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Del laughed, though it was weak.
“That‟s better,” Dennie said sincerely. “Come on. Hot water,
and then coffee.” Tugging and pushing, he managed to prop Del up
in the bathroom. The splatter of water echoed loudly for several
seconds. “I‟m not going to have to actually bathe you too, am I?”
Dennie asked, eyeing Del cautiously.
“I‟ll manage.”
Dennie patted his cheek. “Good boy. Scrub hard.” Del
chuckled. “Oh brother, you know what I mean. Get in there.” Then
he shoved Del right under the water.
Del howled. “It‟s cold!”
“Was it? Darn,” Dennie cooed.
“Asswipe.”
“Asslick.”
“Love you.” Del sighed, leaning on his hands on the shower
wall, letting the frigid water soak into him and drive away the
alcohol fumes. Maybe Dennie was just what he needed to get
moving again. He‟d ignored life for days. Time to move on.
“I‟m not the one you should be saying that to,” Dennie told
him quietly.
Del closed his eyes, his spine taut as he trembled. “I know.”
He blew out a harsh breath, spraying water in the process, then
managed to find the knob to adjust the spray. “I fucked up Dennie.
Big time.”
“So fix it.” He kissed a finger and pressed it to Del‟s cheek.
“Get clean, then come on out.”
“Yes, ma‟am.”
“Dick.”
“Bitch.”
“Love you,” they chimed together. Del laughed, freely. The
first real laugh since Jake walked out of his life. “I‟m going to get
him back, Dennie.”
“I know you will.” Then Dennie shut the shower stall and
slipped out the bathroom door, letting Del get his head on straight.
Clean, shaved and mostly human, in fresh clothes, he
sauntered his way to the kitchen a little later, listening to Sierra and
Dennie henpeck each other.
“No, it goes like this,” Sierra said, with a strong note of
exasperation.
“But I know—” interrupted by a petulant male grunt “—it fits
like this.”
He leaned on a shoulder against the doorjamb, watching his
two closest friends try to figure out how to put together his coffee
grinder. They‟d tried to make coffee for him from scratch. Just one
of the reasons why he loved—and tolerated—them so much. Dennie
was in true form, with sapphire blue tipped spiked blond hair, lean
as a whippet in gray metallic silk and designer jeans. What he
lacked in strength, he made up for in pure determination.
“Guys, I have a full canister already prepped in the freezer.”
They both lifted guilty expressions. “He broke it!” Sierra
pointed, quickly swiping her hands away from the victim.
Dennie growled, narrowing his eyes at her. “Brat! You
started it.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. Del laughed, straightening
from the wall. A destroyed grinder was nothing for their friendship.
He lifted it from Dennie‟s hands.
“That‟s okay. I‟ll do it.” Making coffee would give him
something to do with his hands for the moment anyway. “So what
have I missed?”
Dennie pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat
demurely. Sierra backed up. He peeked over a shoulder. “What?”
“Del, do you even know how long you‟ve been MIA?”
He shrugged a shoulder to her question. Opening the freezer,
he retrieved the canister. “I don‟t know. Three, maybe four days.”
Unease slithered across his shoulders. Had it been that long?
Something told him it was worse than that. He didn‟t ignore it this
time. He faced the two at the table.
“What?”
“Del, you‟ve been out of it for almost two weeks.” Sierra‟s
hands twisted to stop in a tangle on her lap. “When we heard,” she
tucked her chin, sharing a look with Dennie, who nodded,
encouraging her to continue, “we let you have some time.” Del was
grateful for Sierra. She knew the crux of the problem, even if she
didn‟t tell Dennie everything. “Then Nicole called, at her wit‟s end,
looking for you, wanting you to talk some sense into Jake.”
“Why? Is he okay?” Worry thickened more, making his skin
prickle.
“Del,” Sierra said carefully. “He‟s put the bookstore up for
sale.”
“What?” he shouted. He stiffened, jerking upright from
where he leaned against the counter.
“Nicole started calling right after the picnic, worried about
Jake. He‟s lost weight. Won‟t talk. Works non-stop, then out of the
blue, he told her was going to sell it.”
He scrubbed his face. “Why?”
“I think the why is self-explanatory,” Dennie pointed out.
“Not completely,” she said, clearing her throat. “He found
out about the viral campaign to bring him business. Someone
mentioned a name and one thing led to another and he learned it
was me, which meant you, finding him customers.”
“Shit,” Del muttered. “I guess he didn‟t exactly see it the way
we did.” That they‟d only been trying to help.
She shook her head sadly. “I tried to explain it, and I think he
believes me, but he‟s still hurting. You need to talk to him, before he
leaves. You need to explain everything, Del. Tell him everything,”
she emphasized.
“I don‟t know if he‟ll even talk to me.” He gazed at his
friends, looking for help. A miracle. His attention snapped to her
once more. “Wait, leaves?”
Sierra nodded. “Nicole said he‟s been putting feelers out for
jobs. We‟ve been talking every day. You have to do something, Del.”
Del felt his heart thud into his ribs. He ran a hand over his
head. No, he could not let his mate go. Not like this. His mind began
to click, turning over with an increasing speed. “I have to go. Can
you guys lock up, or whatever? Stay if you want.” He didn‟t care. He
had to get to Jake. Now.
Striding from the kitchen, he rustled through the debris of
his living room until he found his wallet and keys. What a wreck.
His house was next. Jake was now. Finger combing his hair, he was
out the door.
His breathing caught painfully when he stopped his truck in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]