Leon

"This is bullshit," I snapped, slamming my hands down on the edge of Mona's desk and leaning in toward her. It was a good thing I wasn't trying to intimidate her because the woman barely blinked even though I towered over her, was alone in the room with her, and she didn't seem to have her weapon.

Not that I was close to being mad enough to try to hurt her, but a flinch might have made me feel better.

Instead, she added insult to injury and leaned back in her seat, looking unbothered. "Leon, I understand you're frustrated."

"Oh, you haven't begun to understand my frustration," I snarled at her. "It's been two days since you dragged Reed away, and in full view and hearing of a third of the fucking guys here, Mona. Two days since you told me you were going to talk to me, and all I got was you telling me he had been breaking the law and the rules here and he was going back to prison. That's it."

"Which, as far as anyone is concerned, is all you need to know, and even that was beyond the expectation of someone in my position," she said coolly. "The last I checked, you may be a Tier One and a treasured Mentor, but you're still a program member. Which means I am not required or expected to explain my decisions to you, not when it doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't…this doesn't concern me? Really?"

"You might consider your boyfriend your concern, but he is not as far as this ranch is concerned. He is our concern, and we are dealing with the matter. Honestly, you should consider yourself lucky."

I stared at her, blown away by the audacity, until I finally found my voice, raising it. "Lucky? This is what you call lucky? Are you fucking kidding me?"

She opened her mouth and then scowled when the office door opened. I spun around to see Max marching into the office, his brow tightly stitched. I wondered if I had ever seen him look so pissed off.

"Heard you yelling, so I figured I could come in," Max grunted, stopping a couple of feet from the door.

"Yeah, because I'm not talking to her or anything."

"Funny how it didn't sound like talking."

"Talking very loudly then."

"Also funny how many times I've wanted to talk to her very loudly. Perhaps there should be a club."

"I want to be amazed that you found a sense of humor in the last year, but this is not the time," I snapped.

He shrugged, staring past me, and his face turned back to the same scowl it had been when he'd left. "The orders for the new saddles and leather strips are in."

"From Mr.—"

"I'm not stupid, Mona. I know who you wanted them from. And I know why you ordered me to do it," he said, his lip curling upward. "Next time you want to use my family name to bully people into giving us a discount, I expect a bonus on my paycheck."

"You still have access to accounts your father couldn't touch. Why would you need the extra money?"

"It's about the principle, not the money."

She looked at me. "Leon, I'm sorry, this will have to wait until I'm done with business that?—"

Max let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Like fucking hell are you using me to get out of being turned over the fire when you damn well deserve it."

I watched a spasm ripple softly over Mona's face as she watched Max. "Please, Max, tell me how you really feel."

"I told you the other day when you decided to rope me into this entire mess how I felt about being dragged in as a personal thug. And I meant it. Get cops here next time, or I'm quitting. I don't care if it's me or someone else you drag into this kind of mess," he said, turning and walking out of the room without another word.

"Enjoy yourself?" Mona asked in an icy tone after the door closed harshly behind Max.

"I have to admit, seeing someone else give you shit was pretty fun," I said, turning toward her and raising a brow. "I guess you're pissing everyone off lately."

"So it seems," she said with a weary sigh. "Dane has been avoiding me every chance he can find. Both Reno and Elliot have tried to talk to me. You might even be proud to know that Reno kept quite calm."

"More like unsurprised. Elliot has always had a temper," I said. "Which you'd know if you dealt with him more than once in a while."

"I get it, you're pissed off at me. Max is pissed off at me. Elliot and Reno are pissed off at me. And Garrett is…well," she shrugged. "But as sorry as I am, I'm not going to let everyone's problem with me get in the way of doing what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Look, I get that you probably have evidence that points to…whatever it was you think he did," I said because whatever it was, Reed did not do it. I didn't need to see the evidence to know that but damned if I didn't hate being kept out of the loop anyway. "And I get that you have to do what you have to do in the face of that. But isn't there supposed to be some process? Some way for him to, I don't know, refute the charges?"

"This isn't a credit card bill someone stole," she said with a frown. "These are serious charges."

"Charges you won't even tell anyone, and I doubt you even showed him the evidence he's facing."

"This isn't a court of law. This is the court of this ranch. The legal system will deal with him after he leaves this ranch."

"So that's it? He's just gone?"

