Broken Warrior (The Weavers Circle 1)

“Wouldn’t be a secret if I share that, now would it?”

Clay huffed a laugh. “That’s okay, you keep your secrets. Everyone’s got them.”

Dane’s fingers clenched into fists at the subject of secrets, but he released a breath and opened his hands again, forcing himself to relax. This lunch was too pleasant to ruin, and he’d already told Clay that it was okay if he kept his secrets.

He eyed the sexy man for a moment. “About the other night…”

A low hum rumbled from Clay, and the blood rushed to Dane’s dick. “It was nice.”

“It was a hell of a lot more than nice.”

The corner of Clay’s mouth went up. “Yeah, it was. Thinking of a repeat?”

“I know we said we wouldn’t, but of course I am.” Dane paused, his brows snapping together over his nose. “Aren’t you?”

“Thought of little else, to be honest.”

Dane snorted. “Same here. I haven’t felt anything like that in a long time, and the thing is, I do want more.”

“More what? Because I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”

“I’m not saying we get married…I just want more.”

“More sex?”

“That and getting to know each other.” He looked down at the hands he’d twisted in his lap. “Outside of that fumbling with my friend, I’ve had sex with only one other person in my life. I’m not one for casual hookups, so this isn’t easy for me to say.” He looked back up at Clay. “I really like you, Clay.”

“Really like you, too, Dane.”

“What would you say to a date? A real one?”

“I’d like that, but I need to stick around here for now. At least until we find out why those men are after us.”

“I could take the afternoon off. You like to fish? There’s a great pond on the property with plenty of fish.”

“I do. Sounds like a fun date. When do you want to go?”

“How about now?”Clay found a small cooler in the utility room and filled it with beer and water. He met Dane next to the pool, and the two of them started walking through the woods, each carrying a fishing pole. Dane also had a tackle box while Clay carried the cooler. Luckily, the pond was in the opposite direction of where Baer and Grey were probably still practicing. Baer was getting damn good at switching to different animals—just not directly from one to the other. He always had to come back to his human form first.

Their feet crunched on fallen leaves and twigs as they walked, and Clay marveled at how comfortable he felt with Dane. He couldn’t remember the last time he was on a date, and he’d never been on a fishing one. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone fishing.

“Got a recipe for fish in case we get lucky?” he asked.

Dane laughed, a joyful sound that echoed in the trees. “I just use a boxed fish fry on them. It’s good.”

“Have you always liked to cook?”

Dane made a strange expression, sort of a mix of amusement and horror. “Katie and I were together forever, and she was a horrible cook.” He gave a little laugh and almost looked surprised, as if he was shocked he could even laugh about something in relation to his dead wife. “But I like to eat, so I learned. After a while, I started to enjoy finding new recipes.”

He steered Clay to the right and moved aside some moss so he could walk through. It was a sweet gesture that seemed to come naturally to Dane, but it made something in Clay’s heart clench. He really was a good guy and deserved someone who planned to stick around.

They reached the pond and Clay whistled. “Wow, this place is gorgeous.”

“Yeah, Jo told me about it after I told her I liked to go fishing. She made some weird comment about the last tenants loving to catch their dinner. Since that was over thirty years ago, I had to wonder how she knew.”

“She seems pretty old. Maybe she knew them?”

“I suppose. It’s not the weirdest thing to come out of that woman’s mouth, though. She’s a character, that’s for sure. I’ve just figured it’s best to take what she says with a grain of salt.”

They settled on the bank next to the cooler and Dane opened his tackle box. “I’ve got tons of lures, so take your pick. I’ve found the rubber worms work well here. I didn’t bring any fresh bait, but if you’re in the mood for catfish, these teardrop lures work well for them. There’s some decent largemouth bass in here as well as bluegill and crappie. How long has it been since you went fishing?”

“Many years, but I can remember how to set up lures. It’s not something you forget easily.”

They got their poles readied, Dane obviously going for bigmouth, because he started casting and reeling. Clay set his up for catfish. They fished quietly for a while before Clay noticed Dane was watching him.