“I don’t suppose you’d mind takin’ Tesha,” Baz said quickly. “Right now she’s outside with Hugh because they won’t let us bring her up here.”
“We’ll take her,” Brantley grumbled, jerking away from Trey and resuming his trek to the elevator.
“You wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?” Trey insisted when he stepped into the elevator seconds before the doors closed.
Brantley kept his attention on the number pad. “No.”
“Why the fuck are you leavin’ Reese in the hospital?”
Brantley didn’t respond because he’d been serious with his answer. He did not want to talk about it.
“He just had life-saving surgery,” Trey hissed.
Grinding his teeth, he stared straight ahead, ignoring his brother.
“Goddammit, Brantley.”
Thankfully, the doors opened into the lobby. Brantley made a beeline for the exit, keys in hand. He stepped outside, got blasted with a gust of Texas heat, and wondered if fall would ever get here and whether or not it’d been this hot every day. He honestly couldn’t remember much of what had happened over the last couple of months, much less the weather.
“I’ll bring the truck around,” he told his brother, lengthening his stride in an attempt to get away. “You get Tesha.”
He heard Trey issue a few choice curse words, but he didn’t stop. He headed for the parking garage where RT had said they’d parked his truck after one of their agents had retrieved it from the restaurant Reese had been at with Madison.
Not for the first time, he wondered whether they’d been having a good time before they were interrupted by a couple of fuckups who’d been on a finders-keepers mission with one of Max Adorite’s siblings as their prize. He hadn’t bothered to ask Reese for details because he didn’t think he could handle them. He did not want to know that Reese and Madison had been making eyes at one another while sharing a bowl of pasta or whatever the fuck they ate when they went out.
His stomach twisted, the knot taking up permanent residence there.
Not sure exactly where his truck was parked, he used the key fob to honk the horn, following the sound until he located it on the third floor of the garage.
Once he was inside, he started the engine, cranked up the a/c, and sat silently for a moment. He considered leaving Trey here. His brother would do better to catch a ride back with Baz and JJ. Brantley was in no mood for company, and he knew Trey was going to badger the shit out of him until he broke. That or he knocked the idiot unconscious, which was a very appealing idea.
Unfortunately, Brantley felt responsible for Tesha, and he didn’t like the idea of her having to wait outside of the hospital until Reese was released. That or having to go home with one of Reese’s relatives. They would be good to her, he knew, but Brantley wanted Tesha with him.
Holy hell. Were they going to have a custody battle over a dog?
Forcing the thoughts away, Brantley put the truck in Drive and headed for the exit. He paid the parking attendant and swung back around to the portico where he’d left Trey. Thankfully his brother was alone with the dog so Brantley wasn’t forced to explain to anyone else why he was bolting. If they didn’t know already, surely Reese would give them all an update as to the change in their relationship status soon enough.
“I expect you to sit there and shut up,” Brantley told Trey as he buckled himself in. “Don’t ask questions, don’t share your feelings. Just shut the hell up.”
Trey nodded, his eyes scanning Brantley’s face, clearly trying to figure him out by his expression.
It wasn’t hard, he figured. Right now, Brantley was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and he was in no mood to get all emotional with his brother or anyone else. He wanted complete and total silence.
A mile down the road, he decided silence sucked.
So he turned on the radio and tuned Trey and Tesha out.
*
Trey was thankful the drive from Dallas to Coyote Ridge was only three hours. And that was when a sane person was driving. When Brantley was behind the wheel, they could cover ground at a faster clip, coming in at a little under two and a half.
Two and a half hours of listening to country music while Brantley pretended he was the only person in the vehicle. Trey had attempted to engage in conversation more than once only to be frozen out completely. Needless to say, he didn’t give up easily, so he’d put forth the effort right up until Brantley kindly dropped him off at his house. He was just lucky his brother had stopped long enough for him to get out, rather than throwing him from the moving vehicle.
Once in the house, he shot a quick text to Baz letting him know they’d made it and checking in to see when they’d be returning. He’d learned that Baz and JJ had gotten on the road an hour after they had, so it wouldn’t be long before they’d hit the town limits. Baz promised to drop off his truck as soon as they did.
Which meant until that time, Trey was stuck at home.
Alone.
On a Saturday.
Fucking great.
Because he’d spent the majority of the day at the hospital, he opted for a shower, thinking it might be a good idea to head over to Moonshiners when Baz returned his truck. He could go to the bar, grab a couple of beers, and do his best not to think about reaching out to Magnus to see what the man was doing.
Did he want to know?
Hell yeah, he did.
He’d felt shitty since that morning when he sent Magnus on his way like he was a dirty little secret.
Trey figured technically he was. It wasn’t like Trey had any desire to spread the word that he was fucking a twenty-five-year-old who he had absolutely nothing in common with aside from the fact they both enjoyed what Magnus did to Trey with that skilled mouth. And how Magnus enjoyed how Trey dominated him whenever they were naked. That was the extent of their similarities, and Trey knew nothing more was going to come of it.
So why the fuck was he constantly thinking about Magnus? Why the hell did he dream about the man, waking up with his fucking cock hard and aching in his fist damn near every morning? It was getting old, and Trey knew he needed to do something about it quick before he got in too deep to dig himself out.
Trey glanced at his cell phone.
Now was as good a time as any, wasn’t it? There was no reason he could think of to see Magnus anymore. Last night had been … it had been phenomenal. Like a grand finale, the be-all end-all of more-than-one-night stands.
Before he could come up with an excuse, he grabbed his phone, pulled up Magnus’s number, and typed up a quick text: Thanks for last night, but it’s getting more complicated than I wanted. It was fun while it lasted.
Trey deleted back to the beginning. Started over.
Made it back home. Reese is doing well. Thanks for making the trip last night. Had fun, but I think it’s time we call it quits.
He stared at the message. It sounded polite yet apologetic. Plus he had let Magnus know how Reese was doing, so it qualified as considerate, too.
Yes.
Perfect.
And yet he couldn’t bring himself to hit send.
With a heavy sigh, Trey hit the button to turn off the screen then tossed the phone on the counter. He would wait for Baz to bring his truck, then he’d hit Moonshiners. A few hours out and about would help him clear his head, bring things into perspective.