Page 56 of Winter's End

Shane opened the door with a grin. “’Bout time you showed up!”

His smile was wide, but his eyes had dark shadows under them, like he was being haunted from the inside out. Maybe he was. The events of the last few months had taken their toll. Shane probably had the best heart of us all, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his had cracked the hardest.

Winter and Travis were working at Bourbon & Blues tonight; I should have expected Shane would be with Drew. The two were a packaged deal these days.

I couldn’t begrudge their happiness. If Winter accepted this change in their relationship, so could I. There was nothing ordinary about any of our connections, and I was quickly admitting this was the way it was. I loved the woman, so I had to love her men, too.

My thoughts shifted to the man in the car one level below us. I would at least tolerate them.

I heard keys jangling when Drew’s head popped up behind Shane’s. “Ready to go?”

I startled. “You’re coming?”

We hadn’t discussed him coming. I was to pick Mom up and deliver her to Maverick, Kellan’s second-in-command, and he would take her to the safe house. I didn’t like this arrangement, but it was an opportunity to stop anyone from following us, and Kellan had convinced me he trusted Maverick with his life.

The only men I trusted with my life were here—Travis notwithstanding—but I had to have some faith he’dcome through.

The subterfuge and secrets were giving me one hell of a headache.

“Hell yeah, I’m coming. I wouldn’t have you do this alone.”

“I’m coming too.” Shane piped up. “Three’s better than two, yeah?”

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Um, Logan’s here too.”

Both pairs of eyebrows shot up as the two men ambled out of the doorway and brushed past me to get down the stairs—to see for themselves, I guessed. I followed them, anticipating a hostile interaction.

Instead, Shane opened the driver’s side door with a beaming smile. Logan appeared startled as he looked up from scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, brother!” he boomed, rubbing his large palm over Logan’s hair and mussing it up. “Glad you could join us!”

“Fuck off.” Logan growled and shoved Shane away before running a hand over his head to flatten the tangled nest Shane had made. “What are you doing here, anyway? Chase never mentioned the puppy was coming.”

“Drew and I are fucking now, didn’t you hear?” Shane quipped as Drew’s cheeks bloomed into a purple shade of cooked beets.

Still, he didn’t speak up to deny it.

Logan’s gaze shifted between the two men and rolled his eyes. “Figures. Whoever said ‘nice guys finished last’ was a fucking twat.”

He nodded to Drew with a look of disgust. “Of course, Preppy Boy’s getting the most action of all of us. Or have you finally made your move with your sexpot of a best friend yet, Quicksilver? Are you getting in on the two-holes action, too?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before he turned in his seat to look back at his phone, but I didn’t miss the loaded look Drew and Shane shared. That was a story for another time.

I waited for the rage to roll through me at Logan’s words against our girl, but it never came. Irksome prickles bled through my chest, but that was the extent of my emotional turmoil. Logan had proven himself to be an ally, not a threat, so his words no longer held the same cutting weight that begged me to cut off his head.

Mostly.

Shane smirked, also not swayed by Logan’s antics. “Definitely getting more holes than you’re getting.”

Drew aggressively cleared his throat, obviously eager to shift the conversation to anything but his—holes.

“We’re not all going to fit in my car, guys.”

Logan looked up from his screen and huffed dramatically. “We’ll take the Rover. I’m not getting in the backseat of that thing,”—he gestured to Drew’s car sitting innocently in the driveway—“and I don’t trustany of you fuckers to drive.”

“Who died and made you boss?” Shane said cheerfully as he opened up the back of the Rover and slid into the seat behind Logan.

Drew and I looked at each other and shrugged. This wasn’t the night we had planned, but I could admit I felt better having the backup.

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