Chapter 16

After the emotionalevents of the day before and our recent conversation, we’d decided on a quick dinner and had gotten back into bed. So, I wasn’t surprised to wake to find myself still wrapped around Bodhi, holding him close. He had been so vulnerable and raw. All I wanted to do was take care of him and take his pain away. He was a fighter, even if he didn’t think so. I would help him see his own strength.

I was glad he’d wanted to stay with me last night. I liked having him in my bed.

“Morning,” he muttered, stretching his lithe body as he turned to face me.

“How’d you know I was awake?”

“You stopped cuddling me.” Pink bloomed across his cheeks.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a long time. You?” he asked.

“Blissfully,” I sighed out.

Chuckling, he burrowed against my chest, and I couldn’t help but hold him close, enjoying how perfectly he fit against me.

“What time is it? Do you have to get up yet?”

Glancing at the clock, I hummed. “It’s almost six thirty. There’s a little time.”

Seb had messaged last night that there was something I needed to finalize from yesterday that he couldn’t get done, so I would be going to work on a Saturday for an hour or so.

Not wanting to waste any time, I rolled Bodhi over so I could settle on top of him and went to kiss him when he wrinkled his nose.

“What?” I asked as I leaned back.

“Morning breath.”

“I don’t mind, if you don’t.” Ducking down, I kissed his neck and nipped his ear, causing him to giggle. He tilted his head back, giving me more access. I continued to nip and kiss down his throat, loving the sounds he made. I could easily become addicted to him.

Bodhi’s arms went around my neck. His good hand dug into the hair at the base of my skull. Shivers racked my body as I rocked against him, pressing my morning wood against his. I moved back up his neck and sucked on his Adam’s apple, and he returned the thrusts. Another delicious groan left his lips, and I needed to drink it down. Pressing my lips against his, our tongues battled for dominance. The feeling of him under me was ecstasy.

We rocked together, our hard cocks rubbing against each other through our underwear. I could feel the wet patches as precum leaked from our tips. I couldn’t get enough of him. I reached down and lowered my underwear, freeing my cock, then did the same for Bodhi. I grasped our cocks in my hand, jacking us together as I watched Bodhi writhe beneath me, head thrown back in pleasure.

“Fuck, Atticus.” Bodhi groaned, thrusting into my fist. “Feels so good.”

My orgasm was building at the base of my spine. “Fuck, I’m close,” I added in warning.

“Me too.” His heated gaze met mine.

That look sent me over the edge, and I came with a shout, shooting milky cum over Bodhi’s toned stomach and chest. I jacked us through my orgasm and watched Bodhi as his eyes rolled back. He convulsed under me, adding his cum to the mix while he jerked beneath me.

As we came down from our high, my alarm went off.

Bodhi smiled up at me. “I guess we need to get up now.”

Snickering, I nodded. “You don’t have to. Why don’t you stay in bed and relax? I’ll only be an hour or so.” I gave him one last kiss, then eased off him and silenced my phone.

“I need to shower anyway,” he said, gesturing at the cum drying on his chest.

“Let me get a washcloth, and then you can stay all cozy in my bed.”

“You like me in your bed, huh?” His face flushed as he smirked at me.

“I love it.” With one last kiss, I went to grab a washcloth and ensured Bodhi stayed cocooned in my blankets.

I was determined to get my work done quickly so I could go back and spend the day with Bodhi. When I arrived at the shop, I was surprised to find Seb there waiting for me.

“What’s going on? I thought I was here this morning so you didn’t have to be.” I gave Seb’s muscled frame a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a change of plans? I could still be snuggling a certain someone right now.” I waggled my eyebrows lasciviously.

Taken aback by Seb’s lack of reaction to my insinuation and his serious expression, dread filled my stomach. “What’s wrong?”

“Come to the break room. There’s something I need to show you.”

I followed him through the workshop. “Can’t you just tell me? You’re kind of freaking me out.”

“You need to see it to understand.”

Uneasiness settled over me as we walked into the break room. Seb ran his hand through his thick and wavy hair as he gestured to a blank envelope on the table. “I found this yesterday afternoon after you’d taken Bodhi home. I was finishing up an oil change and had just ducked into the storeroom to grab the replacement oil. When I came back, this was on the engine of the Cadillac I was working on. I didn’t think anything of it and picked it up to see what it was. I never expected this.”

He looked visibly shaken and paler than his usual bronzed complexion as he reached for the stark white envelope and tipped its contents onto his palm.

I took in the large rifle bullet in Seb’s hand. Looking at him questioningly, I waited for some sort of explanation. What could this even mean? Why did someone drop off a bullet?

“It gets worse.” Seb turned the bullet, revealing Bodhi’s name engraved on the shell casing.

“What the fuck!” I went to grab the bullet for a better look. Seb held it away from me.

“Hold on a sec.” He pushed me back a little. “I’ve already touched it. We shouldn’t let anyone else contaminate the evidence.”

The evidence.... Breathing deeply, I began to pace. What does this mean? “Fuck! Bodhi said his ex was a cop, it must be from him. How does he know Bodhi’s here? How did he even find him? That doesn’t look like it’s for an average hunting rifle. It’s too big. How can I tell Bodhi something like this? He’s just getting his life back.”

I was well on my way to panicking.

Seb gripped my shoulder hard and shook me to get my attention. “I think we need to tell the Sheriff. Max will believe us. He was Pa’s best friend. And you’ll need to warn Bodhi.” He raised his eyebrows at me.

“I don’t think I can, Seb. He’ll run.” In my gut, I knew that was exactly what he would do.

“He has a right to know. What if we tell him together?” Seb gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose him, Seb.”

“I know, bro, but he needs to be on alert. Let’s talk to Max, and then we can have more information to reassure Bodhi.”

“Okay, let’s talk to Max first.”

With a nod, Seb carefully placed the bullet back in the envelope and grabbed his cell phone to call Max.

How had Bodhi’s ex even found him? Had he used some police database or some sort of special tracking? Bodhi hadn’t had a cell phone or car or computer when he’d arrived. It didn’t seem possible. My mind was reeling. It was scary to think someone with a badge could be so malicious.

“Max is on his way.”

I jumped at the sound of Seb’s voice.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll make sure Bodhi is safe.” He smiled at me.

We waited anxiously for Max to arrive. Neither of us could sit still, so we decided to look over the shop and see if there was anything out of place. We didn’t have security cameras because we’d never needed them, but maybe it was something to think about.

Max arrived in record time, and we dove straight in. He was tall like me, and the years had been kind to him because he was still an attractive man, just now with a little salt and pepper in his hair. He gave off a vibe of authority as he quickly logged the bullet, putting it in a clear plastic evidence bag and giving it a case number and everything. My stomach sank at the implications of this sort of threat.

Max jotted down notes in a little notepad as Seb went over everything he remembered. I had to mention Bodhi and some of his situation and past so Max knew what we were likely dealing with.

“I’ll need to talk to Bodhi. He’ll know more than you guys and will be able to provide crucial information that could help us track this Derek person down before things escalate any further.”

I really didn’t want to involve Bodhi, but I guess I had no choice.