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“No, it’s not why I’ve been calling you. Thanks, by the way, for ignoring my calls.” Finch pushed away from the wall and folded his ridiculously muscled arms over his chest. Somehow, he’d gotten even bigger than Jay remembered. Probably to fit all that ego. Or hot air. Both. Definitely both.

“What were you expecting?” Jay asked. “A happy reunion?”

Finch narrowed his gaze, but Jay was immune to that icy stare. It might have intimidated him as a kid, but things were very different now. “I was expecting my brother to at least pick up the damn phone.”

“Really? After what you did?”

“After what I did?”

What the hell was his brother so damned surprised about? He was the one who’d been an asshole to Jay. “Well, it wasn’t anything I did.”

Finch scoffed. “Of course not. Because the Darling Starling can do no wrong.”

“Ugh, gross. Don’t call me that,” Jay grumbled. “You know how much I hate it.” Which was why Finch did it. Their parents’ high-society friends used to call him that when he was little. “Mom and Dad went along with that stupid name, not thinking about the pressure it put on me.”

“Oh, poor you.” Finch put a hand to his chest, his bottom lip jutted out. “It must have been so hard having everyone’s love and attention, doing whatever you pleased, knowing everyone would find it just so adorable.”

Jay gritted his teeth. “Go home.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Jaybird. I like your friends.” His grin suggested he more than liked Jay’s friends or, rather, one friend in particular.

“Since when are you into guys?” Jay motioned to Finch’s general person. “What is this? You’re not gay.”

“Really? I didn’t know there was a timeline. And since when is it gay or straight?” Finch snorted. “This from the guy who spent his teen years yelling at me not to put him in a box.”

Damn. He hated when Finch was right. Now Jay was even more pissed off, but Finch didn’t notice.

Finch shrugged. “I’ve been into men and women for years now, Jaybird. I came out as bi before I was discharged. You would have known that if you’d answered my damn calls .”

Jay’s head was about to explode. Finch was bisexual? Was that really why he’d been calling Jay? It didn’t matter. Being bi didn’t change the fact that Finch had been a dick to him for years. Instead of talking to Jay about it, Finch had decided to take his denial and frustration out on Jay.

This was too much. He needed time to process, preferably with a giant, delicious, iced coffee or, better yet, a ginormous glass of wine. Wine would be so much better. In the meantime, though, he had to make one thing very clear to his brother. He jabbed a finger in Finch’s direction.

“Stay away from Ryden.”

“Why?” Finch cocked his head to one side, studying Jay. “You two a thing?”

Jay straightened. “What? Not?—”

“So he’s single.”

“No,” Jay replied through his teeth. What part of fuck off did his brother not understand?

“But you said you weren’t dating. Is he dating someone else?”

“Of course not.”

“So you’re just fucking.”

Jay’s face was suddenly on fire. “No.” Not yet anyway. Jay planned to rectify that very soon.

“Good. So he’s available.”

Dead. Jay was going to murder his brother dead. “If you try anything with him, I will end you,” he growled.

“Ooh.” Finch pretended to cower. “I’m quaking in my boots.”

Jay was not impressed. It was like they were kids all over again. His brother might not have changed when it came to Jay, but Jay had changed plenty. “You should be.”

“I’m not scared of you, Jaybird.”

“You always did underestimate me.”

“Let me guess,” Finch drawled. “You’re gonna sic your little army of Snake Eaters on me. Gotta say, I’m surprised you ended up here, surrounded by guys like me. Thought you’d end up doing makeup or as a flight attendant or something.”

Really? Really ? “I’m done.” Jay spun around and headed for the door. “I need to go home and pack.”

“What?” Finch hurried after him, catching up with him outside on the office floor. The guys were huddled just outside King’s office, talking. They stopped to see what was happening, just like everyone else. Finch did love an audience.

“You’re not going.”

Jay turned, aware that he and his brother were the center of attention, but he didn’t care. He was so done with this macho bullshit. “Excuse me? I’m sorry. Were you under the impression you had any say in this?”

“Damn it, Jaybird.”

“I’m going,” Jay snapped.

“This is not a job for a glorified secretary.”

“The fuck did you just say? First of all, there’s nothing wrong with being a secretary. Second, you have no idea what I do, so fuck off.”

“This isn’t prom,” Finch spat out. “Where you show up in your bedazzled tux with an entourage of cheerleaders and bust out your flash mob routine. These guys are armed and dangerous, using real bullets.”

What . The . Fuck . “Excuse me?”

“All you’re going to do is put yourself and everyone else in danger,” Finch growled. “You’re not made for this.” He threw out a hand to grab Jay’s arm.

Jay didn’t hesitate. He jabbed Finch in the throat. His brother gasped, stumbling back and grabbing his throat. He made a wheezing, gargling sound before he fell back against the wall, his eyes glassy and face red as he stared at Jay, who stepped up to him, poking him in the chest.

“This isn’t high school, Finch. You try your bullshit on me, and I will dropkick your ass.

I’ve taken down bigger guys than you. If you want to stick around, fine, but stay out of my way.

” He leaned in, his voice low. “And stay the fuck away from my man.” Spinning, Jay went to his desk, grabbed his messenger bag, then headed for the elevator, Ryden on his heels.

“I’m going home to pack,” he shouted over his shoulder.

“You can catch me up on the plan later.”

Ryden leaned in. “Your man, huh?”

Jay threw up an index finger.

“Right. Too soon. Mhm. I guess I’ll just?—”

“You’re coming with me,” Jay said, hitting the button for the elevator.

“I am?”