Mona gave a weary sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Would it make you feel even remotely better if I told you what is happening?"

Personally, I would only feel better once Reed was free and clear. It wasn't like Mona couldn't send me away without telling me anything. Hell, she could threaten to have me demoted or locked up as well, just like she'd done the other day when I refused to leave her office. Of course, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity, so I crossed my arms. "Alright, tell me."

"I'm going to keep this short because, yes, I really do have more to do today than deal with your boyfriend," she said, leaning forward and clasping her hands in front of her. "He's been found to have been stealing. Specifically drugs from the clinic and their shipments. He's been selling them to people within the program and outside. We're still figuring out how it was done and who he was selling to, but I can promise you, we will figure out most of them."

That wouldn't be too shocking, considering the ranch wasn't the best place to hold onto a secret. There was rarely a moment of privacy outside bathing or if they were a Tier One with their own cabin. Otherwise, there were far too many people around for someone not to notice something. That and after a while, guys really did get a sense of loyalty for the ranch and the program and would happily help catch a problem maker.

"That doesn't sound like Reed. Why would he do that?"

"Well, considering his history," she said, then stopped and watched me.

"I'm aware of his charges," I said with a roll of my eyes. "As if we would share a bed, but not that."

"I presume nothing without necessary cause," she said as if the woman didn't operate on presumption all the damn time. "In any case, his history does not look good for him."

"He wasn't the one selling them," I countered. "He was the one who saw the screw-ups in the inventory and didn't say anything because…because he was a blind idiot. Even he'll tell you that."

"Then perhaps he's doing the same thing again," she said with a shrug. "And if he knows the real person doing it, he needs to come forward. But I can tell you right now there were inventory changes and orders made under a doctor's name, even when that doctor wasn't around. So either he was using their login, or he was seriously slacking and ignored someone getting hold of the information to do it. And then ignoring them when they came to get the medication, and then ignoring a dozen other things he should have noticed."

Okay, that did look bad, but…Reed wouldn't. I couldn't stand there and say my gut was telling me that, though I would swear it up and down if Mona asked. The fact of the matter was I trusted Reed completely and utterly. Not just with things like my life and well-being, but I trusted him as a person, as a decent man.

"So, what? You already have a couple of people you caught buying from here?" I asked with a straight face, praying she would say no.

"We do," she said, my heart sinking but then stopping its descent when I saw the troubled expression on her face. "The problem is none of them saw the seller. They were given instructions where to get the meds and where to take them, as well as some pay, but they were…well, they never saw him."

"So you have people here who somehow had cash? Because otherwise, you would have said there were strange transfers to and from accounts."

"We get odd ones all the time, and sometimes I can't help but think they're sexual favors. Prostitution is alive and well in this place, even when we try to quash it."

"Okay?"

"Point is, yes. We looked at the systems to make sure there were no odd transfers. The problem with that is there have been none. So you're correct. I suspected it was cash. Which was confirmed when we caught up with, well, a couple of individuals involved."

"Who?"

"That definitely doesn't concern you. Plus, I'm sure the rumor mill will catch up with you, and you'll discover who they are."

I suppose that didn't matter, but I suspected the real reason she wasn't telling me was so I didn't hunt them down, that was unless. "Did you lock them up as well?"

"I'm not answering any questions about them," she said brusquely, which I thought was answer enough. So they probably weren't locked up, and she didn't want me to find and grill them.

"I'll tell you the truth, Mona. There's no way in hell Reed would do something like this," I told her earnestly. "He's never been a thief in his life. Why would he even need to do this?"

"I imagine being a doctor afforded him a certain lifestyle he was craving once he was out of here," she said with a shrug. "I know he's been getting payments from his parents every month, but even if all that plus what he earned here were rolled into his account when he got out, it wouldn't compare to what he had before. And getting work, medical work, that paid well? We both know he'll struggle when he's back in the real world."

"Money has never motivated him," I said with a scowl. "That's ridiculous."

"Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. You never really know someone," she said, glancing at her phone. "And even if it's not practical, it could simply be the thrill of getting away with it. Misguided belief that he's able to help people with the medications when the on-staff doctors wouldn't."

"He's not a thrill seeker, and he's not going to go behind a doctor's back when they've made a call. He respects other doctors way too much for something like that. Even that asshat Dr. Gideon."

