Page 87 of Ride the Lightning

Unlike Trexler, Malcolm was the right age to know Earl. How? Were they lovers? Friends? Had Malcolm been a dirty cop, and Earl witnessed something he shouldn’t have? All Jonah’s trouble had started after he talked to the deputy director. As much as he wanted to rationalize away the evidence, he couldn’t.

“Breathe, Jonah,” Avery whispered, nudging him out of his trance.

“We know what we have to do,” Rocky said.

“Tomorrow, we begin setting the first trap,” Felix added. “Be at my house at noon to record the podcast. I’ll edit and upload it on Sunday.”

Even though it felt like his universe had shifted drastically, Jonah was grateful to have his friends and Avery by his side. Jonah smiled at Avery and said, “See, I told you Felix was Fred. He’s all about setting the traps.”

Avery laughed, while Rocky and Felix talked to each other.

“Fred who?” Felix asked.

“Flintstone?” Rocky guessed.

Felix snorted. “What traps did Fred Flintstone set?”

“It was just a guess,” Rocky replied. “What’s put you in a bad mood? You think The Straight Shooter is going to solve this investigation before we do?”

“I hate you, Major,” Felix groused.

“Fred Jones fromScooby-Doo,” Jonah said.

Rocky laughed for several moments. “Fuck me. That’s hilarious,” he said once he calmed down. “Who am I, then?”

“Daphne,” Jonah, Avery, and Felix all said at the same time.

Rocky promptly disconnected the call.

“I like your friends,” Avery said.

“I do too. Not many people can make me laugh this late at night,” Jonah said. Or under these circumstances.Charlie Malcolm? Could it be?

“Or this early in the morning,” Avery countered. “Depends on how you view it.”

“It is morning,” Jonah said, tipping his head to the side. “Saturday morning.”

“So, you want to watch cartoons now?”

Jonah removed the computer from Avery’s lap and set it on the nightstand. “It means my restrictions are lifted. I can drive, among other things.”

“Other things?” Avery asked. “Such as?”

Jonah rolled Avery to his back and showed him.

Jonah woke long before the sun started to flirt with the slumbering earth. The possibility of Charlie’s betrayal shook him hard, triggering instinctive reactions he’d vowed not to repeat with Avery. During the phone call with Felix and Rocky, their teasing had made it possible for Jonah to table his reaction and hurt. Afterward, sex with Avery distracted him from processing what he’d learned. As usual, delaying the inevitable didn’t really make the situation easier.

How the fuck could Charlie Malcolm, a man so dedicated to law, order, and justice, be involved in either Earl’s death or the subsequent cover-up? If Jonah had been so wrong about Charlie, was he as equally wrong about Trexler? How much of their antagonism toward each other was genuine? How much was fabricated as part of Malcolm’s smoke and mirrors?

Jonah’s body tensed with every question that crossed his mind until he thought his spine might snap under the strain. He looked over at the man sleeping soundly beside him in the early dawn light. Avery was lying on his stomach with his head turned in Jonah’s direction. He’d shoved the covers low enough so the dimples above his firm ass cheeks played peekaboo with Jonah, distracting him from destructive thoughts. Jonah’s fingers itched to trail a path over Avery’s backbone, to dip his tongue in those delicious divots, and to count the freckles dotting his nose.

This firecracker had pushed past his barriers, reaching the fragmented pieces of his heart he’d kept guarded for ten years. Avery had used kindness, sass, and unparalleled patience to solder those fragments together. Jonah relearned how to laugh, to trust, and form friendships again. Avery made him want to take chances and live instead of wallowing in what could’ve been. Most importantly, Avery retaught Jonah how to love.

Acknowledging he was in love with Avery wasn’t the lightning bolt to the heart Jonah expected. Instead, the awareness washed over him like a warm summer rain. Rather than fight his feelings, he fucking embraced them.

Avery moaned, jarring Jonah from his thoughts.

“Good God, Jonah,” Avery said, his voice raspy and adorable from sleep. “If you’re going to freak out and kick me to the curb, can you wait a few more hours? I’m exhausted and need sleep.”