“Yes. We’re going to my condo so I can pack, then we’re going to your house where you’re going to fuck me into the mattress, buy me dinner, and cuddle, not necessarily in that order, no wait.

Yes, in that order.” The elevator doors pinged open, and Jay stepped in.

He turned and held the doors open. Ryden stood blinking at him.

“You coming? I plan to, with or without you.”

Ryden jumped into the elevator. “We’ll take your car. It’s faster.”

“Saint,” King prompted, and Saint came running, stopping the door from closing. He gave them an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, guys, but I gotta.”

Jay stepped around Saint to address King. “I have a Marine!”

“And now you have a Navy SEAL,” King growled. “I will assign you a member of every military branch if I have to. Do not try me.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Finch wheezed. “Why’s he got a protective detail?”

Jay didn’t wait around to hear more. He narrowed his eyes at Saint. “Fine. But Ryden and I are having sex at some point tonight, so do with that what you will.”

“Roger that.” Saint moved his gaze to Ryden and back, his expression not giving anything away, but Jay was sure the guy’s head was running on all cylinders. If he hadn’t been on the job, he probably would have been giving Ryden hell about how right he’d been.

The elevator doors closed, and Jay was so angry he could scream. Ugh, that asshole ! What were the chances? It wasn’t bad enough that he had to call Finch for help on this case, but the jerk was living in the same town and now he was working with him?

“Do ya wanna talk about it?” Ryden asked.

“Nope.”

When they got out into the parking lot, Ryden held out his hand. “Keys.”

Jay glared at him, and Ryden arched an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, okay.” Jay tossed him his keys. Road rage was not a good look.

He got into his car on the passenger side and fastened his seatbelt.

He crossed his arms over his chest, still fuming.

Saint silently opened the door and slid into the backseat.

“Hey, darlin’?”

Jay turned his head, and Ryden took hold of his chin, leaned over, and kissed him. It was unexpected and sweet. Jay couldn’t help but melt into it. He moaned and returned the kiss, feeling his shoulders relax and the anger drain from his body.

Ryden pulled back, brushing his lips over Jay’s in the softest kiss that had Jay’s heart skipping a beat.

It was a kiss that conveyed so much emotion without uttering a word, a kiss that told Jay they were both falling deeper into each other than they knew what to do with.

Ryden got them moving, and Jay sat back, his lips still tasting of the gorgeous and at times infuriating man next to him.

As Ryden drove, Jay studied him. How had he never noticed the man’s perfectly tanned skin, the way his T-shirt stretched over the muscles of his strong arms and chest, or the sexy stubble? He had big hands, long fingers, and…was that a mala bracelet on his right wrist?

“How long have you had that?” Jay asked.

“Had what?”

“The bracelet.”

“Oh, uh, Lucky gave it to me after I started at Four Kings. Let me see if I got this right. Hematite, tiger’s eye, blue tiger’s eye, and lava rock. He said it was for protection and groundin’. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s what stuck the most. Guess ’cause it’s what I needed most.”

“That was sweet of him,” Jay said. “I can’t believe I never noticed it before. Guess we were too busy driving each other batshit to pay that kind of attention to detail.”

Ryden was uncharacteristically quiet as he bit down on his bottom lip. He glanced at the rearview mirror as if wondering whether he should say anything in front of Saint. What was this now? Jay eyed him.

“Spill.”

“Darlin’, I can point out every outfit you’ve worn since I met you.”

Jay stared at him, his cheeks getting hot. “No way.”

“Try me.”

“Name one outfit, and nothing I wore in the last two weeks.”

“Button down white shirt with colorful butterflies, red pants, white socks, and red shoes.”

Jay’s jaw all but hit the floor. That had to be a fluke. “Something I wore last month.”

Ryden pursed his lips. “White button down, pink pants and matching jacket, pink socks and brown shoes.”

“I remember that outfit, and you’re off,” Jay said, feeling smug. “I wore a blue button-down with the pink suit, not white.”

“Ry’s right,” Saint offered from the back seat.

“The reason I remember is because you changed to the blue shirt after Ace stopped in front of your desk with his sandwich, and when he took a bite, a piece of tomato flew out, smacked you in the face, and then fell onto your very white shirt. If looks could kill? Yikes. You changed into the blue, and Ace practically fell over himself running to take your shirt to the dry cleaners.”

“Well, shit. I forgot about that.” Jay’s stomach flipped. He turned his attention back to Ryden. “You paid that much attention to me?”

“From the moment I met you.” His grip tightened and loosened on the steering wheel. “Sweetheart, you stole my breath away. I thought you were the most beautiful human being I’d ever laid eyes on.”

All this time… “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Ryden stopped at a red light and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

He shrugged. “I wasn’t in a good place. When you smiled at me, all I thought about was how fucked up I was.

Then there was this.” He pointed to his eye.

“I didn’t know you, so I figured you were probably gonna be put off by it.

” He waved a hand. “Anyway, the point is, I thought you were too pretty to want a guy in as rough shape as I was. You deserved better. Besides, I had nothing to offer. Literally.” He wrinkled his nose.

Jay held out his hand, and when Ryden took it, Jay laced their fingers together. “I might not have noticed your bracelet or what you wore, but I do know you’ve come a long way from when we first met, and I’m so proud of you.”

Ryden’s eyes got glassy, and he smiled. “You don’t know how much that means to me.” He turned his face to look at Jay, and Jay leaned over the center console to kiss him.

“I can’t wait for you to make me yours,” Jay murmured before sitting back, Ryden’s fingers still laced with his.

“Why’s this damn light gotta last so damned long?”

Jay laughed. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with Ryden. Stupid traffic lights. Didn’t they know he had a sexy man to get into bed with?