Something flickered behind her eyes at the doctor's name but disappeared before I could determine what it was. "It doesn't matter what his motivations for the crimes are, Leon. What matters is that the crime was committed, and the evidence points to him. Now, you can either accept that and continue being difficult, or you can accept it, and maybe I can arrange for you to see him before they take him back to prison."

"When?"

"What?"

"When can I see him?"

"Behave yourself, and I'll allow you to see each other unsupervised for an hour or two on the day he's set to leave."

That wasn't good enough, but I gritted my teeth. "Fine."

"Good, now leave me in peace."

"This doesn't count against me, by the way," I said as I gave her the finger.

"My feelings are deeply wounded, and I don't know how I'll recover from the pain," she said in a bored voice, picking up her phone and unlocking it.

"I'm sure you'll recover," I said as I left her office to descend the stairs and make for the dining hall. Dinner was in full swing, so I'd decided to try to catch Mona while she was probably alone.

I knew right where I was heading now, however, and instead of going into the hallway leading toward dinner, I went out the main double doors. The porch wrapped around all sides of the Big House, and I headed for the back. Considering everyone and probably their families knew about Reed being ‘arrested,' she hadn't felt any reservations about posting the occasional, trusted person to watch over the back building to keep anyone out.

Me, most likely.

But it didn't seem like anyone was around now. After a few minutes of making sure, I continued toward the thick door that led into the building, grunting when I found it locked. It seemed like a safety hazard in case of fire, with no guards, but I didn't think Mona would appreciate my criticisms.

I knew there was no other way inside since I'd been in before out of curiosity.

I'd only seen a handful of people forced here, and Reno still didn't know how close he had come to being in one of the cells.

There was no way in without blowing the door open or finding the key, but I knew that wasn't the only way I could talk to Reed. I could have done it sooner, but I needed to get more information from Mona. I didn't want to risk getting caught and getting us both in hotter water. But now I knew as much as Mona was going to tell me, I needed to talk to him.

"Reed?" I whispered as loudly as I dared. Just because I hadn't seen anyone lurking around didn't mean there wasn't anyone who might hear me while I tried to get his attention.

"Leon?" I heard a sharp yelp from the nearest small window, and I shuffled over to it, laying prone so I could see through as best I could. The double meshes made it difficult, and the lighting inside was awful, but I could see a figure moving around. Then Reed grew closer, and some of the moonlight caught his face. "Holy shit, what the hell are you doing?"

"Coming to talk to you, clearly," I said with a roll of my eyes. "How are you?"

"I'm not sure that's a question I want to answer right now," he said, looking around. "Jesus, this is stupid of you."

"Not really," I grunted, wishing I could reach through the mesh and touch him. "Everyone's at dinner, and Mona's inside probably glaring at the walls because I gave her shit."

"Not that I'm surprised, but that's also kind of stupid, sweetheart."

"They locked you up and are accusing you of stealing and being a dealer. Yeah, I'm pissed."

"She told you, huh?"

"Not everything. She probably told you more."

"Not really. I thought she'd come by to tell me more, but she only stops by in the morning with my breakfast. She doesn't say much, just asks me if I want to take her deal, and then leaves when I tell her I can't give her names because I don't know any."

"What deal?"

"Basically, if I tell her where I'm keeping the money, she'll put in a ‘good word' with the parole board. And if I hand over the names of the people I've been doing business with, she'll consider keeping me in the program, bumping me down to Tier Three, and I have to give up any chance of practicing medicine again."

"Jesus, that's a tempting deal," I said with a blink. "Very generous of a woman who seemed pretty pissed off at you."

"Leon?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't do this. I don't know anything about any of this."

My eyes widened in shock as I realized what was going through his mind. I couldn't help but push my fingers through the wider mesh to push against the thinner screen in a desperate attempt to reach him. "Reed, listen to me, okay? I absolutely, without a single doubt in my mind, believe you. I've never believed you could be guilty."

"Not even for a moment?"

"Hey, there was a moment, but it disappeared quickly when I realized it was stupid, and so was I for even thinking it could happen."

His face grew clearer as he pushed his forehead against the screen and into my fingertips. "I don't blame you. This whole thing is a mess, and I don't even know how to begin to separate it into anything understandable. I knew there were discrepancies at the clinic, but I never imagined they were this bad. I thought it was just your basic inventory issues that happen everywhere."

"You didn't notice anything weird going on?" I asked.

