“Yeah. About that. It’s the part I hate the most,” Kreed said before skirting past him.
“Okay. Do you ride like that the whole way there?” Aaron asked, following Kreed, undecided on where to cast his gaze.
At his hot ass? Nope. How about the freakishly large, broad shoulders… Makes you want to grab on as you sink onto his dick and… Okay, bad idea too. Neither.
Instead, he stopped at the hall closet and grabbed his and Kreed’s coats in hopes of giving his mind time to control his libido. What the hell was wrong with him? They were in a dangerous situation. He needed to stay focused on their job then get out of Dodge before anyone caught on to his extracurricular activities.
“I’ll check for a tail then I’ll move up to the front,” he said, doing something in the kitchen.
“Should I lay the rear seats down? I’m not sure you’ll fit in the backseat.”
“Har, har. Very funny. Get in the vehicle. Wait, are you old enough to drive?”
Okay, well, he’d been serious and Kreed took his words as a joke. Aaron held out Kreed’s coat, and he took it as he walked past, flipping off the light switches before heading toward the garage door.
“Real funny, pops,” Aaron finally commented. He waited in the dark while Kreed stretched across the entire length of the backseat and, as expected, Kreed’s height and bulk didn’t fit. Aaron adjusted the rearview mirror and moved the seat up a little before he looked back and said, “I can still see you.”
The whole car moved as Kreed readjusted from his side to lying on his back. “Is that better?”
“Now your knees are bent. I told you we should lay the seats down. You’ll fit better.”
“No. How’s this?” Kreed completely ignored him and Aaron rolled his eyes.
He looked in the rearview mirror and didn’t see any stray body parts, so he looked over his shoulder. Kreed’s angle was all wrong. No way he wouldn’t get a cramp in either his neck or leg in that position.
“You can’t be comfortable,” Aaron finally said.
“I’m good. Get goin’.” Aaron sat forward, furrowing his brow. Kreed couldn’t be even a little bit comfortable. Damn, the deputy marshal was stubborn.
“All right. Suit yourself.” Aaron shrugged and pressed the garage door opener, then he started the SUV and began backing out.
“Shit,” Kreed called out, and Aaron slammed on the brakes right in the middle of the alleyway.
“What?” he snapped. With the sudden stop, he heard Kreed shift, but it was too dark to see a thing going on in the backseat.
“I can’t see if anyone’s tailing us.”
“I’ll watch for it, but seriously, stop yelling out like that. You freaked me out.” Aaron took a deep breath to settle his nerves and continued down the alley to get to the street. A few minutes later, he felt Kreed shift again. He was such a big guy that the vehicle couldn’t help but move with him.
“All right, I’m good. I can see a patch out the back window reasonably well. You keep an eye on it too.”
“Which way? I can’t really remember the different turns. I see the CVS. We turn left, I think, right?” Aaron asked, getting in the left lane.
“Yeah, then right at that burger-slash-Mexican-food place.”
“Yeah, okay, and, for the record, the town doesn’t look any more inviting than it did when we arrived,” Aaron said. It was New Year’s Eve. There were more people on the road tonight, but still there was nothing really going on in this small town at all.
“I was reading that they were putting a new bar right next to the nursing home. I got a kick out of that. I bet Pastor Helps is dyin’ about that one. Hang on. GPS is tracking.” Kreed turned up the volume on his phone, guiding Aaron out to the highway.
~~~
Tired of being cramped up in the backseat, Kreed adjusted his body, trying for anything that bought comfort. Nothing did. Estimating based on time more than scenery, he figured they were about halfway to Colt’s place.
Kreed lifted his head again, looking out the back window. It was hard to tell, but surely between the both of them, even with the limited visual he had, they could have detected someone following, especially since the sexy Aaron Stuart in that black leather button-down and the perfectly styled fuck-boy haircut drove like a grandma. The thirty minute drive had already taken at least forty-five. Anyone who followed would have lost interest by now, easily believing this church boy was exactly who he claimed to be. No rebellious sinner would drive ten miles below the speed limit for the entire length of a trip.
Kreed rolled his neck as an unexpected charley horse chose that exact moment to attack his right calf muscle. He kicked his leg out, unintentionally banging his foot against the door, trying to alleviate the sudden agonizing constriction that had momentarily gripped his leg. It didn’t work. “Motherfucker!”
“What?” Aaron shouted almost as loud as he had. The car quickly jerked to the left, jostling him as his hands automatically went to the debilitating spasm in hopes of finding some relief. He was at such an angle that he fell backward against the seat when the car shifted, causing the pain to spike straight to level ten status. He grabbed his leg, trying to massage the knotting muscle. “Damn it! What the fuck are you doing?”
When he registered they’d pulled over, he bailed out the door, forcing himself to walk the cramp out while on the side of the road. He let the curse words fly as he shifted his body weight, and forced his heel to the pavement. That shit hurt like a son of a bitch. He could take anything—a punch, broken bones, a blade, a fucking bullet and even torture when necessary—but he couldn’t deal with a fucking charley horse for Christ sake. Even at BUD/S, his SEAL training course, he’d been baited about his inability to withstand a ‘little’ muscle cramp.