Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,46

took a seat on the couch and grabbed the remote. I waited for him to speak, and he cleared his throat.

“Thanks. For everything.”

Sincere, he sounded wounded, scared, and genuinely grateful. I nodded, and waited for him to say more, but he simply rubbed his wrist and made his way to the bedroom.

14

Sebastian

“Veer left at the fork. Your destination will be on the right.”

Derek’s navigation technology didn’t know the first thing about Ben’s condominium. I nodded toward the far entrance at the back of the block of buildings. “Ignore her. Go straight, there’s a parking lot—”

Matt, the scarier of the twins, leaned forward from the back of the car. “Can we get in the back?”

Sean craned forward too, and nudged Derek. “We should scout the back.”

I shot them a look. “—a parking lot around the back.”

“Turn left,” the automated voice drawled.

Derek took a calming breath, ignored the navigation system, and drove through the intersection. I chewed my nails and ripped one down to the quick when I pointed at the back entrance. Derek yanked the wheel, Sean barely stayed upright, and Matt grunted as we turned into the lot, bounced over traffic humps, and pulled into a spot by the door.

“Okay, kids, we made it!” Derek slapped the wheel and shot a dirty look at the twins who didn’t seem fazed by his irritation. He grumbled a bit louder. He was cute when he clenched his jaw.

Maybe he was reconsidering the wisdom of bringing ‘some muscle’ with us to my meeting with Ben, something I’d adamantly opposed. They’d barely acknowledged me in the car on the drive over, and I couldn’t imagine them giving me backup out of the goodness of their hearts. Derek, on the other hand, was a good guy and maybe our chemistry compelled him to help me out. The twins, though, they had no reason to have my back, and that made me nervous.

I wasn’t used to people offering help for no good reason, and frankly, I didn’t want to get used to it either. If everything went well with Ben, I’d have my answers, be able to make a plan, and get back to my old life. Great… I was sad about the idea of losing Derek and going back to the way things were.

Matt and Sean got out of the car and scouted the back entrance, which seemed to mean looking around the half-empty parking lot, poking the spindly saplings struggling to grow by the back walkway, trying to peer into the basement apartments, and checking the garbage cans while Derek and I “stayed safe in the car.” It didn’t look like a very well-coordinated effort to me. I’d expected them to break down the door, whip out some guns, and charge into the building ready to fire.

“You said these guys are in the military?” My disbelief was audible.

“Marines. Sean’s currently serving but he’s off on an injury right now, and Matt got out a few years ago.” Derek spoke with such pride for his brothers, and no one had ever taken up for me like that.

“Oh, right. What does he do now? Clearly not breaking and entering.”

Derek chuckled at the two beefcakes as they rattled the back door—locked—and it didn’t budge. “They know what they’re doing. It might not look like it right now—”

“It doesn’t.” I raised my eyebrows as one of them tried to peer into the keyhole.

“—but they’ll be useful. Trust me.”

He was already staring at me when I glanced at him, and my cheeks flushed. “Trust you, huh?”

His bottom lip sucked between his teeth, and he nodded. He’d taken off his sunglasses, and his deep blue eyes studied me.

I cleared my throat, but my voice still came out hoarse. “Working on it.”

A sharp whistle broke the tension. The twins gave a thumbs-up and waved us over, while my stomach turned when I realized what I was about to do.

“Fuck.” I let out a shuddering breath.

Derek paused with his hand on his door handle and considered me over the top of his sunglasses. “Okay?”

“Just realized how unprepared I am for this. If it goes wrong… Even if it goes right.” My brother wasn’t going to tell me anything I wanted to hear. Probably things I didn’t want to hear.

“Hey.” He took my hand and squeezed, his grip gentle but steady. “That’s why you’ve got us here.”

It was more comforting than I would’ve ever thought.

With my backup of handsome, muscled men behind me, I buzzed Ben’s apartment from the locked back door. And