Page 60 of Ride With Me

Even if it appeared to have fallen right out of an old porno.

Blue was sore from walking, and he could definitely use a bath before getting to the sex he assumed Bishop had plannedfor them later. He shrugged off his hoodie and shirt, making sure that his backpack stayed close to the side of the tub in case he needed it sooner than expected.

He was surprised again when Bishop didn’t seem to pay him any mind—not even when Blue stepped out of his ratty jeans and mismatched socks. He was standing completely naked while he waited for the tub to fill up, but Bishop was much more interested in whatever football score thing was being discussed on the television.

Whatever.

Blue stepped into the tub.

When he sat down, the swell of hot water enveloping him was enough to provoke a soft moan. He didn’t even want to bother with the jets.

Then again, he reasoned, the jets would probably be noisy.

That might be useful later.

Blue didn’t relax though. He couldn’t afford to, not yet. He had to stay on alert, but it was admittedly difficult, soaking like this. The water felt fantastic and he could almost drift off, but he didn’t dare.

Not until it was safe.

Not until Bishop was cold and gone and his pulse had stopped and he wasin the fucking groundand Blue was far, far away from here?—

“Hey man!” Bishop hopped up from where he’d been sitting against the headboard, nursing a new beer. “You got a quickie lil’ second? I ain’t tryin’ to cut in on youryou time, but I’m ’fraid I got to.”

Blue hid a scowl.

It was probably time to give Bishop what he wanted.

After all, there was only one reason Bishop would have invited Blue to his hotel room, and it certainly wasn’t out of thegoodness of his heart. Not that Blue minded so much, as Bishop was much more attractive than his usual partners.

There was a chance Blue might even enjoy it.

Forcing a smile, Blue asked, “What’s up?”

“We gonna have ourselves a lil’ chat, good buddy.” Bishop sat on the foot of the bed so that he was facing Blue.

There was a twinkle in Bishop’s eyes that wasn’t there before.

Hunger.

And not just for Blue’s naked flesh, no…

This was something much darker.

It was something Blue recognized.

He’d seen it before in his own eyes, looking in the mirror while washing blood off his hands and still savoring the rush of adrenaline that only a fresh kill gave him.

So.

This probably wasn’t good.

“We gonna talk ’bout how the police back there in Deer Creek or Deer River or whatever Deer and body of water identifyin’ named town had the unfortunate misfortune to suffer a most heinous murder. Did you hear ’bout that?”

Blue tensed, but he kept his expression neutral even as Bishop’s pulse thumped in his ears and he longed to quiet it. “No.”

“Awful shame, they say. You really didn’t hear nothin’? You had to have walked right through there if you was walkin’ right down the interstate like ya said. Huh. Well, some poor feller was gutted from neck to nads over in a truck stop bathroom. They done said it made thatCarriemovie look like a fluffy ol’ Disney flick. Real fuckin’ horror show, ya feel me?”

Blue visualized exactly where his knife was inside his backpack. He was going to need it sooner than he thought.

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