Reese punched the call button, repeatedly, his back itching with the feel of Chaz’s eyes on them. Mati stood rigidly beside him with David a few paces behind, angled to watch the lobby. Marcus wandered up and watched the panel indicating what floor the elevator was on.
Reese and Mati practically dove inside the elevator the moment the doors opened. David followed more slowly, stepping backward into the car.
When the doors began to close, Marcus stepped back. “You know what, I think I’ll take the next one.”
David nodded.
No one said a word until the doors were completely shut.
“Holy fuck,” Reese wheezed, his heart thumping.
“That was weird, right? I mean, that can’t have been a coincidence,” Mati said, pressing her palms to her flushed cheeks.
“No, it can’t.”
David frowned. “You sure?”
Reese didn’t think he was doubting them so much as seeking confirmation.
“We live in a small town on the tip of a small island, on the tip of another small island, all of which is a twelve-hour drive from here. There are no direct flights, no trains, and barely a ferry—but we bump into my attorney, who I’ve known for years, from that island, not just in the same city, butin the same hotel,at the exact moment we’re crossing the lobby?”
“Okay,” David said. “Let’s get to the room and then figure out what we’re going to do about it.”
The elevator dinged, and Mati took Reese’s hand. David stepped off first, scanned the hallway, and waved for them to follow. They walked quickly, David holding the key in his left hand, his right hanging by his side. The Do Not Disturb sign still hung from the knob. David popped the door open and entered first, leaving them alone in the empty hallway. Reese realized he was checking the room.
Reese’s brain swirled with the threat that suddenly seemed imminent. In Boston. And somehow related toChaz.
“Come on in, quick,” David said.
Reese shut and deadbolted the door behind them. “Okay, what—mmph—”
David kissed Reese, hard, hauling him close with his arms around Reese’s ribs. Reese sagged against him, the silent, endless scream in his head going silent for the first time since Chaz had called his name in the lobby.
David released him and he staggered back against the door while David kissed Mati the same way. His solid presence and calm were a comfort. Reese felt safer when either of them was in David’s arms.
“What was that for?” Mati asked as she attempted to regain her footing.
David shrugged. “I needed to know you were okay.”
“That’s an interesting way of checking,” Reese said with a glimmer of a smile.
They all jumped when there was a knock at the door.
David slid his hand under the back of his shirt, peeked through the peephole, and knocked back.
“Marcus is in the hallway. The lobby is clear.”
Clear of Chaz,Reese thought hysterically,a man he’d regularly invited into his home for most of his life.
David’s phone rang and Reese jumped again. He was definitely losing what calm he’d found. He needed to kiss David again.
David answered with a grunt, listened, and hung up again.
“That was Chance. Someone is following Chaz.”
This was getting a little surreal.
“I cannot, for the life of me, imagine why Chaz would be involved in any of this. He’s just a spoiled kid I grew up with.”
