Page 53 of Rising Storm

Gareth stepped into the motel room and stood awkwardly near the door.

“You care about my brother, don’t you?” Sayer asked as he shut the door and sat on the end of the bed.

“Very much. I know he wants you to come with us, so I’m glad you are.”

“I still don’t know what I’ll do there, but I’m happy for the fresh start away from Barnette.” He stared at Gareth. “You have ways to get him arrested, don’t you?”

“I do. I don’t think he’ll be quiet about your involvement, though, so we’ll have to be careful. Get him on something besides the murder.”

Sayer shuddered, his face going pale. “I am truly sorry about your friend. It was a friend, wasn’t it?”

“Jake was my friend, yes.” Gareth crossed his arms and leaned one shoulder against the wall. “I can tell it was an accident.”

“I was so scared that night, thinking we had burglars. Why would they have been in our house like that?”

“We’ll never know. If they’d had a warrant, they would have just come to the front door.”

“I didn’t even see the second man until it was too late. But Barnette didn’t even hesitate. He took that man’s life without thought. I knew for sure then that he was evil.”

“Yet you still fought feelings for him?”

Sayer’s smile was sad. “I’m afraid my feelings for that man are a mess. We had good years together before he showed that side of him, so it took a while for me to come to terms with the real man behind the attentive lover he’d been before.” He looked down at his lap. “I don’t expect it makes much sense. Doesn’t to me.”

“Sometimes our feelings aren’t easy to explain.”

“But your feelings for Helix are, aren’t they?”

Gareth straightened up, giving Sayer a pointed look. “I’m in love with him. Haven’t told him that yet, so I probably shouldn’t be saying it to you first. I just want you to believe that what I feel for him is real and I plan to spend my life taking care of him.”

“It’s about time someone did. He’s had a hard time.”

“Your life is going to get better, too, Sayer. You’ll be around really good people and you’ll have plenty of time to get to know your brother better.”

“I’m looking forward to it. So we leave tomorrow, huh?”

“Early. We need to leave here around six a.m.”

The door opened and Helix walked into the room. He stopped to kiss Gareth, which surprised him. He knew that shock showed on his face when Helix chuckled and kissed him again. He had bags of food in his hands.

“I brought enough for all of us. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick of fast food. It’ll be good to get home. Sayer, I’ll be staying in Gareth’s room with him tonight.”

“Oh, I already figured you would.” Sayer got up and walked to the bags to unload them. “The walls are thin, just so you know.”

Helix just chuckled and dug into one of the other bags. He threw a small box at Sayer, who caught it with his good hand.

Sayer looked down at the box and cracked up.

It was a box of earplugs.

Chapter 21

Helix woke in the middle of the night. He’d stayed with Gareth as he’d said he would, and the man’s hot body was plastered to his back. He smiled, glad Gareth kept the air conditioner really low, otherwise he’d be sweating like crazy.

For the first time in a long time, he hadn’t dreamed of ghosts. Hadn’t awakened with the weight of them holding him down. He knew a part of it was Sayer, who was in the room next door and finally safe from Kavaugh. Part of it was another reparation—stealing back the Monteague. But the biggest part was the man currently cuddling him to death. He smiled into the darkness of the room, then stroked his hand down the hairy arm holding him so close. He knew the ghosts weren’t magically gone, but he felt a sense of peace he’d never felt before.

Gareth stirred against him, so he went still so he didn’t awaken him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the comfort of sleeping with another person. No, not just any person. Gareth Jones. The man had wormed his way into Helix’s heart. He honestly didn’t know what he was going to do about him, but whatever this was would continue. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he’d make a shit boyfriend. Being in a relationship was such a foreign concept to him. He spent the majority of his time in a grouchy mood, so he couldn’t imagine how fun that would be.

But maybe…just maybe…he wouldn’t feel the need to be so grouchy. Having someone as affectionate and considerate as Gareth caring about him would give him something he’d never had before.

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