Page 39 of Dean

He sighs as Linc stares after him. I don’t like that, not at all.

“Fuck off!” I shout, and Linc scurries away like the rat he is.

“Good god. Honestly, Dean.”

“Didn’t like the way he was looking at you. Now, who the fuck was that?”

“That was my old roommate. Apparently, Nick, the one who punched me, is claiming I stole his money when I left. He had a stack of it under his mattress like some kind of drug dealer…although, come to think of it, he probably was a drug dealer and I didn’t know it.”

I let go of his hand and it falls to his side.

“Linc just wanted to tell me that the police might investigate. A report has been filed.” He mutters something under his breath and runs a hand across his forehead.

“I’m sure they have better things to do than come after you,” I say, trying to reassure him.

Avery stares up at me, and I eye that fading bruise once more. It’s covered up by some makeup but the evidence of it makes me rage.Something ugly boils up inside of me, and I feel the heat of it slide across my skin. This is worse than jealousy. So much worse.

“You’d think so, but god, I don’t know. Anyway, I’m just annoyed at myself for being stupid enough to live there in the first place—without a rental agreement, I might add.”

“What happened that night?” I ask, and Avery shrugs, looking away, his eyes watering slightly.

A sniffle from him makes my heart crack slightly.

“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter. I need to get back to work and not think about this shit. The phone calls are enough…”

He rubs at his eyes and some of his mascara is smeared across his cheek. I catch him before he can stride away, my thumb gently brushing the mess on his cheekbone away.

His skin reddens and his breath hitches at my touch.

“What phone calls…do you need a break from work? I’m happy to help in any way I can. Anthony owes me some favors…”

“We are not getting Anthony Costello involved. Or that Bane man. Absolutely not. Just forget this ever happened. I’m serious. Pretend you never stood out here and snooped, and let me get back to work, all right? I’m fine.”

He pats me on the chest and turns, walking away without the usual buoyancy in his step.

“Don’t know if I can do that, Avery!” I shout after him, and he glowers at me over his shoulder.

My thumb taps against my thigh as I think about what the fuck to do about this. That piece of shit filed a police report against Avery after what they did to him? It makes something ugly burn within me.

I should take care of this. I’d do that for Ben. I could do it for Avery.

But he’d be upset. From what I can gather, Avery has been taking care of himself for far too long. He wouldn’t appreciate me getting involved.

And yet still, something inside of me tells me to do it, to make sure he’s safe.

He’s not mine, I remind myself.

I need to stay out of it.

“Who was it?” Ford and Cash ask when I move back to the car we were working on.

“Just an asshole ex-roommate,” I tell them, and they huff.

“So he wasn’t trying to date him or fuck him?” Ford asks, and I glower over at him.

“None of the above. Avery didn’t seem to like him.”

“Good. Less competition for you.”

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