Page 18 of Broken Love

“It means I’ll listen,” I say. “I make no promises.”

“I’ll take it.” He rolls his shoulders back. “Can I come in?”

I hesitate. Bad things tend to happen when Boxcar and I are alone together, no matter the context.

“Talk,” I say, refusing to budge.

“Okay…” He slides his laptop into his messenger bag and tosses the strap over his shoulder before leaning against the door frame. “So, I assume you’re up-to-date on this Snake Eyes business?”

“For the most part.” I shrug. “Fox filled me in on a few things. I thought you wiped out any record of his involvement.”

“I did,” he says. “As far as the law is concerned Fox was never involved, but Snake Eyes remembers him pretty well. Two of them showed up at my place last night.”

I perform a quick scan of him again, checking for fresh bruises or scrapes or gunshot wounds. Old habit, I guess. There’s little to see of him around a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He definitely dresses like he’s from the New England area nowadays. It’s a little warm for it on this side of the country. He left in a hurry.

“What did they want?” I ask.

“They were looking for Fox. I denied I knew anything so…” He pauses and his eyes fall to the floor between us. “They said they’d come ask my… his old army buddy instead.”

That would be me, obviously. It’s no surprise that Snake Eyes is pissed off at Fox for outing them. Of course, some have taken it upon themselves to retaliate.

“Why didn’t you go to Fox with this?” I ask.

“I did. He’s safe for now — in Japan.”

I scoff. “So, I was an afterthought? Real cool, Box…”

He glares at me over his black rims. “Like you’re going to fault me for going to our buffer first?”

I pause for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

He looks back at me with growing concern. I originally assumed that was for his own well-being but now I realize that’s not the case at all. He didn’t rush out here to save his own ass.

He came out here to save mine.

I take a step back and open the door the rest of the way.

Boxcar follows me inside with wandering eyes. “So, this is nice…” he says.

“It’s a dump, actually.”

He instantly smiles and my heart flutters.

Dammit. This is exactly why I didn’t want him in here in the first place. Boxcar might be a damn twerp but he’s an adorable one, too. I’ve always thought so, even when he grated my nerves so much I wanted to shoot him.

I clear my throat. “Do you want some coffee, or…?”

“I think I’ve had more than enough in the last twelve hours, honestly…”

“A beer, then?”

I wander across the room to the kitchen and pull open the refrigerator.

“Sure,” he says.

I pop the caps off two bottles and slide one over to him. He takes a drink, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.

“So, how’s the shop?” he asks.

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