Page 17 of Sacrifice
“What’s up with you?” I ask.
“Nothin’,” he mutters under his breath, not bothering to look up at me.
Alex’s gaze bounces between me and back over to Gage. He shakes his head and shrugs, just as baffled as I am by his mood.
Gage and Alex recently spent time in Virginia Beach working with the guys of Cole Security Forces on a large drug trafficking operation.This was important to both of them, but to Gage it was personal.
His dad spent his career going after men funneling drugs from Virginia through the Midwest. He lost his cousin, Gage’s uncle, when word got out he behind a sting operation gearing up to take down two of the biggest drug lords in the area.
He hasn’t said much about what went down while they were away. He was there to do a job, and he wasn’t the type to get distracted from his mission. Alex let it slip he had spent time with some girl while he was away. When shit went down, Gage found out she was only using him to find out what he knew.
He isn’t handling it so well.
Alex made me swear to secrecy I wouldn’t repeat what I know, and so as much as I want to ask him about it, I can’t. I’m stuck dealing with his cranky ass moods, waiting for him to inevitably crack.
“I hear you had a run in with Haelynn and that soon-to-be ex-husband of hers,” Alex says.
Gage’s head perks up at the mention of Haelynn. Dropping the papers on his desk, his eyes narrowing on me. Alex laces his fingers behind his head, tilting back in his chair.
“What do you know about that fucker? He seems like a real piece of work,” I question.
“Not much, honestly. We stopped by to help her the day she was moving in. She told Makenna she left her husband and up until then had been staying with her mom.”
I’m relieved Haelynn is across the street from them. Once Makenna considers you a friend, there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you. Haelynn and Huxton included. I trust Alex will keep an eye on things too. It’s just who he is.
I get the feeling those were the type of people she needed more of in her life. It also makes me feel better to know she’d have someone close by looking out for her.
“Makenna came home and hasn’t stopped talking about how great the photoshoot went. It seems like the two of you hit things off.”
He wiggles his brows, flashing me a playful wink.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was holding out on me,” I joke.
Alex leans forward, resting his elbows against the table.“Yeah, Makenna told me things were heating up between the two of you.”
“I’m not gonna lie, there’s definitely a spark there.”
I’ve replayed the moment when I turned around to see her standing in front of me a million times and haven’t been able to get the sight of her out of my mind. I’ve never felt anything like it. We hadn’t even spoken to each other, yet the magnetic pull between us was so thick it was intoxicating.
Haelynn went from being tense and uncertain to melting in my arms. I want her to feel safe and comfortable, free to be herself. As time ticked by, she started to warm up to me.
I’ve been living the life as a single bachelor for too long. The dating pool in Arbor Creek is small, especially when you know too much about the skeleton’s living in everyone’s closet.
I’m not one to judge. Hell, Lord knows my family has been the talk of the town a time or two. If there’s anything my parents have taught me, it’s that there’s a lot more to people than what meets the eye.
I’ve grown up with damn near most of the town, though. I can’t remember the last time I felt anything with a woman the way I feel being near Haelynn.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. I considered dropping by to check in with her or shoot her a text message. She just moved to town and with a son, likely has a lot on her plate along with getting settled in. I don’t know where she’s at and I don’t want to make a move too soon, when she’s not ready, and lose out on a chance when she is.
“Makenna came home trying to convince me to take some sexy pictures with her.”
Alex lifts his finger to his mouth, pretending to lick it before circling his nipple. I lift my fist to my mouth, choking out a laugh.
Gage, all the while, doesn’t even crack a smile. It’s like the sense of humor he once had was soaked right up out of him.
“What do you even know about this girl anyway?” Gage asks, his voice cutting through the room, flipping the mood upside down.
I narrow my eyes at him. “What’s your problem?”
