Page 73 of Breaking You Open

I’d rather spare him from what’s about to go down, but I know how anxious he gets whenever I have to leave the apartment on short notice. He doesn’t deserve that, and besides, it’s about time I show him the more gruesome aspects of my job.

“Get dressed; we’re going out.”

Chapter 23

Sparrow

I’m so thrilled aboutLouis bringing me with him that I don’t even ask where we’re going or what we’re doing. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe I can even help.

We travel for longer than I’m used to—past the outskirts of Springvale and into the mountains beyond. It feels almost like an adventure. The colder weather is really picking up now, and Louis has to be freezing even in his motorcycle gear.

We stop in front of a one-story building with a fenced yard and dirty windows. Trees with leaves shifting in yellow and orange surround the area, and Louis’s boots splash into a puddle as we dismount the bike.

We walk up the metal landing. The sign outside the door says “Homeward Rescue.” An animal shelter, perhaps? As soon as we step inside the door, my suspicion is confirmed by the distant barks and howls and the faint smell of dog food.

A young man sits behind the reception desk—a young man with curly black hair and intense green eyes. He’s dressed in skintight jeans and a just-as-tight black turtleneck.

“Oh,” he says, a slow smile spreading over his frankly gorgeous face. “Long time no see.”

Louis makes a displeased snort beside me, and I look up at him, confused. Do these two know each other?

“Let me guess,” Louis mutters. “Nathan Antler?”

“Depends on who asks,” Nathan says with a grin.

“I’m Louis.”

Nathan nods to me. “And who’s this?”

“I’m Sparrow.”

His mouth tilts in a mocking smile, and he looks me up and down. “Sparrow, huh?”

Louis crosses his arms. “Let’s cut the crap. You know what we’re here for.”

“Do I?” Nathan asks innocently.

He kicks his combat boots onto the table and leans back in the chair so far it almost flips over. He can’t be more than a couple of years older than me, but the way he holds himself makes him seem a lot older. He’s fairly androgynous, just like me, but he’s got that effortless confidence I’ve always been puzzled and amazed by.

“A little young for you, isn’t he?” he says, nodding at me.

Louis sighs. “Just shut up and get the dog.”

“Dog?” Nathan looks carelessly up to the ceiling. How can a person be so unaffected by strangers? This guy looks like he couldn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Maybe that’s not a good trait, to be fair, but at least it must be better than caring too much about what other people think, like me. “What dog? We have quite a few, you know.”

“The one you stole from Joshua Tennyson. We’re here to get it back.”

“Are you, now?” Nathan says. “I don’t think he’ll miss the dog, to be fair. Looks to me like he’s already got himself a couple of lapdogs.”

“You’re treading real thin ice here, kid,” Louis growls. “We don’t look gently at theft.”

“What are you going to do?” Nathan asks in a bored tone. “Fuck me to death?”

My eyes widen as I look between the two of them. They know each other. They have to. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Have they…slept together? A sudden jealousy strikes me with full force as I turn back to Nathan. How can he look so good and so arrogant at the same time?

“Although…,” he says with a dramatic sigh, “I’m sure Daniel will appear out of the woodwork again if you try.”

“I’m not going to ask again,” Louis says.

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