“The kind of energy that I’d rather not take from you or any of the other local cops.”
“So you’ll feed on Nicky or Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“What do you mean, you feed on energy?” he asked.
I was debating how to explain and if I even owed him an explanation when Ethan drove into the parking lot with Nicky at his side. If I hadn’t been afraid it would give them the wrong idea about the quickie, I’d have given them both a kiss.
65
I WALKED TOWARD the SUV like I was a grown-up police officer who wasn’t going to embarrass herself in the middle of an investigation, but by the time Nicky was out of the car, I felt more like a teenager whose hormones were running high and common sense was running low. It was ridiculous to want to touch him this badly. We’d just seen each other a few hours ago. I balled my hands into fists at my sides to remind myself not to reach out until my bare hand touched his naked skin. What was wrong with me today?
Ethan walked around the front of the SUV to grin at us. “I used to be jealous when I saw you looking at other people like that, but now I’ve got Nilda at home, and she looks at me that way.”
That made me smile at Ethan. He looked so happy. It made me want to hug him, because I loved it when my people were happy. Nicky took my hand in his and was smiling at me and at Ethan. “It makes you so happy that Ethan is doing the whole happily ever after with Nilda.”
“Of course it does,” I said, smiling at him.
Ethan laughed and threw an arm around both Nicky and me and hugged us. “I love both you guys so much.”
“Anita loves you, too, so I have to,” Nicky said, and hugged the other man back.
I was caught up in the group hug, and it was like all the shared happiness washed away the anxiety and the sexual overtones of my skin hunger of just moments ago.
“You guys are so cute,” Newman said, smiling at us.
We all turned in the hug to smile at him, willing to share the happiness of the moment. We were like a happily married couple who just liked seeing everyone else as happy as we were, except that instead of us wanting everyone to be a happy couple like us, there were more options.
“Thanks. Now I’ll take my snacks, and we’ll go look for more clues.”
“Let’s sign the warrant over before we go clue hunting,” Newman said.
I looked at him, the happy glow beginning to fade for me. I was glad he was signing the warrant over to me. It had been what I wanted, right? So why did it feel like I’d lost instead of won? But I let Newman take out the warrant and spread it across Nicky’s back. Newman and I signed it, and Ethan signed off as the witness. I folded it back up and tucked it into one of the pockets on my tactical pants. It was mine now, which meant I was in charge, for better or worse.
“Anita says you’re going to follow us?” Newman asked.
Nicky nodded. Ethan said, “Yes.”
“If Duke spots you, he will lose his shit,” Newman said.
“He won’t spot us,” Nicky said.
“How can you be sure?”
Nicky just looked at Newman with his sunglasses making him look tough and cool. Ethan smiled, ruining the tough part, despite his multicolored hair combined with his sunglasses and a body so fiercely in shape that body armor couldn’t hide it. Just because I was happy for him to be in love with Nilda didn’t mean I couldn’t admire the view.
“They are as good as they look,” I said.
Newman smiled and shook his head at us or maybe just at me. “You’re not catching Duke at his best. He’s better than he looks.”
“Maybe he is,” I said, “but I’d rather risk them being spotted than not have them nearby.”
“I feel like I’m missing something here, Blake.”
If only you knew half of what you’re missing, I thought, but out loud I said, “You know that energy I feed off of?”
“Yeah, you were going to explain what kind of energy it was when they drove up.”