“Awww, Rowe, did you find yourself a hot Romanian lover too?” intruded a new, deeper voice. Rowe looked up to see Snow followed by Jude entering the room from the door off the balcony. Snow’s silver-streaked hair was mussed like he’d been running his fingers through it. But more than likely, the man with the easy smile and big, dark eyes next to him had been doing it.
Finally. Someone else to rein in this flirting. Snow was practically a caveman when it came to protecting Ian from anyone who might be considering hitting on the young man. There was no way he was going to tolerate Noah flirting with Ian. He wanted Keegan to get along with his friends, but every warning Rowe gave only seemed to encourage Noah.
“Never, Doc. You know I’m holding out the hope that you’ll come after me,” Rowe said, muscles loosening some.
Snow lifted one brow in surprise as he stared at Rowe for a second before looking speculatively at Noah. His fingers tightened on the hand he was holding, bringing it to his lips. “Intriguing offer. I know I said your ass was still mine, but my chasing days are over.” He looked at Jude and the two locked gazes in a way that made Rowe feel as if he’d disappeared.
It was still a shock to see Snow so devoted to another person the way he was to Jude. He’d always been loyal to his friends, but when it came to Jude, it was like he held nothing back. Of course, it had been a long, hard road for Snow to find someone that he could trust with his heart. Fuck. Rowe was happy for his friend. Really, really happy.
“Noah Keegan,” Rowe said. “This asshole is Dr. Ashton Frost, but we just call him Snow because of all that white stuff that cropped up early on his head. And that,” he continued, pointing to the muscular, dark-haired man beside Snow, “is Jude Torres. Despite hanging out with the doc, he’s all right.”
Jude stepped away from Snow with a smirk. “There’s no accounting for taste, Rowe. Always good to see you.” He turned his attention to Noah and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You were a Ranger,” Snow said, not moving any closer or extending his hand.
“Yes.”
“Why leave?”
Noah shrugged and flashed Snow an easy-going smile. “Just wasn’t as fun without Rowe around to blow shit up.”
A grudging half-smile twisted Snow’s lips while he placed on arm over Jude’s shoulders. “I’ll give you that.”
“That’s right. You ran with Rowe in the Army for a while.” Keegan’s smile became sly, his gaze darting to Rowe and then back to Snow. Rowe nearly groaned even as his heart rate picked up at that look. “He told me this crazy story about this time when you were on leave for forty-eight hours. Where were you again?” Noah paused, scratching his chin as if digging around in his brain for the threads of the story, but Rowe knew that tone. Noah knew exactly what he was saying. The fucker was slowly stringing Rowe up. “Munich, I think. And you were passing yourself off as this American playboy at a nightclub using Snow’s name—”
“Lucas’s name,” Snow quickly corrected with a chuckle. “We’d gone to a bar in the Ritz and Rowe was putting the tab on someone else’s hotel room. He’d commandeered this huge booth and had a blonde bimbo on one side and this blond twink on the other arm, all while claiming to be Lucas Vallois. I’m surprised we didn’t get killed that night.”
“What are you complaining about?” Rowe snickered. “If I remember correctly, that twink got on his knees under the table and blew you right there. You were too wasted to stumble to the damn bathroom.”
“And at that point, the cops were called,” announced a newcomer in a low, cold voice that froze all the people in the room. Rowe twisted to find Lucas standing on the edge of the living room. They’d all been laughing so hard that no one had heard his approach.
Whenever Lucas Vallois entered a room, he instantly dominated it. He was a few inches shorter than Snow, but the man simply had a presence that was bigger than life. It also didn’t help that he’d chosen to dress in black slacks and a black V-neck sweater that clung to his wide shoulders and chest, making him look like a stylish shadow of death. Rowe loved Lucas completely, but there were days when he just wanted to strangle the man. He was too poised, too controlled at all times. But that control had enabled him to keep Snow from self-destructing for too many years.
It was part of the reason he’d needed to leave after Mel’s death. He’d known that Lucas would try to keep him from imploding and Rowe hadn’t been sure that he didn’t want to implode. He’d needed to completely fall apart if he was to ever put himself back together again. He hated thinking about those weeks before he’d been forced to come back to help his friends fight Gratton.