"Well, some of it's weird now."

"Like what?"

"Like how narcotics could be going missing without anyone noticing. And if they were noticing, why would people like Alice and Mona be vague about it?"

"Vague, how?"

"Alice told me to keep a closer eye on the numbers, and Mona showed a weird interest in the inventory. One time, she came in and looked over our inventory. The same day, I told her I was done doing that stupid pushing you behind your back thing. Which was weird because she'd already requested our records, and I'd sent them over."

"So, you saw the records?"

"Not all of them. I had limited information. Only the on-staff doctors can use their login and see everything."

"Like, a card?"

"No, username and password."

I clenched my teeth as I asked the question that popped into my head, dreading the answer. "Reed, how many of those do you know?"

"Uh, two."

"Which ones?"

"Alice's and Dr. Gideon's. She trusts me, and that idiot doesn't like to use computers and insists on me always doing it. That or he just doesn't know how and doesn't want to learn."

"Jesus, even in the middle of all this crap, you're still bitching about that man," I said with a smile, pressing my fingers tighter against the mesh. "You really know how to hold a grudge."

"You try working for that useless sack of wrinkled flesh," he grumbled. "Or maybe I'm just using him as a convenient excuse to bitch to make up for the fact that I'm scared shitless."

"I get it," I said, feeling my chest squeeze. "What I wouldn't give to be in there with you right now."

"God, I hope not."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, well, hanging around outside my cell is probably a really good way of getting yourself locked up here with me."

I didn't want to care, but he had been right all along. Part of me did want to do better with my life. I did want to graduate from this program and do something that wasn't the same stupid shit I'd been doing before. I wanted the chance to prove there was more to me than just some messed up kid who managed to keep two younger kids alive and then let his life fall apart.

"Stop," Reed said, and though it was hard to make out, I could tell he was frowning from the tone of his voice. "You're damn well allowed not to want to be locked up in here with me. Even if you're saying the opposite."

"I'm just…I wish there was something I could do, but Mona gave me nothing. Even the guys you supposedly sold to didn't know who it was. They never saw ‘your' face. She's just basing it on all the other evidence."

"Didn't see ‘my' face?"

"I just meant?—"

"No, I know what you meant, not me, but the supposed me. I just…I know it wasn't me, but that doesn't leave many people who could do it."

"I was thinking. It would have to be out of the clinic."

"Yes," he agreed, his voice softer as he thought. "Only people who wouldn't stand out could get away with it. It's usually me or the staff they have for internships, summer jobs, and whatever other programs that deal with the shipments. The doctors get involved too because we don't have a lot of staff, but anyone else would stand out like a sore thumb."

"And not showing their face, that's pretty cautious."

"It's also smart because it keeps any customers from being able to identify them. With such a small selection of people with access, you wouldn't want your description passed around. Even if you were just a worker no one paid attention to."

"Or you were someone who was well known."

"Like me, you mean?"

"No," I scowled, "that's not what I meant."

Reed sighed. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Well, she said you used doctor credentials to cover your tracks. She didn't say which one, but I'm betting it was Dr. Gideon's."

"Great," he groaned. "Even more reason for her to believe I did this. I haven't exactly kept it a secret that I can't stand him. If my supposed activities were going to be noticed, I would want someone like him to take the fall."

"Would you?"

"If I was doing something like this, repeating my past but worse, then why not? I've already thrown away the last shred of medical professionalism and my morality. Why not go further and potentially drag down the useless asshole who antagonizes me constantly?"

"Thank you for getting into the head of your alternate universe, morally bankrupt version of you."

He turned his head, and I could see his brow pinching this time. "I've had a lot of time to think about things, Leon. This is worse than prison. At least in prison, I got some free time to roam around, go to the library, talk to people. So far, the only people I've talked to, I have the same conversation with as with Mona, and then Rip talks to me when he brings my meals."

"Personal food delivery from Rip? That's fancy."

"Cute, very cute."

I tried for a smile because I didn't want him to see how badly this whole thing was affecting me. "Sorry, bad time for a joke, I know."

"It's okay. I wish I was out there to smack you for being an insensitive dick."

"I kinda wish you could too."

He bowed his head. "And it's bothering me that guys were buying or hooked on this stuff, and I didn't know. I should have recognized the symptoms."

"Or," I said, wishing I could pick his head up to look at me, "you kind of did."

