7. Trig

Chapter 7

Trig

Fuck, he smelled good. Better than good. Like Garin, only better. I wanted to rub my cheek against him. And Garin. Their scents were both vying for my attention. This was gonna be a difficult weekend.

I wasn't sure why I insisted on coming. Panic, I guess. Knowing he needed the cabin as a safe house made me scared for him. I needed to protect him. At the very least, I knew the layout of the land and cabin. That was something. But it was more that I couldn't handle being away from him more than anything else.

Nate was a first for me. I'd never knowingly met a bear shifter, and I guess I had a different picture in my head of what he'd be like. I expected bear shifters to be big and cuddly and oh so hairy. All of those were good things, but Nate was even better. He was cute and small and smelled really, really good, and there was a pull to be near him that only rivaled Garin's.

The whole car filled with their scents, and it made me a little dizzy when I got inside.

I wanted to ask Nate every question and know every single thing about him, but we needed to get on the road. Favorite colors and what side of the bed he preferred could wait. Garin's was the left and I was right. And why was I suddenly picturing Nate as a middle kind of guy. How messed up was that?

Garin threw his hand over his shoulder and snapped his fingers. "Gimme your phone, Trig. I'm locking in your location here."

"Yeah, okay." I knew all about Garin's app, but I'd never had any reason to use it myself. "So, how worried are we?"

Nate looked at me and then deferred to Garin.

My best friend handed me back my phone and then put the car in gear to take off. "All I know for sure is that some big cats were snooping around his place today. Probably not long before I showed up, so I figure it's better to be safe than sorry."

Big cats. That could be anything from a panther to a lion, and neither were beasts I'd want to face anywhere but in the zoo. If the people after Nate were predatory cat shifters, it was a good thing he called for a shifter to protect him, because no human would have been up for that task.

"Did you tell SFH that you're extending the contract beyond tomorrow?" I asked.

Garin looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Honestly, I haven't even thought about them once. What do you suggest?"

I thought about it for a minute, not sure the best way to proceed. I'd never been in a situation like this, but it seemed like a good opportunity to test our alibi. "Well, Nate can cancel the order via the app. He can say he didn't need protection after all. Then you'll get a notice that the job was canceled." I turned to Nate. "Since it's late notice, you'll still have to pay for the weekend."

That would prevent him from having to check in and potentially give our location away. I wasn't sure if Nate had the money to pay for the entire time, but I knew Garin enough to know that this wasn't about the money anymore. He was in full-on protector mode, and it was sexy as fuck.

Nate shrugged. "Of course. I'm paying for all your time regardless. But it's fine with me if that's the best way to go."

"Not having to be in contact with the agency is safest, I think. They can't track back to us if Garin isn't working for you, right?"

"That makes sense."

Garin nodded his head as he thought about it. "Yeah, that works. I'd been a bit worried about that."

I remembered a guy who hired me for a party recently who might be able to help. "I know a detective. Um, Aaron Markle, I think. I can reach out to him and see what he knows. I trust him to keep things quiet." I looked at Garin then Nate to see what they thought of the idea. "But only if you two are comfortable with it."

Nate just shrugged. "I'm up for whatever you guys think is a good idea. My credit card is your credit card."

"Yeah, let's wait til we get out of the area and think through a few scenarios first." Garin blew out a heavy breath then made eye contact with me through the mirror. "I'll feel so much better when we're nowhere near here. Shit. Nate, do you have a smartwatch on you?"

"No. I told you—boring."

There was nothing boring about him from what I could tell.

"Excellent. I should've asked about that before now. We don't want to be followed." His voice would sound fine to most people, but I could hear the tension in it.

"I'm gonna go a weird way. Just in case." He was telling me because I was the one who knew the location we were headed. No matter how we went, Nate wouldn't know the difference.

Nate told me the bare minimum about the night everything went to shit. How scared he must've been—and still was.

Garin and I would keep him safe.

Honestly, it was kinda fun to be involved in something as exciting as a murder investigation, but keeping Nate safe was the priority. I wasn't even being paid to be there, and I was still willing to drop everything to make sure he was protected. I'd evaluate that further at another time.

With the semblance of a plan in place, I scooted behind Garin and settled in for the hour-long drive. Justice and I hadn't spent much time out at our grandpa's cabin since we were kids, but we inherited it and figured we'd get out there at some point to clean it up.

Apparently, some point would be this weekend.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, loving the way Nate's scent mingled just perfectly with Garin's. I couldn't describe it in words other than absolutely delectable.

Hoping he couldn't feel me staring at him, I kept glancing in his direction, unable to keep my eyes off Nate's profile. His expression bounced between nervous and excited, aroused and shy. I just wanted to get to know him better.

Being locked away in a mountain cabin with the two most interesting guys I knew seemed like a damn good way to do that.