Page 28 of Throw Down

Chapter Eleven

BRIAR

A sign that read Metal Salvage and Parts hung crookedly over a chain-link gate topped with spirals of barbed wire.Just past the barren, red-dirt entrance lay a jagged landscape of huge metal carcasses.The sky was bright blue and hot, bleaching the bones of the discarded machinery that cluttered every corner of the property, and the iron tang of grease was everywhere. Briar liked the smell. It mingled with the earthy fresh air, peculiar but somehow pleasing.

He stood at the gate, clutching Princess Sparkle's leash in a sweaty fist, and took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart.The puppy whined and tugged at her leash with surprising force, wriggling in ecstasy at the scent of home.She’d come through her treatment like a champ and gained enough weight to yank him off his feet when he wasn't paying attention.She was still an odd-looking mutt, but Briar had fallen in love with her sweet temperament.

He twitched and fiddled, frittering away the time by dusting off his jeans and making sure the clinic van was locked.Like anyone would pull a smash and grab out here on the side of a godforsaken mountain.He wasted so much time that even the dog began to look embarrassed for him.

It had been almost a week since that disastrous kiss.

Derek had barely spoken to him the next morning when he dropped Briar off at his apartment, and they hadn’t crossed paths since.That alone was strange. In a town the size of Sweetwater, Briar should have at least caught a glimpse of him at the gas pump.But there’d been no sign of him.He hadn’t even answered his phone when Briar called with an update on Princess.The calls went straight to voicemail.

But Briar had never been the kind of guy to take a hint.So, he borrowed Nate’s van and trundled the puppy up the mountain to her grumpy owner.He’d even tied a pink ribbon to her collar for the occasion.She was so cute and so happy, she’d win over even the coldest heart—and Briar didn’t think Derek’s heart was cold.Not when his kiss was so hot.

Briar had been turning that kiss over in his head every waking minute.Even in his wildest dreams, he’d never seen it coming.Sure, he’d toyed with the idea of a little flirtation.He was only human, after all, and Derek was stunningly attractive even without being what people would call handsome.But even Briar wasn't foolish enough to expect more than that.

Derek was living life as a straight man.Not just straight—intensely straight.Nate assured him that there had never been even a hint of Derek looking twice at another man.

But straight men didn’t just go around kissing other men.Not even pretty ones like Briar.Not without a hell of a lot of alcohol first, and Derek had obviously been sober as a judge.

The skillful, unyielding pressure of Derek's mouth as he coaxed Briar's lips apart had unleashed a torrent of emotions.Briar had never felt anything like it, not even when he'd fooled himself into believing he was in love with Dax.He couldn't put a name to the feeling, but it was raw and vicious and somehow intensely sweet all at the same time.

In the past, he'd always fallen for cocky, fun, loud types.Guys like Aiden. Little more than overgrown boys in the bodies of men.Who knew that he also had a weakness for tall, dark, and broody?Derek wasn't some immature bad boy; he was something much more dangerous.He was a complex, intelligent man who tugged at Briar like a magnet despite his reservations.A man whose history, whatever it may be, caused Nate to grimace in distaste whenever he was mentioned.Just a flicker of a glimpse behind his defenses, and Briar had already fallen—hard.Brutally, terribly hard.

When the thud came, it might just kill him.

But hope springs eternal, so here he was.Even if he got tossed out on his ass, he wanted to know every shadow, every scar, every story behind what made a man like Derek tick.

The property was a haphazard maze of machinery and parts, stacked higher than his head in most places.He wondered what it must be like to work in such bleak surroundings every day.It must take tremendous mental fortitude.Briar would go crazy after a single day.

He found Derek at the back of the property, breaking down a hulking pile of crushed vehicles with a massive sledgehammer.Sweat poured off him despite the mild day, soaking his white t-shirt until it was nearly see-through.The cotton clung to his muscled back every time he swung the hammer.The sharp clang was steady and ceaseless, nearly in sync with Briar’s pounding heart.

Then Derek tossed the hammer aside and reached down to rip a mangled fender from its frame with his bare hands.

Briar bent down and scooped Princess into his trembling arms.She squirmed, dragging him down with her weight, but he just held on tight, suddenly in desperate need of the comfort of something to hug.

He didn’t make a sound, but Derek must have sensed that he wasn’t alone.His shoulders tensed and he paused, barely turning his head to glance over his shoulder.

“What do you want?” he growled.

His voice was rough, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was irritated.It might have been caused by the dust.That’s what Briar told himself, anyway.It was the only way he could find the courage to speak.

“I brought her back,” he announced, hoisting the puppy up high and getting whacked in the face by her tail.She yipped happily, doing her level best to leap out of his arms and straight into Derek’s.Not that Briar blamed her. That’s where he’d rather be, too.

Derek’s jaw tensed. “I told you.I don’t want her.”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap!” Briar exploded, fed up.“She’s your responsibility.”

Derek’s gaze drilled into him, so furious that the stunning green of his eyes looked like it was glowing.

“Responsibility?” Derek echoed, voice dripping with a dangerous mix of rage and sarcasm.“You want to lecture me on responsibility, Briar?”

Briar’s chest tightened. It wasn’t unusual for his big mouth to get him in trouble, but it could usually be counted on to smooth things over again.He didn’t think that was an option this time.

The look on Derek’s face was terrible.

Nate hadn’t told him much about Derek’s past, and Briar hadn’t asked.He didn’t want another lecture.But that hadn’t stopped the gossips around town from spilling everything.

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