"What do you mean?"

"What if you saw the symptoms but didn't connect the dots? Because you wouldn't have expected someone to be hooked."

I saw his head shake. "I'm almost positive that if they were showing bad enough symptoms, I would have noticed."

"What about, like, low-grade symptoms?"

"Mood fluctuations, trouble sleeping, constipation. There's a handful, but I can't think of anyone who fits that bill."

"Well, the first two, I can."

"Hm?"

"Reno for both, even if he tries to hide the sleeping issues, and Elliot for sleep as well."

His eyes went wide, catching the light from the moon. "You don't think?—"

"No," I said hastily. "I can't be sure, but I want to say I would have noticed if it was them."

"Yeah," Reed said with a sigh that almost sounded disappointed. I didn't blame him; if we'd known who the buyers were, we might have had a chance for me to pull them aside and talk to them quietly. Maybe I wouldn't get more information from them than Mona had, but that was still better than nothing. "Wait, Dom."

"Dom?"

"He's had symptoms, though I can't say anything about the mood fluctuations. He never complained about that. But most of them? Yeah, I've seen them a handful of times with him."

I remembered he'd injured himself months ago carrying more than he should have. "His back."

"We gave him opioids for that injury," Reed said, clearly remembering the injury as much as I did, if not more, considering his brain was a living encyclopedia of medical information and histories. "But after the regimen we had him on, which we kept short because of addiction problems, he never said a word. Only came in for over-the-counter pills to help with the ache."

"It's still a possibility."

"Yes but…Leon, don't."

"What?"

"Don't go after him. Mona is going to be keeping an eye on you after all this, and the last thing we need is for you to get in deep shit. Just don't, please."

"Yeah, but?—"

"Look, don't. And you need to get going. Whoever they put on night watch will show up soon, and I don't need them to find you, okay?"

"Fine, I?—"

"It's a bit late for that," a familiar rumbling voice said, and I froze, turning to look over my shoulder. At the corner of the building, thick arms crossed over his broad chest, was Max.

"Well, this is awkward," I muttered to the window.

"Get up," Max said, and though his face was cast in shadow by the moon behind him, I could practically hear his eyes rolling. "Doing alright in there, Reed?"

"Marvelous," Reed drawled sarcastically. "She put you on guard duty? And here I thought I'd seen the last of you."

"I volunteered, believe it or not," Max said. "Leon?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I muttered as I got onto my hands and feet. I pushed my hand against the mesh again, feeling Reed's fingers brush from his side. "I love you, alright? We'll figure something out."

"Okay," he said, and though he was probably trying to hide it, I could hear the sadness in his voice. As far as he was concerned, he was going back to prison with more charges and his entire future thrown in the trash.

Nothing I could say would make him feel better, so I reluctantly pulled my hand away from the window and got to my feet. With a final glance back, I turned, Max waiting until I was close before rounding the corner, only for him to stop when we were halfway along the building.

"This was pretty fucking stupid. I hope you know that," he growled, his back still to me.

"And what happened to you not having anything else to do with this?" I demanded, making sure to keep my voice down. "You swore up and down that you'd quit if she tried something like that again. Turn in your notice but decided to come down here?"

"And a good thing I did. Someone else would have gone to get Mona instead of letting you know they were there and letting you get away with it," he said, turning around to glare at me. Considering how well we had always gotten along, I sometimes forgot he was one of the biggest people I'd ever met, the biggest on the ranch. "And considering…well. Maybe she has some leverage for this current issue."

I stared at him in confusion before clicking my tongue. "Riley?"

"He may or may not have plans for this place, and she may or may not have brought it up when she called me back into her office after you left. So I may or may not be here for the night," he said. Only because I knew you'd be coming straight here, if not soon, then at some point tonight. And that you were probably going to do something stupid."

"I want to say that's noble of you, but you already admitted you did it to help your boyfriend," I pointed out, adding quickly, "Not that I blame you. It's obvious you and Riley love each other, so don't think I'm pissed at you."

To my surprise, he grinned widely. "Are you shitting me? I'm crazy about that weird little idiot, but the last thing I want to do is piss him off. And if he found out I bowed to Mona over something like this simply because she might threaten his ranch plans, I'd never hear the end of it, and he'd be right. I might have learned a lot from him, but the thing I already knew was doing what's right. And nothing about this feels right."

