Trey’s brother’s house, the place where Trey worked, Magnus did not want to push his luck. While he felt no need for them to hide what was transpiring between them, he still respected Trey’s need for discretion.
“I hope you close your case soon,” Magnus told him. “Because when you do, I’m comin’ to collect.”
To his surprise Trey didn’t say a word, he simply stared, eyes still hidden by the mirrored lenses.
Taking a chance, Magnus leaned in, putting his mouth close to Trey’s. “In fact, I think I’ll collect tonight, regardless.”
This time when Trey’s body hardened, Magnus wondered if he was getting ready to snap.
*
Brantley considered calling Reese back before heheaded over to the barn, but he was at a loss for words. Reese had surprised him by coming inside, and Brantley had felt guilty about the conversation he’d been having before the man showed up.
Not that he had anything to feel guilty about. He knew Reese would not fault him for looking into Dante Greenwood’s current status. Brantley had been keeping track of the man ever since he went into rehab shortly after he was caught earlier this year when he had staged his own kidnapping. His partner in crime had died during the attempted apprehension, and because of the wholehis word against minebullshit, Dante had gotten off scot-free, convincing everyone that he had been kidnapped and held against his will. It had helped that he’d lost a finger in the ordeal, which had garnered him sympathy and offered credibility to his story.
Brantley knew different. And because he hadn’t been there to protect his best friend at the time, Brantley intended to keep JJ safe from Dante going forward. He would do that by ensuring Dante was watched at all times.
However, Brantley also knew that Reese was feeling guilty about something. Hell, it was written all over his face, and it had gotten infinitely worse since Brantley had split up the team earlier. What he wanted to know was what the hell was Reese hiding. Why was he keeping secrets now, after all this time?
Brantley paced to the front of the house and looked out the window, wanting to ground himself before joining the others in the barn. He paused when he saw movement in the driveway, looked over to see…
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He shook his head.
Standing behind the dog trainer’s SUV were Trey and Magnus, looking mighty cozy as Magnus got up in Trey’s face. It didn’t look confrontational. Not in the hostile sense. It did look a bit heated, though.
Exhaling, Brantley shook his head again and stepped away. What Trey and Magnus did was none of his damn business. If they wanted to keep their relationship a secret, let them. They were grown men, quite capable of handling their own shit. They didn’t need Brantley’s warnings or his meddling.
Plus, Brantley had too much shit to deal with to worry about his brother’s love life.
Chapter Fifteen
Three hours later, and no closer tofinding Cedric Hawkins or Nancy Wright, Brantley decided he needed a breather.
Baz, Evan, and JJ were still working while Luca, Elana, and Holly had gone to grab some food to bring back for them. Brantley had sent Becs and Jay home, assuring them he would call if something came up. He’d tried the same with Darius, but the man was determined to pitch in however he could. At the moment, he was running city-wide scans to see if they could catch Nancy Wright on a public camera. Charlie had returned from Lakeway a short time ago, disappointed that she hadn’t been able to meet up with Nancy. When she attempted to stay to help out, Brantley sent her home to take care of her mother. Like he had with the others, he assured her he would call if they found something. And last but not least, Brantley had instructed Trey and Slade to head out but to stick to their phones in case they were needed. Neither had argued, and Brantley couldn’t very well blame them. It had been a stressful day, and it wasn’t quite over yet.
He left them to it with a promise that he would return before strolling out of the barn, wondering where Reese had disappeared to. He’d thought he was outside with Tesha, but when he looked around, he saw that man and dog were nowhere to be found.
He headed for the house, going in through the back door. He paused as soon as he stepped inside to see Reese standing at the stove.
“Hey,” Reese greeted with a quick look over his shoulder. “I’ll have it ready in a few.”
Have what ready, Brantley didn’t know, nor did he really care because his attention was on the fact that Reese was shirtless, a pair of shorts the only thing he wore. He had to swallow hard to choke back the lust that ignited. That was how it always was. No matter where he was at in his head, seeing Reese always had this effect on him.
Brantley hated where they were at right now. The tension that lingered between them was growing more intense with every passing day, and Brantley knew he was partially to blame. His own attempts to pretend everything was all right were failing him the more his insecurities increased. Worse, he didn’t know how to eliminate it. They were managing to skate past their issues, but the thread keeping them from falling apart was tenuous at best. Using sex as a distraction to keep from having to broach the subject, as he had for the past few months, clearly wasn’t helping. At the same time, it wasn’t a surprise that he was considering doing the same thing now.
“I’m gonna…” He closed the back door. “I’m gonna shower.”
Yes, that was what he would do. He would focus on getting cleaned up beneath icy spray and not think about Reese standing in the kitchen, looking like sin on a stick. It wasn’t like he didn’t see the guy shirtless often. Daily, in fact. However, seeing him doing something so …domestic…like that. Damn.
“Christ,” he muttered on his way to the bedroom, tugging his T-shirt off on the way.
“You know, we can’t—”
Brantley spun around to see Reese standing in the doorway, his mouth open but no more words coming out.
“What?”
Reese’s gaze slid downward, over Brantley’s chest, and that damn heat spiked in his blood. He fucking loved when Reese looked at him like that. Fucking loved knowing he could turn the man on without much effort. There was no doubt about it, the physical attraction was still burning hot between them.
