Page 6 of Into the Woods

I shoved to my feet. “Can we not, man? I’m tired and—”

“You think I’m not?” Royal challenged, arching his brow. “Between you and Rook, I’m ready to buy stock in Midol or Tampax.”

I cocked my head. “Look at you, knowing your way around feminine hygiene products.”

“With my brothers turning into pussies, someone has to,” he drawled.

“What’s wrong with Rook?” I asked.

Royal rolled his eyes. “Something about his dead teammate’s baby mama drama or something. Pretty sure he fucked her, and now he’s got his panties in a twist that he overstepped.”

My eyes widened. Rook, until recently, had been a Navy SEAL. His team had been attacked and dismantled when one of their own had betrayed them, killing one of Rook’s teammates and injuring others. The guy who’d died had left behind a pregnant wife, and when her life had been threatened, Rook had moved in to protect her and her newborn.

I’d never pegged Rook, basically a slightly shorter and leaner version of Royal, as one to turn into Mr. Mom, but I had copious amounts of baby pics he’d sent through our family text thread to prove otherwise. We’d all known he had a thing for the baby’s mom, Emerson, but falling for the widow of a guy you’d considered a brother tended to complicate shit.

After the threat had been neutralized, Rook had moved out of Emerson’s life.

Or so I’d thought.

“He told you he hooked up with her?” I stared at him.

Royal sighed, like this whole conversation was annoying even though he’d started it. “We went down to San Diego to talk to that informant and meet with Ford. I formally offered him a job with Phoenix.”

“He take it?”

“He’s considering it,” Royal answered. “While we were there, Rook was with Emerson and the kid. A lot. Next thing I know, he’s telling me we need to come back to Los Angeles.”

“And from that you deduced he slept with her?” I tried to smother an amused smile.

He shot me a bland look. “Only a few reasons a man runs away from a pretty woman he’s obsessed with like his dick is on fire—he fucked up, or he fucked her and then fucked up.”

“You’re a regular Dr. Phil, huh?” I glared at him.

“You saying I’m wrong?”

I scoffed. “I’m saying hearing that from a guy who’s had more one-night stands than Dodger Stadium has seats is pretty fucking funny.”

He moved until he was right in front of me, his boots hitting mine. “That so?”

I just smirked.

“Call Bex.”

My hands came up to shove him back, a snarl pulling at my lips. He caught my wrists in his hands and hooked a leg behind my knees. My ass was on the ground before I could tell him to fuck off.

“See?” Looming over me, he arched a pointed eyebrow. “You’re a fucking mess.”

He held out a hand to help me up, but I slapped it away and stood on my own. “Fuck you.”

“Pretty sure you’ve been doing enough fucking for all the Woods brothers,” he muttered. “Are you trying to see if you can rot your dick off before you hit twenty-three?”

I winced, thinking of the lipstick-blood scare in the shower, and realized he wasn’t too far from the mark.

“It’s complicated,” I finally said, my shoulders sinking.

“Then un-complicate it,” he retorted, eyeing me. “Or at least figure out a way to function as a human being that’s a part of this team. It’d be nice if we could depend on you to be there when shit’s going down.”

My spine straightened, alarm ringing through me as it dawned on me that I hadn’t just checked out with my friends; I’d checked out on our damn business. “Meaning?”

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