I stared at him, trying to take in everything that had happened in the past few days, along with right now. It wasn't like I didn't know Max and Mona had a complicated relationship. Once upon a time, there was friction between them when Max came onto the full-time staff as a free man. The newer guys wondered if all that tension between them would blow up. And when it didn't, simply staying the same under the surface, they wondered if they'd found other ways to deal with their mutual tension.

"Did you know people used to theorize that you and Mona were fucking?" I blurted out because, apparently, that was the only thing my mouth could say. I didn't know what purpose it was supposed to serve, but I watched as Max reeled back slightly. I realized this was the first time I'd ever seen him taken off guard completely, rather than being surprised and immediately annoyed.

"I…what?" he asked, blinking rapidly. "What?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "My brain is somehow mush and running at almost light speed. It's not making a whole lot of sense right now."

"Clearly," he said with a snort, shaking his head. "And yes, I did know that. One of your boys outright asked me once."

"Oh God, Elliot?" Only Elliot would be that impulsive to ask something so personal and stupid.

"Nope, Sean."

I thought about the man, who was Tier Two now. "Yeah, that, uh, checks out. He isn't the sharpest pencil in the box."

"Man's an idiot, but at least he knows how to work his ass off, so that makes up for it."

"Right," I said, taking a deep breath. "Back on track. Does this mean I get to walk away and not get in trouble over this?"

"Personally, I'm over this entire fucking thing," he said with a heavy huff. He gestured toward the house. "If you ask me, she knows this is ridiculous. But for whatever reason, she's not doing anything about it except following the rules to the letter."

"Which," I began, thinking about it. "She makes herself out to be."

"But that's not her. Not really. Anyone who knows her knows she's not the hard ass she makes herself out to be."

"No," I said, frowning at the ground. "But that doesn't help us, does it?"

"You and Reed? Probably not," Max said with a sigh. "And honestly, I'm not even going to bother with this shit."

"Uh, what does that mean?"

"It means I'm over it, I'm frustrated, I'm pissed off, and I want to talk to my boyfriend to blow off steam. The problem is I'm stuck here for the night."

"I…yeah, I'm sure that sucks?" I said, confused.

He frowned at the sky. "But he's not going to be available to talk until two in the morning, some convention he's at that's going to run late because of an after party. So I'll be stuck here, twiddling my thumbs, keeping your boyfriend company until then. I'm not there to keep him in, he can't get out, but I've gotta keep an eye on him in case anything happens. That's why I have the key to his cell, but I'm pretty sure that's just going to sit on the table in there while your boyfriend sleeps."

"I…yeah, sure," I said, sensing the dots connecting but waiting to see where this was going.

"Whatever," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I told Mona I was going to keep watch, but she can kiss my ass. When Riley calls me at around two, I'm going to talk to him. And I'm going to go for a walk while I do it."

"Hope nothing happens to Reed in that time," I said, realizing what he was doing.

His eyes met mine, and he smirked. "Let's hope. But he's in good health. And if he's still upright and okay when I get back after talking to my probably drunk and stupid boyfriend for a couple of hours, then I have no reason to mention my walk to anyone. So we both have our secrets tonight, I guess."

"So it seems," I said, glancing toward the ‘jail' and sighing. It was something, at least, it wasn't a way to help Reed, but it was…well, it was something. At least I could spend some time with him. It was better than nothing, even if it was nothing in the long term.

"Good, now get out of here before someone else sees you, and I get my ass in trouble," he grunted. "I'm done dealing with people tonight."

"Says the man who's going to talk to his boyfriend."

"That's different."

"Why, because you'll get him to give you a strip show on video?"

"I…get the fuck out of here, Leon, before I change my mind about this."

I wanted to thank him, but this was Max. He'd probably growl at me. I got moving before he changed his mind. He wouldn't, of course. He might have softened up recently but was just as stubborn as he'd always been. The best thing was to do what he said and find a way to repay him somewhere down the line.

As I left him to do his job, I stopped on the corner and glanced back at the building. Max had already walked inside, leaving only the faint light from a couple of the small windows at the front. I wondered what they would talk about while it was just them. I didn't know if they'd ever really had a conversation, but even before Max had made his ‘not offer,' I thought he would be good company for Reed.

"See you soon," I whispered into the night before turning away, hoping it would be enough time to spend together, knowing that no time would ever be enough.