Sanctuary Found (Pelican Bay 2)

It occurred to me that in order to see his eyes that close up, I had to be standing really close to him.

Really, really close.

I was.

When had that happened?

I took a step back and let my gaze travel over his face. His skin was pale and I didn’t even see a hint of facial hair.

It was another reminder of how young he was.

His hair was thick and so dark it looked blue under the light. And then I realized it looked blue because there actually was some blue it. It was subtle, but it was there.

“You’re one of those goth kids, aren’t you?” I asked.

Isaac looked startled. “What?”

I let my eyes sweep his body and felt an unpleasant sensation stroke through my system.

Okay, not entirely unpleasant.

“You’re into all that heavy metal death shit,” I said.

“Oooh, he said a bad word,” Newt whispered. “You gotta do what Isaac says now.”

“What?” I asked.

“No, he doesn’t,” Isaac said at the same time.

“I gotta give up Lightning when I do it.” The little boy whipped out a red toy car from his pocket. “And I can’t get him back for fifteen whole minutes,” Newt declared, his eyes going big.

“Is that right?” I asked as I turned my attention to Isaac. A shiver of awareness went through me when Isaac’s tongue darted out to wet his lips and I found myself once again stepping closer to him. “You gonna punish me now, Isaac?” I asked, dropping my voice just a bit.

I expected him to cower, or at least look away. But he held my gaze and I saw a subtle shift in his expression. Suddenly, he was the one pressing forward, and I found myself practically nose to nose with him.

He smelled like lemons.

Why the fuck was I noticing that about him?

“I don’t particularly like wasting my time trying to teach lessons to guys like you.”

“Guys like me?”

His eyes slid up and down my body.

“You’re one of those dumb jocks, right?”

“What?” I asked, completely caught off guard.

“The muscles, the intimidation, the inability to speak more than a few syllables at a time…” he practically purred. “I mean, that’s what we’re doing here, right? I’m the weird, freaky goth guy because I wear black and like to use a bit of eyeliner now and again, and you’re the brainless jock who can’t string more than a few words together and expects everyone to fall at your feet because you’re big and built and gorgeous.”

His hand actually came up to stroke over my chest and I felt his touch everywhere.

Yeah, everywhere.

“Newt, what’s our rule about letting people hurt us with words?” Isaac asked as he held my gaze.

“It don’t count if they don’t know our middle names,” Newt declared.

“Doesn’t count, and you’re exactly right, Newt.” Isaac dropped his hand and stepped back. “People like that just aren’t worth our time, are they?”

“Nope.”

“’Cause if they don’t care enough to know our middle names…” Isaac began.

“…they don’t care enough to be nice,” Newt finished.

I couldn’t help but feel a weird sense of pride. Not many people had the balls to stand up to me. This kid had done it with very little hesitation and made a teaching moment out of it.

I forced myself to move back and give both of them a little more breathing room. “Nolan said to make yourself at home,” I said, then turned to head for the door. I didn’t like all the shit going through my head at the moment and there was only one thing that would help ward it off.

I needed to move.

And just keep moving.

“Is there anything I can do?” Isaac called. “For Nolan, I mean?”

“Yeah,” I said without looking at him. “Don’t steal anything.”

Chapter Two

Isaac

Don’t steal anything.

What a monumental asshole.

You’re actually surprised by this?

“No,” I said to my inner voice as I wrapped my arms around myself and hurried to the car to get our stuff. I shouldn’t be accepting Nolan’s offer to spend the night, but truth was, the idea of driving around the snowy roads in the backwoods of Minnesota in the dead of night in a car that was on its last legs scared the hell out of me. The idea that Nolan’s generosity could be some kind of trap filtered through my head, but I dismissed it. Newt and I had already been at the house for the better part of an hour, part of which Nolan had spent in the upstairs bedroom with his boyfriend. If he’d wanted to call the cops, he could’ve done it then and they would have arrived by now.

So while I wasn’t keen on hanging around the guy I’d stolen from, especially after all the shit I’d admitted to him about my connection to his ex, Trey, I knew that Newt and I didn’t have a lot of options. I didn’t have enough money to spend on a motel if I wanted to have cash for a place when we got to New York, and since it was way too cold to sleep in the car, accepting Nolan’s offer was the smart way to go. I’d just make sure Newt and I were on the road first thing in the morning. And I had to admit, the idea of sleeping in a bed appealed to me, not to mention Newt could use the normalcy of sleeping in a warm house for a change. There were only so many times I could turn sleeping in the car or in a tent in the woods into a fun adventure, especially when the temperature dropped so low.