Page 12 of Carry On

“Fuck off,” I grumbled. I was fully aware I was speaking to no one, but I didn’t care. I wanted out of there. The sooner I was gone, the less likely I was to hear any more stupid commentary about me. I knew I was being pathetic, but I didn’t need to hear how pitiful others thought I was.

I made my exit quietly, trying to avoid everyone. I managed to do so until I hit my third hallway, where I found Lincoln standing with some kid. Anger graced that gorgeous face of his.

“Now, listen to me closely, you little shit,” Lincoln snapped, making the kid scoff. “You have the right to remain silent, so use it.Use it. Do you understand me?”

Well, well. It looked like Lincoln Cassidy had a little bit of a temper underneath all that composed demeanor. That little tidbit of information fascinated me.

The kid mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like he didn’t give a fuck about the whole thing. Disrespectful little shit.

“I know you don’t care. I know I owe your father a favor,” he retorted. “But I can’t do my goddamn job if you keep shooting me in the foot every chance you get.”

“It’s not my fault you suck.” The kid shrugged. “Maybe you should do your job better.”

Snarky little shit.

Lincoln’s nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath, clearly trying to keep himself composed. Good on him. I would’ve hit the kid.

“Fine,” Lincoln bit out, conceding after a long moment. It made me real damn curious as to what kind of favor the kid’s father had done for him. “But stop talking to everyone who listens about what happened that night. Practice restraint, please?”

I still would’ve hit him.

I didn’t get a chance to dwell on it as Lincoln’s gaze flicked over the kid’s shoulder and met mine. Surprise crossed his face. It passed quickly, replaced with a hard expression that I couldn’t read.

Without a word, he ushered his client in the opposite direction. Something akin to disappointment weaseled its way through my chest at his quick departure without so much as a word to me.

Did you really think he’d be happy to see you?the voice scoffed.

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I sure as hell knew that I didn’t understand what I was feeling. Why did I care if he ignored me?

CHAPTER 10

LINCOLN

Findinganunhousedpersonin Seattle was harder than it looked. Impossible really. Ever since the quick glimpse of Nash at the precinct, I couldn’t get him out of my head. It was borderline obsessive, and it was irrefutably unhealthy and unexplainable. A bribe of expensive coffee had a cop named Bellingham spilling all of Nash’s locations. He must’ve known Nash well because the list was detailed and broken down by the potential frequency of him being in any given location.

“Sad circumstances, good guy,” Bellingham had said.

It felt like an understatement. I wanted to stay and ask him to elaborate, but I didn’t. I was too focused on trying to find Nash. Something about the look on his face at the precinct didn’t sit right with me. I just couldn’t shake it.

Which was how I ended up walking half the city in the middle of the night, rushing from spot to spot in hopes of finding him. I saw more of Seattle than I knew existed. The places people lived out of necessity were awful. I wasn’t blind to the fact that unhoused people existed, but I hadn’t paid attention. Not this much. And certainly not enough to actually know.

I wandered down another alley, this one behind a series of older shops. The lack of lighting was a hazard, a lawsuit waiting to happen. But I couldunderstand why he came back here. It was quiet and dark, so much so that I could barely see where I was going.

Hands grabbed me by the back of my suit and tossed me into a wall. The yelp I let out would’ve been embarrassing if I wasn’t left grappling to keep an arm off my throat. A heavy weight pinned me to the wall, and hot breath fanned across my face.

“Why are you following me?”

“Nash?” I pushed back without much luck. For such a lean guy, he was deceptively strong. Fuck, I needed to work out more. “Jesus fuck. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Why the fuck are you following me?” Nash growled one more time, the gravel in his voice sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

I opened and shut my mouth as I tried to come up with a logical answer for why I was stalking him at this point.You looked sad when I saw you at the precinctdidn’t seem like the right answer. Nor was it an appropriate one.

“I asked you a question.”

“Regrettably, I don’t have a good answer for that,” I replied tightly. I tried to sound casual about it—a feat hard to accomplish with his arm pressing against my windpipe. “I’d say I wanted to see you, but under the circumstances, I don’t—”

His mouth crashed into mine, demanding and unrelenting. For a fraction of time, I froze as my brain shut down. Glitched. Broke a little at the contact. But in its absence, my nerves lit up with a blazing hot sensation that radiated from every place his body touched mine.