Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,40
to the table, back to where Brantley and Reese were talking.
Brantley glanced around him, frowned. “Where’s Trey?”
“Said he needed some air.” Magnus picked up his beer and downed what was left of it.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but if you wanna”—Reese fluttered his hand—“whatever’s goin’ on with you and … you might wanna go after him.”
“I’ll give him a minute.”
“You won’t get a minute. If I know my brother, and I do, he’s debatin’ on whether to come back in or head out. He’ll do that for a minute, maybe two, then he’s leavin’,” Brantley said, stressing the last word.
Magnus frowned.
“Seriously,” Brantley added.
Reese’s mirroring expression confirmed it.
Magnus glanced over at the door as though he could see out into the night, to where Trey had disappeared to.
Fuck.
“Happy New Year,” Brantley called out with a gruff laugh as Magnus walked away.
Heading for the door, Magnus tossed his empty beer bottle in one of the recycle barrels. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was going after Trey, other than to apologize for overstepping. The words would only be to placate Trey, of course, or maybe just an excuse to talk to him, because Magnus wasn’t the least bit sorry. He would do it again in a heartbeat given the opportunity.
He ventured outside, let the cold air fill his lungs as he glanced left and right before stepping off the wooden porch and into the gravel parking lot.
It was cold out tonight, but not so cold he needed a coat. Especially not since his blood was still flowing thick and hot through his veins thanks to that mind-blowing kiss he’d engaged in.
Magnus scanned the rows of vehicles he could see. The small bar was packed tonight, something he was told happened quite frequently. Probably had something to do with Moonshiners being the only bar in town and a favorite amongst locals. Magnus wasn’t exactly a local, having grown up in the small town just east of Coyote Ridge. Close enough to venture through, but rarely ever to stop, until recently when he’d acquired two new clients who lived here.
Not knowing where Trey had parked, Magnus took a chance, heading for the right side of the building.
It appeared to be his lucky night, because there was Trey, leaning against the wall, head tilted back, eyes closed. Debating, apparently.
Magnus cleared his throat to signal his approach.
“Go back inside,” Trey instructed without bothering to look his way.
Never good with authority, Magnus moved in closer rather than away.
“Go. Back. Inside.”
He continued until he was no more than a foot away. “No.”
“Trust me, kid, I’m not a man you wanna fuck with.”
“Kid?” Magnus snorted. “Did you really just call me a kid?”
“You’re what? Barely old enough to drink?” Trey’s head came down to level, eyes opening, his disdain apparent.
Magnus didn’t back down. Wouldn’t. “Twenty-four,” he said, content to know Trey’d had the mind to find out how old he was.
“Like I said. Kid.”
“Maybe you’re just an old man,” he taunted. “You’re what? Forty?”
“Pretty damn close,” Trey said with a sigh.
He’d pegged Trey for late thirties because he knew Trey was older than Brantley and Brantley was thirty-five, but he’d never really given much thought to an actual number. He didn’t give a damn about age. It meant nothing. Certainly not to a man who’d lost his entire family when he was sixteen and had been taking care of himself since. Some didn’t have the luxury of being a kid for long, and Magnus fell in that category.
“What happened in there?” Magnus asked, not willing to let this be over simply because Trey willed it to be.
“Not a damn thing.”
“Felt like somethin’ to me.”
Trey’s eyes locked with his, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Magnus relived those too-brief moments when Trey’s tongue had been dueling with his own. It had been hotter than anything he’d experienced as of late.
“You’re out of your depths here, Magnus,” Trey stated firmly.
“Am I?”
Trey’s head cocked to the left, eyebrows lowering. “What happened to the girlfriend?”
Magnus frowned, not understanding.
“Brantley told me.” Trey sighed. “Warned me offa you right quick.”
“No girlfriend,” Magnus informed him. “Boyfriend, either.”
Trey’s gaze skimmed his face. “You’re bisexual?”
“I am.” No sense denying it. “You got a problem with that?”
Trey continued to stare, but when he spoke, it wasn’t to answer Magnus’s question. “Like I said, you’re outta your depths.”
“Why? Because you’ve got a problem with the walk of shame? Fine. We’ll go to your place. I’ll be the one shamefully walkin’ come mornin’.”