Dream Keeper (Dream Team 4)

In fact, he felt everyone’s focus shift to Billy.

That was the kind of vibe Billy gave off.

When he was around, you paid attention to the guy. Not that he said much, he just wasn’t a guy you wanted sneaking up on you.

“You cool, brother?” Auggie asked him, even if you could tell by the look on his face that the man was far from cool.

“Perfect world, men like that would be stoned to death,” Billy declared.

Jesus Christ.

Corbin was an asshole, but that was over the top.

“By women who’d been fucked over by cheaters,” Billy finished. He then moved to march down the rest of the stairs, muttering, “Are we having this meeting, or what?”

Billy disappeared in the large conference room that sat bottom right when you came in the front door.

When he was out of sight, Elvira said, “I just love that guy.”

She then walked back to her office.

Mo, Mag, Axl and Auggie all looked at each other with everyone ending up with eyes on Marques.

All of Auggie’s crew—that being Axl, Boone, Mag and Mo—were in their early thirties (Auggie being thirty-four), and except for Mo, who’d been with Hawk for a good while, they’d all come on around the same time.

Forming their team, they’d also formed a bond, because they came on together, and because they were all veterans.

Shared experience, and a recurring theme in the shared baggage they all had from that experience.

In other words, his crew had a bond.

Marques’s crew (not that Billy was any kind of official member, still, it included Billy and Zane) were in their late twenties. And they too had joined the team around the same time as each other when Hawk had expanded operations.

Marques and Zane were also ex-military.

Billy was not.

He still was in that crew, and in work, Hawk partnered them up according to who knew best how the others worked and the experience and loyalty that came from that.

The distinction was minimal.

But it was there.

So essentially, without words, they were all asking Marques what the fuck with Billy.

“I don’t know,” he said. “All I know is, the guy’s intense. And we all know the kind of intense he is, it’s the kind you want either at your back or taking point.”

That was the truth.

On this, Boone strolled in the front door and his gaze came right to Auggie.

“Save it,” Mag advised. “We got there before you and then found out Pepper’s ex was an unwanted interruption at their dinner party because he’s making a play to get her back. So it isn’t fun anymore.”

Boone’s eyes shot to Auggie. “Are you serious?”

Before Auggie could answer, Boone looked over Aug’s shoulder and up, so Aug looked that way.

Hawk was coming out of his office.

Marques was manning the monitors that shift, so he headed back up to his station.

Axl and Aug walked along the row then down the stairs toward the conference room.

Boone met them at the door.

“It’s all good, man. She’s over him. She’s into me. It was a great night. She’s fantastic,” Auggie told him.

Boone studied him, saw what he needed to see and then nodded.

When they hit the conference room, Billy was at the Nespresso machine.

But Boone, Mag, Mo and Axl had travel mugs undoubtedly filled with coffee, so they moved right to seats at the table.

It struck Aug then that he didn’t remember ever seeing any of the men with travel mugs before they got with their women.

Maybe he did and it didn’t register.

Jorge, another member of their crew, was married.

And in the mornings if he was in, he came with a mug.

But Auggie was heading to the Nespresso. Billy, as mentioned, was getting his. And if Zane was there (instead of at home since he’d done night duty), he’d be at the Nespresso too.

Because they were all single. They hadn’t been domesticated.

Only Mag’s woman, Evie, was probably up and getting ready to face the day at the same time as him, since she worked computer support at the same time she was studying to get her engineering degree.

Ryn, Lottie and Hattie danced and didn’t get home until the early hours of the morning. He doubted they got up to share breakfast and coffee.

It hit him then it was just…

That was what you did when you had a partner.

You had food in your house because there was someone other than you there who might need to eat.

And you made coffee in the morning because you weren’t the only one drinking it.

Toting a travel mug of coffee said I have someone who cares about me.

Billy moved out of the way and Auggie stepped up to the Nespresso, sorting his pod and mug, remembering while growing up, going to the kitchen and grabbing a bag of Chex Mix or some Cool Ranch Doritos, and if he was lucky, there was peanut butter and some bread to make a sandwich or some Hot Pockets in the freezer.