Wicked as Lies (Wicked & Devoted #3) - Shayla Black Page 0,51

this blazing torch for her for months…and she’d already snuffed out her flame for him and moved the fuck on.

Still, he couldn’t let it go. Zy leaned into her personal space, so close he could see the glossy pout of her bottom lip and smell a hint of her perfume. He almost tasted the minty tea she’d been drinking earlier. Goddamn it, she was right in front of him, and he wanted to touch her so fucking badly that he hadn’t thought about anyone else in months. He sometimes woke in a sweat at night, craving her with an ache he was beginning to fear he’d never sate.

And she was living with the ex who’d gotten her pregnant and left.

Well, fuck.

Zy tugged his keys out of his pocket. “You’re right. You don’t owe me a damn thing. You two lovebirds have a great weekend. I’m out.”

Trees walked in the middle of the deplaning crowd toward the baggage claim. Zy knew his buddy instantly because he stood a head taller than everyone else. He also looked stressed, exhausted, and a terrible shade of green.

His escape in Mexico must have been more harrowing than the bosses had led the rest of the team to believe.

“Hey, man.” Zy gave him a bro-hug, fucking relieved to have his buddy back. “You made it.”

“It was close.” Trees slung his duffel on his shoulder. “But yeah. Then I spent a worthless day at the hospital being poked and pumped full of fluids after puking up whatever drugs they slipped me at the restaurant. And Walker is still back there, suffering. I should never have left him.”

Trees was as loyal as he was towering. It was one of the reasons Zy had clashed with his buddy in the first place. Where he came from, it was every man for himself. He hadn’t understood Trees’s steadfast nature until basic had almost ended. And thank God they’d formed a bond then, or he would never have survived the hell they’d endured next.

“If you hadn’t, you and One-Mile would both be prisoners, and we would have no clue where to find either of you.”

“I tell myself that…but all I can see is Walker in my rearview mirror being held down by thugs as they slammed his head into the asphalt.”

Zy tried not to grimace. With every hour that ticked by, it seemed less likely that they’d ever find the snarky sniper alive. But they had to look. And they had to hope. If they didn’t, Trees was so distraught he might lose his shit. “Sorry. It’s been all hands on deck since we heard what happened.”

“Still nothing?”

“Nope. This all your luggage?” Zy gestured to the duffel.

“Yeah.” Trees scowled his way as they headed to the parking lot in the waning afternoon sun. “You look about as shitty as I feel. What’s wrong?”

Jesus, Zy didn’t want to talk about it. Hell, he didn’t even want to think about it. And he felt like a stupid shit for caring. While One-Mile was either dead or dying, Zy had been fixated on the fact Tessa was making the biggest mistake of her life—and stabbing him in the heart.

Fuck it. He was done. What had his brother always said? Bros before hos. Yeah. Trees would never betray him.

But Trees worried about him. He was a caring motherfucker and he’d just keep badgering until Zy spilled. “Tessa and her ex are back together. Apparently, she let him move in with her a couple weeks ago.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Zy tugged the keys from his pocket as they headed out the double doors and toward the parking lot. “I went to your place and grabbed your truck. I didn’t know if you’d be in any shape to ride on the back of my bike, so—”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Give you a ride home.”

Trees waved him away. “Fuck that. I mean about Tessa?”

“There’s nothing to do.”

“You love that woman. Fight for her.”

“I can’t be the only one willing to fight.”

Trees’s face softened. “I think she loves you, too.”

“Well, shacking up with her ex isn’t the way to show me. I get that I acted like a douche when she signed her contract, but—”

“Yeah, you did. You arranged a hookup with another woman.”

“I didn’t follow through.”

“Does Tessa know that? No, you let her think you spent all weekend fucking Madison. You screwed the pooch by hurting her first.”

Leave it to Trees to shove the truth down his throat. “This is why, even when