Page 88 of The Finding Series: Vol. 1

Gray felt Luke’s body tighten beneath his palm but thankfully, he remained quiet.

“And Lister?”

Jax didn’t answer. Instead he said, “Don’t leave town.” But Gray had the sneaking suspicion he wasn’t saying it to him. Jax opened the door. “Come on, girl,” he said to the dog.

“Ripley,” Gray said. “Her name is Ripley.”

But the dog had already trotted out the door. Jax gave him and Luke another quick look and then he was gone, pulling the door shut behind him. Luke instantly stepped away from him and Gray felt a pang of loss go through him.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Luke ground out as he went to look out the window. Gray’s heart nearly stopped when he saw the clear outline of Luke’s gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans. He’d had the sense to cover the gun with his shirt but if he’d turned his back even once to Jax, the sharp eyed cop would have seen it.

“It was the only thing I could think of to explain your presence,” Gray said wearily. “Besides, Jax is gay too so he won’t think anything of it. And with my reputation-”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Luke snapped in obvious irritation. He was so wound up that he kept clenching and unclenching his fingers.

“Luke, I’m sorry if I offended you by letting Jax believe you were gay but it was the only way-”

“I don’t give a fuck about that,” Luke nearly yelled as he suddenly got in Gray’s face. Gray actually backed up until his back hit the door but Luke just closed the distance between them, his eyes glittering with anger. “You shouldn’t have taken the fall for me!”

“What?”

“I was handling it!”

Fury went through Gray and he shoved Luke hard until the man had no choice but to back up a couple of steps to maintain his balance. “Handling it? Is that what you call it? What was your grand plan? Shoot your way out of here? He’s a fucking police officer, Luke, not to mention my friend! Are you telling me you would have shot him?”

When Luke didn’t answer him, a rush of doubt went through Gray. God, had he really gotten this all wrong? Had he just stuck his neck out for a cold-blooded killer instead of a good man who’d gotten caught up in some pretty bad shit?

Luke’s silence was so unnerving that Gray felt an overwhelming need to escape. But he only made it a couple of steps before Luke’s hand closed around his arm.

“I wouldn’t have hurt him,” Luke said in a rush. “I need you to believe that.”

The words alone weren’t enough to convince Gray but the desperation in Luke’s voice was. Gray managed a nod but when Luke continued to hold on to him, Gray’s anxiety turned into something else. Something he shouldn’t be feeling – not around this man…not around any man.

“You need to tell him the truth tomorrow.”

Gray extricated himself from the fingers that were starting to burn his skin. “No,” he said simply. “I can deal with the fallout.”

“I don’t want you fighting my battles.”

“And you’re not putting yourself at risk just because you did the right thing,” Gray snapped. “At most I’ll get a slap on the wrist. And that’s assuming my very expensive lawyers don’t get the charges dropped before the ink even dries on the paperwork.”

Luke looked like he wanted to say something else but he only hardened his jaw and then turned and disappeared down the back hallway. A door slammed shut a second later. Gray felt a wave of exhaustion pass through him as the adrenaline in his system began to wane and it took everything in him to make it to the couch before his legs gave out. The movie was still on pause on the TV but the idea of watching it without Luke didn’t appeal to him so Gray reached for the remote that had gotten stuck between the couch cushions and shut it off. He stared at the black screen for a long time before his eyes grew heavy; he used his last reserves of energy to stumble his way to his bedroom.

ChapterFour

“How is she?” Gray asked as soon as he stepped out of his truck. He’d debated calling Dane to ask about Ripley but had decided to make the drive to the vet’s house instead after his less than friendly encounter with Luke this morning. Gray had actually assumed Luke would take off at some point in the dead of night and he’d confirmed that fact by peering into the empty guest bedroom that looked as unused as the day he’d offered it to Luke. It wasn’t until he’d heard the rhythmic sound of a hammer striking wood above his head that Gray had realized Luke was still around, but had retreated to the roof to start patching the holes he’d mentioned to Gray the day after he’d insisted on pulling his weight. Gray had gone outside to say good morning but the icy glare that Luke had shot him had had Gray storming back into the house to grab his car keys.

“Come see for yourself,” Dane said from where he stood at the top of the stairs leading into the quaint Victorian style home. It had been a while since he’d seen Dane but Gray could tell that finding the love of his life had done a world of good for the other man. He looked…at peace.

“You feeling okay, Gray? You look a little pale,” Dane commented as he followed Dane inside.

“Just getting over the flu,” he hedged. To change the subject, he said, “The walking steroid around?”

“You do realize you and Jax are pretty much the same size, right?” Dane said with a laugh.

Gray did know that, but something about Jax’s presence always made him seem bigger, more commanding.

“Jax had an errand to run,” Dane was saying as he pulled the door closed. “She’s in here.”

---