Chapter Fourteen

Eagle

He should have kept his lips to himself. It wasn’t because he hadn’t wanted to kiss Link, but they needed to sort out their shit before going that route. Still, he couldn’t keep his mind off the way Link had felt.

When they had entered that room, Eagle hadn’t wanted to talk and that was because…Link happened.

Being close to Link drove him crazy—all he could think about was kissing him, holding him down, and stripping off his jeans real slow like. He wanted to create that come hither look in Link’s eyes again and get a repeat performance of the kiss.

He’d had a few hours working the case to mull over what Link had said in the motel room. This doesn’t change anything. Link was dead wrong.

From the moment Link had spoken those words, they’d gone from tense to downright stiff. Eagle had to make an extra effort today not to show just how much Link’s words had killed him.

That feeling brought back the day when Link had moved out of his house.

Moved out? Okay, let’s be honest here, you kind of made that happen.Fuck. He hadn’t gone off like that in years, and it had been on the one person who meant the most to him in the whole fucking world.

The day he found out that Link had encouraged the friendship between his aunt and her neighbor, Tim, had set a sick feeling in his gut he couldn’t shake. What he had found out at the same time was that a relationship had formed between the older couple and Link had known about it! Eagle couldn’t have his aunt with a man like Tim. He’d grown up watching his alcoholic uncle abuse her. He knew the damage a person like that could do to a family and he would not risk his aunt. He’d witnessed firsthand her devastation when they’d lost everything due to his uncle.

Link didn’t know about his uncle. Or had Mary told him? And if so, then why had Link encouraged the neighbor? In hindsight, Eagle knew he should have slowed the fuck down, but he’d seen red.

Seeing red didn’t change the fact that he should have gone after Link that day and confessed that he wasn’t used to talking about his feelings and shit. It wasn’t something that had been encouraged in his household growing up. While his own dad hadn’t been a drinker, he’d been an abusive son of a bitch, and Eagle had done as he’d been told or he got struck with a fist, belt, or whatever the fuck was handy at the time. The one time he’d tried to talk to Link about his dad, they’d decided the topic was better off left alone.

The forest was thick, crickets loud, and the smell of jerky filled the air between them. Link tore off a piece of the meat with his teeth and handed the rest to Eagle.

“So…you never talk about your dad,” Link said out of the blue and checked his M16.

“Nope.” Eagle tightened the strap of his Army helmet and took a bite of the jerky. They sat in silence for a while, waiting for orders from their colonel.

“You haven’t talked about yours either,” Eagle finally drawled.

“Nope.” Link mimicked Eagle’s own one-word response.

“Maybe we shouldn’t.” Eagle side-eyed Link.

“Agreed,” Link said with a smirk.

And just like that, it was something they just didn’t talk about.

He’d wondered about it through the years, of course, but when he’d searched for the words, they wouldn’t come—eventually, it wasn’t something that ever came up again.

Which was odd, he supposed, but then Link hadn’t shared anything about his own family so Eagle had taken the easy way out and kept his mouth shut. It had worked for a time.

A man’s past might not completely shape him, but Eagle was sure that old ghosts played a part in who and what a person became. And not opening up to the person you are closest to was bound to cause problems…especially when he and Link finally decided to take their friendship to the next level.

Eagle could remember the day Link had said that he wanted to be more than a friend as clear as a bell. Everything had felt lighter and brighter, and he’d laughed more than ever.

“Are you sure about this?” Link had looked worried. “What if it doesn’t work and our friendship is ruined?”

“First,” Eagle said, “I’m more sure of us than anything in my life. Second, it is going to work.” He tugged Link into his arms and took the man’s mouth in a deep kiss.

That day had started out so fucking right—only to go to shit in a matter of a few hours. The future had been looking up and he’d thought—

“Boss, you copy?” Owen said through the comms, making Eagle jerk.

Link tossed him a questioning look, but Eagle looked away, gazing at the front of the Carsons’ house where the cops were coming in and out, but the memory of that day burned in his mind.

“Copy,” Link said.

Eagle took a slow, deep breath and gazed up at the sky. They’d been there long enough for the sun to start moving toward fifteen hundred.

“Three of the places that sold the goods have the tapes ready. I’m heading over to pick them up,” Owen said. “Jordan’s not back with Creed yet.”

“Where’s Ice?”

“He said he had an errand to run. He’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Copy,” Link said, and Owen ended the call.

“What’s your friend doing?” Link shot Eagle a look.

“I don’t know, but he probably has a good reason. You should cut Ice some slack.”

“Yeah,” Link muttered.

“We should head back. It’s afternoon and if they stay true to pattern, they’ll be back tonight,” Eagle murmured with a sigh.

Link gave him a searching look and then nodded before jogging over to say a few words to the SWAT commander. Eagle slipped into the passenger seat of the SUV.

It was a silent ride back to the motel and truthfully, Eagle was all out of words. He was tired of acting like everything was okay. Yeah, sure, their work relationship was on somewhat solid ground, but their friendship was suffering. He could feel it and was damned sure Link could too.

They met up with Jordan and Creed at the same diner from the other night. The waitress smiled in recognition and before long, they’d ordered. It was a round booth, one of those where a person has to scoot in to seat everyone, and he got the side where Link had slid over.

Only there wasn’t really a lot of space for Eagle’s big frame to fit without touching and before he knew it, Link’s arm was brushing his. By accident? Maybe, maybe not. The man’s thigh was pressed up tightly to his leg, and Eagle kept his eyes glued on the dark street outside the window after the one time he’d turned his head when Link had laughed.

The man’s teeth flashed white in his face, lips lush, hair messy, and a five o’clock shadow covered Link’s cheeks and jaw—the light brown hairs matched the highlights in Link’s hair. Eagle remembered the taste of biting that jaw, the stubble beneath his tongue.

The quick, deep sound of Link’s laughter once again turned his cock to granite, and Eagle was suddenly glad they were in this damned booth.

The burger tasted like sawdust and sat like a rock in his stomach.

An hour later, they left the diner and made it back to the motel. It was decided that they’d catch a few hours of sleep before heading back to the bombing site to relieve the local PD and stake out the place.

Everyone called out a good night and Eagle stood in the parking lot, staring up at the dark, stormy clouds.

Link stopped at the door to his motel room and Eagle met his gaze across the distance. Then Eagle did the only thing possible, he turned away.

Link’s door shut and Eagle closed his eyes.