Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

###

Rowe didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until he and Noah were a few miles down the winding back roads that would take them toward the nearest interstate on-ramp. He sent a quick text to Lucas, informing him that everything was fine, before he shut off his phone. Right now, his main concern was Noah. He needed to tell him a few things, particularly about the threat that was still hanging over his head and could too easily extend to his friend.

“So…” Noah said, breaking the silence that had filled the cab of the truck for the past several minutes. “Who’s Lucas? Some homophobe?”

Rowe winced. “Oh fuck, no!” Geez, Noah couldn’t be more wrong. He needed to start talking before Noah made some more horrible assumptions. But the problem was that he’d never been able to really explain his friendship with Lucas, Snow, and Ian. They were his family, his brothers. The people he’d die for. Rowe glanced across the seat at Noah lounging in the truck with his shoulder propped against the door, an expectant look on his face. Well, maybe Noah would get it. They’d been pretty tight once.

“Do you remember me telling you about some friends I made while with my first squad? Before entering Ranger training.”

Noah grunted. “Yeah, quite often actually. You were close.”

“Lucas and Snow.”

“Wait.” Noah sat up straight, his chest pulling against the seat belt as he leaned forward a bit. “This guy is the same Lucas?”

“And Snow.” Rowe slowed the truck for a red light. Balancing his left elbow on the door, he rested his head on his hand. “After I recovered from surgery, I found them again. They helped me get on my feet. They’re…my brothers. I’d do anything for them, and they’d do anything for me. It’s just…they’ve been a little overprotective this year.”

“Yeah, but they know you’re fine, right?”

Rowe groaned and hit the gas as the light turned green, signaling to pick up the on-ramp that would take him farther south. They were all far from fine with Jagger gunning for them. “Lucas knows that some unknown person answered my phone. Fuck only knows what he’s thinking. He’s probably got Andrei trying to track the damn GPS chip.”

“Who’s Andrei?”

“Lucas’s boyfriend and my employee.” Rowe paused and snorted, a smile starting to tug at one corner of his mouth. “A good friend too.”

“So Lucas…is gay? And he’s worried that…what? You’re having wild, headboard-breaking sex with a gay man in your house?”

Rowe couldn’t help but snicker at Noah’s incredulous tone. Maybe he was overreacting, but it was very likely that he wasn’t the only one overreacting. The laugh helped to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders and put a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“No, they’re just worried. We’ve had some bad things happen and I haven’t been thinking clearly…”

“Since your wife’s death,” Noah supplied when Rowe’s voice drifted off.

“Yeah.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel and he shifted in his seat, forcing his brain to focus on the pale gray ribbon of road stretching in front of him. The traffic wasn’t bad for the last lingering bits of morning rush hour. With any luck, the IHOP would be quiet for a Friday morning. He could really use a fucking cup of coffee. He hadn’t had a chance to drink much of the one he’d poured at home before Typhoon Noah blew through.

“Look, if you’re going to stick around for a while, you’re going to meet Lucas, Snow and Ian. They’re a big part of my life.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Rowe saw Noah give a shrug as he settled back in his seat. “That’s cool. I can play nice with others.”

“I’m sure you can, you fucking ground pounder.”

“Ex-ground pounder, thank you very much.”

“Whatever.”

“So then…that whole ‘guy you’re drilling into the mattress’ thing probably didn’t go over well,” Noah said nonchalantly but Rowe could hear the laughter bubbling in his voice.

Rowe laughed. “You’re such an asshole.” He turned off the next exit and slowed to a stop for the red light. Leaning to the side, he pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and thumbed it back on. Now that he was sure that Noah was cool, he felt more comfortable in confronting a seething Lucas. However, Lucas was not the first one to call.

Within seconds of the phone powering back up, a call rang through and Rowe grinned wide. This was gonna be better than Lucas. Putting his finger to his lips, Rowe answered the call and put it on speaker so Noah could hear too.

“Rowan, you shit,” Snow growled.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

“Bastard,” Snow snarled. “I pulled the night shift. I was in bed two hours before Lucas was lighting up my phone. Two. Hours. What the fuck?”

“What’s wrong? Something happen?”

Snow’s loud sigh filled the cab of the truck, followed by the rustling of fabric, indicating that he was likely calling from his bed. “Who was at your house? Lucas was growling about someone at your place and that you’re fucking some guy.”