“Slade,” Atticus said without hesitation.
Slade looked up, his face red from his giggling spell.“Nuh-uh.Someone else can help with that.”
“Sorry, man,” Brantley told him.“He’s the lead.He picks his team.”
That earned more laughter, this time from Evan and Luca.
Slade was still smiling, but he didn’t sound amused.“Seriously?”
“Yep.”Brantley grabbed a Post-it note and a pen, then scribbled down the principal’s name before passing it to Atticus.“Talk to her.She can give you details.I suggest you get over there sooner rather than later.”
Atticus sputtered, but Brantley didn’t wait around for him to say anything more.The kid could handle this.Brantley was sure of it.
“Okay, chuckles.You wanna grab lunch?”Atticusasked Slade, frustrated that he’d been tricked into taking a case that made everyone else laugh their asses off.
Slade glanced over, dark eyebrows angled down.“Sure.Now?”
It was already well after Atticus’s lunchtime, but due to the chaos of the morning, he’d forgotten all about eating.Now his stomach was rumbling, and the hunger mixed with the anxiety of taking on a case by himself was making him nauseous.
Okay, so maybe the interruptions weren’t the only reason he’d been procrastinating for the past hour.Most of it had to do with Slade’s attitude.Ever since their introduction to Archer Halligan on Monday, Slade had been … well, for lack of a better word, he’d go with pissy.And that was saying something since Slade wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine on a good day.And since Atticus was all about keeping the peace—at least when it came to Slade—he’d ensured they hadn’t gotten on the topic of his potential new partner.It was a self-preservation instinct.Avoid, and give the man some time.
Since Slade had been laughing for the better part of ten minutes, he figured now was as good a time as any.
“If you think you can stop laughing long enough to eat.”
A nod was the man’s only response.Maybe a smirk.Yeah.There was a smirk lurking there.
Asshole.
“We’re gonna grab lunch,” Atticus told Becs, who was skimming her finger over a file in front of her.“Then we’re gonna swing by the high school.You want us to grab you anything?We can drop it back by on our way.”
She looked up, smiled.“No, thank you.I brought some egg salad.”
Atticus’s nose scrunched.“If you change your mind…”
Becs’s smile warmed, and he appreciated that she wasn’t going to make fun of him.
Atticus headed straight for sunshine and humidity, both of which he got in spades when he walked out into the sticky September day.Officially, it was fall, but someone evidently forgot to tell Mother Nature because the afternoon temps were hovering in the nineties still.
Once they were in the truck, Atticus considered picking Slade’s brain about Coyote Ridge High School.Mainly, where it was located and how he would get there.Since Coyote Ridge now provided him with a permanent address to put on his driver’s license, he felt a little stupid that he hadn’t already known.Then again, why should he?It wasn’t like he had kids.Or knew any, for that matter.Well, unless you counted Carly Richter.He knew her.Becs’s nine-year-old daughter was cool AF.He’d only been around her a few times, but she had this way of making him laugh whenever he was.
Atticus stared out the window, shaking his head.
Since Slade didn’t bother to make small talk, Atticus didn’t either.He wanted to.Sort of.He wanted to ask Slade if he’d heard from Carson today.He hadn’t.Not yet.But that wasn’t unusual.Even if they hadn’t spent most of the night at the hospital, Carson was keeping his distance during the day, and Slade was being standoffish at night.Unless they were having sex.Then Slade was fully engaged.And since that seemed to be the only time Slade was in a relatively decent mood, Atticus was finding more time to get naked than he normally would have.
Okay, that was a lie.Given the choice, Atticus would have sex morning, noon, and night.Double that on weekends and holidays.Especially if he was given the choice between Slade and Carson.Or both.He’d never been turned on as much as he was when he was near them.He could only imagine how hot he would be once the three of them finally succumbed to some real threesome action.Which they hadn’t done yet.Not really.There’d been some alternating action once.Plus, he’d watched the two of them that one time.And he’d suspected Carson had snuck a peek a time or two.But not the real deal.Not the way Atticus wanted.
Fuck.
Now he was thinking about both of them fucking him.At the same time.
“Somethin’ wrong?”Slade asked.
“What?”Yeah, that was him sounding all guilty and shit.
Is something wrong with the air conditioner?
“Lemme guess.”Slade cut his gaze toward him.“You’re thinkin’ about how hot your new partner is.”
