“I’m making you sound sexy,” Colt countered, sliding both arms around Jace’s waist.
“I have seven hundred kids in my care who are tossing themselves or each other through the air. They must be disciplined and have respect for what they’re doing. I’ve never had one serious injury…”
“See how sexy he is? And don’t respond to that, Knox,” Colt said, causing everyone, including him and Jace, to laugh. Kreed did chuckle. They were fun together, and Mitch clearly felt at home here, but his entire focus remained on Aaron and the young woman sitting close by his side.
It sucked to admit they were pretty together. They had about the same coloring, both dark-headed and tanned, but she accomplished something that Kreed hadn’t been able to do. She put Aaron at immediate ease and made him truly smile. Oh man, he wished the kid looked at him like that.
God, Aaron had him all kinds of screwed up.
Kreed lifted a hand to his face, his palm covering his lips as he stood there and watched Aaron interact with Haley. He was confused, uncertain about everything as he watched the two of them together. The kid inclined his head as he listened intently to whatever she had to say. After a few minutes, Aaron’s laughter filled the room and Kreed’s stomach dropped when Aaron placed his hand on her arm.
Now he was back to contemplating Aaron’s sexuality. Maybe he’d only imagined hearing his name in the bedroom that night.
Fingers snapped in front of his face, snagging his attention. He looked over to see Mitch glaring at him. “I’m worried about whatever’s going on with you two.”
“What’re you talking about?” Kreed asked, trying to deflect.
“I thought we agreed, no playing with our partners. It’ll fuck you up in the field,” Mitch cautioned.
“Who? Stuart? I’m not fucking him.” There was no lie there. He absolutely, with deep regret, wasn’t fucking the kid.
“But you want to,” Mitch countered, stating the obvious.
“Doesn’t matter. Look at him. He’s not a bit interested in me,” Kreed argued defensively. Mitch did look over at Aaron before turning back to Kreed.
“Are you serious?” Mitch’s tone seemed a little angry now.
“Is who serious?” Cody asked. He’d come out of nowhere to stand by Mitch’s side. Cody draped his arm loosely over Mitch’s shoulders.
“He’s into you. You’re all he looks at and this shit needs to stop. You got my whole life riding in your hands,” Mitch lectured, wrapping an arm around Cody’s waist as the man swayed a little on his feet.
“Who? Aaron?” Cody asked, trying to follow along. As confused as Kreed was by Mitch’s statement, he smiled at Cody’s attempt to catch up. His buzzed brain no doubt made things harder. Kreed didn’t imagine Cody let loose too often, proving he must feel comfortable here.
“Yeah, you see it too, don’t you?” Mitch asked in a softer tone while helping to keep Cody on his feet.
“You don’t see it?” Cody asked Kreed.
“No, not at all,” he answered honestly. Actually, he was certain they were way off base.
“She’s a lesbian,” Cody blurted out. The word lesbian came out a little butchered, but he got what Cody was trying to tell him. Huh, that had never occurred to him. He looked up to see her and Aaron laughing again. She didn’t give off the lesbian vibe, and he immediately chastised himself at how stupid it was to even think something that stereotypical in the first place.
Could Mitch and Cody know something he didn’t?
If so, this piece of information was a complete game changer.
“Stop trying to hide it, ass. He’s into you and you’re into him, but you need to wait, Sinacola. This case’s too important to me, and I’ve got enough to worry about without adding that to the mix,” Mitch said, pulling Cody tighter to his side. Mitch barely paused to give Kreed the evil eye before his face softened as he looked over at Cody. “Are you still my sexy drunk fiancé?”
Cody nodded and leaned closer as he attempted to whisper to Mitch in an octave slightly lower than his normal speaking voice. “Come outside with me. The countdown’s startin’ soon. Kiss me under the stars.” The sweet, somewhat slurred declaration had Kreed smiling as he looked down, wishing he could give them some privacy, but he was trapped between the shelving unit and Mitch.
“Come on.” Mitch took Cody’s hand, but looked back over at Kreed. There was meaning in that stare, so Kreed did what he did best. He lifted his middle finger and flipped Knox off.
“Worry about yourself. I got me handled.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you think you do,” Mitch said, turning away. Kreed was back to standing alone. His arms were crossed over his chest and he purposely kept his head lowered just enough that he could watch Aaron without anyone noticing. He’d never once caught Aaron looking his way, and he’d done more than his fair share of hoping. Mitch would definitely be the one to mess with him, give him shit, and laugh when he crashed and burned with Aaron. Mitch always joked around, but tonight his tone held warning, not encouragement. Kreed could understand that given the circumstances, but he wouldn’t put them in danger…any of them.
Feeling very much like a teenager, Kreed couldn’t help but glance in Aaron’s direction every chance he got. The kid was beautiful. Of course, Aaron would probably argue that a man couldn’t be beautiful. Kreed smiled to himself, because he knew Aaron would be wrong. Everything about the guy was beautiful—his lips, his skin, the gentle curve of his jaw, the way his eyes lit up when he smiled.
Man, he was so dumb. Why the fuck was he sneaking peeks like a teenager in a classroom? Kreed lifted his head and blatantly stared in Aaron’s direction, startled when their gazes collided. Curiosity flashed across Aaron’s face seconds before he dropped eye contact and looked down at his shoes. Kreed watched as Aaron’s head lifted and those piercing blue eyes shifted back toward him again.