Page 43 of Breathe
Real lunged after Azrael and Winter.
Or at least he tried to.
Only, Rip and Stone both had ahold of him. Rip was on his back, and Stone with a hand to his chest. Real tore Rip off and tossed him like a toy against the wall. Knocking Stone’s arm away, Real tried to shove Stone aside, but that didn’t happen.
“Think! Fucking think,” Stone gritted the words out between his teeth. Stone clamped a hand at the back of his neck. The muscles on the man’s arm corded and bulged.
Stone was deadly when he got mad. The man was absolutely unmovable, and that was saying something since they were almost the same build.
Rip was at his back again, but the man didn’t try to contain him.
The world was spinning out of fucking control.
Real gnashed his teeth in Stone’s face and then hauled back and put his fist through the fucking wall.
Stone released his grip.
“That’s going to cost me,” Dave said from somewhere nearby.
Real hadn’t even realized the former SecDef had stepped up to them.
“You good?” Stone wasn’t stepping back.
“Yeah,” Real said, his growling tone nothing like his usual voice.
“Take a seat,” Stone said, and it wasn’t a request.
With his hand hurting like a bitch, Real dropped down onto a plastic chair. It groaned under his weight.
“I’ll get someone to look at his hand,” Rip said and disappeared down the hallway.
Real gazed at his bloody knuckles.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Save the feel of Azrael beneath his hands.
“Sorry about that.”
Winter smiled at the remorseful tone Azrael used. He almost didn’t hear the words over the noise in the coffee shop.
“I don’t mind,” Winter said, lifting his voice slightly.
“You don’t?” Azrael squinted at him, following suit and speaking louder.
“Being used by a beautiful man to make another man jealous? Nope.”
They had ended up in the Hospital coffee shop on the premises, and Azrael was picking at the paper cup holder wrapped around the cup of mocha latte he’d ordered.
Winter sipped at his own black brew and gazed at the younger man. He could see the hurt written all over Azrael’s face andfilling his eyes. Something had happened between Azrael and Real, something Real was running from.
Movement from the door caught Winter’s gaze, and Boston approached.
“Azrael?” Boston said, growing closer.
“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Winter said, and Azrael gave him a slight smile.
“Thank you.”
