Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,21

about it. We need to move now.” There was an urgency as he checked the hallway then pulled himself back inside my place.

“No. You tell me how you knew to be here. Then we’ll go.”

I dodged, but he was quick and blocked my path. The dog’s ears pricked up, and a chill ran up my spine. I backpedaled and dove behind the knocked-over couch. Eli grumbled and held up his hands. I faked right, dodged left, and he fell for it, chasing me from the wrong side. With more space between us, I almost had a clear shot to the door, but just as I was about to take my freedom run, he deftly leaped over the couch and grabbed me in a chokehold.

“Hey!” I croaked.

He yanked against my neck and almost cut off my air before he loosened his grip, like he was giving me a warning. “Get. A. Bag.”

“Who put you up to this?” I coughed.

“Derek did.”

“Dr. Dish?”

Eli laughed and loosened his grip more. “That’s one for the old lab coat. I’ll have to remember to call him that.”

Still. WE weren’t having a moment and I didn’t trust him. My throat hurt as a reminder not to. “How do you know him?”

“I’m his brother. Will you get a bag so we can leave?” This time he checked out the window before he looked at me again.

“Brothers?” Tall dark and deadly didn’t have a single sparkle compared to Derek. And it wasn’t out of my realm to believe brothers didn’t have to look exactly the same but come on. “You look nothing alike.”

He cracked his neck and mumbled to himself. “Fucking hell, the things I do for him…”

Without warning, he hoisted me into a fireman’s carry, and the dog barked, its tail thumping the floor. “Hey! What the fuck! Let me down! I need to get my—”

“Oh, what’s that? You need to get something? Like, a fucking bag?”

I growled as he made his way to the door, but I kicked and almost managed to break free when I spotted a familiar shine under the pile of debris on the desk. “Wait! For real, I need my laptop.”

Eli bent with me over his shoulder and yanked out the computer from the rubble. “This?”

I twisted to the side for a better view and grimaced as the dog licked my face. “Yeah. Be careful with it—”

“All right, nerd. Calm down. I’ve got it.”

The little energy left drained out of my body, and I went limp with exhaustion. The dog licked my hand as it flopped near Eli’s hip, and she followed at our heels as he carried me down the stairs and out to his truck. I was done fighting. Off my feet, and carried by fate and Eli, I was just done.

7

Derek

The sun rose over the top of Vanguard Tower, reflected off the smooth surface of the Potomac, and blinded me as I leaped out of the cab. Two steps toward home, I doubled back and gave the driver a tip.

“That was record time, Lyle.”

“Hey, I pride myself on navigating the early hours.” He tipped his hat and tucked the money into the breast pocket of his shirt.

The Tower was eerily quiet, and my footsteps reverberated off the walls as I sprinted through the foyer to my apartment and wrangled the keys out of my pocket. The door handle turned too easily, telling me it was unlocked from the inside. I held the knob and my breath, and listened. Silence… But that didn’t mean the coast was clear. With a 911 message from Eli and now he wasn’t answering his phone, I was worried. Anything could have been behind the door. Or anyone. It was a ridiculous thought–I’d been safe in the Vanguard Tower since we’d built it, but I steeled myself, took a step back, then threw my full weight shoulder-first into the door as I turned the knob, ready to fight.

Eli stared at me from the couch, his mouth a tense line, and his long hair sticking out of his bun at various angles. He held a bag of frozen peas against one eye and a bag of frozen corn to his groin. Owen stared too without his usual happy-go lucky grin, but he did shoot an amused smirk at our brother’s plight. I blurted a loud laugh, and Owen chuckled until Eli stabbed him with an elbow to the ribs. Uno sat between their feet, wagging her tail and beaming at me. At least someone was happy to