Forty-five minutes after he’d left Tate’sbed, after he showered and downed two cups of coffee at his house, Donovan got in his truck and headed for the store. He figured Reilly would be in, and if he was lucky, that was where Tate was hiding. Confronting the man was the only thing he could think about right now, and he intended to do so before too much time had passed.
Not once did he stop to think about why he wanted to confront him, though. If he had, Donovan would’ve realized his emotions were getting the best of him. Because last night … last night hadn’t been about sex. It hadn’t been about using Tate’s body in the best way possible.
Sure, the sex had been off-the-charts incredible, and he’d certainly used Tate’s body, though not nearly as much as he wanted to. However, it was more than the too-short time he’d spent buried inside Tate. So much more.
Donovan made it to the General Store in less than ten minutes. As he walked toward it, he skimmed every car parked nearby. There weren’t that many. It was relatively early on Christmas Eve, not to mention a Sunday, so most people were likely at home in their beds or getting ready for church. They weren’t traipsing through town hunting for the man they’d spent the night with.
Yeah, it was a first for him too. So fucking what.
Not seeing Tate’s car anywhere, Donovan parked in the lot behind the shopping center, next to Brady’s SUV. Had he been thinking straight, perhaps he would’ve wondered why Brady was up this early. As it was, he didn’t care.
He marched around the front of the building, grabbed the door, and flung it open, hoping to find Tate inside.
***
Reilly was near tears, too happy forwords.
But as much as she wanted to remain like this for the rest of the day, she couldn’t.
“I hope you mean that, Mr. McCord,” Reilly whispered near his ear. “Because my brother’s about to … open … the … door.”
Reilly released him and took a step back. She met his gaze and tried to see if he’d been messing with her. Brady was still smiling, and her heart skipped a beat or two.
“Hey,” Donovan grumbled. “You seen Tate?”
Reilly turned toward her brother. “Happy Christmas Eve to you, too, D.”
Donovan waved her off, and she sensed he was wanting an answer.
“No. Not yet. He’s supposed to come by, though. Why?”
“I need to talk to him.”
Well, at least Donovan didn’t blow off her question as he usually would. Reilly figured he didn’t know she knew that he was at her house last night, locked up in Tate’s room with him.
And since he wasn’t mentioning it, she had to think he didn’t realize she’d left at some point, either. Or that she hadn’t come back. Then again, her truck would be in the driveway, and he could’ve thought she was hiding out in her room. Unless he looked. Since she left her door open last night, there was a good chance he did. He would’ve passed right by it on the way to the door.
But he’d come in looking for Tate, not her. That was a good sign, right? Well, considering, anyway. Since Tate should’ve been with Donovan, if Donovan had actually stayed the night, the man wouldn’t need to search for him. So, how had he lost him in the first place?
Hmm. This was somewhat of a conundrum.
Donovan and Tate.
Reilly and Brady.
Donovan clearly didn’t want to talk to her about Tate.
And she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear about her and Brady.
But he wanted to find Tate.
And he wasn’t questioning that she was here with Brady.
Whatever were they to do?
“Hey, man,” Brady said to Donovan. “You wanna grab some breakfast?”
Donovan nodded even as he turned to look out the window.
