Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Damn,” Day exhaled.
God couldn’t argue. Seeing Fox on that black horse stole his breath away too.
Bull watched from the fence with pride. Syn rode too, but he wasn’t racing. He trotted along on a chestnut horse he called Nimbus, steady and comfortable, but careful.
The staff and a small crowd of people God learned were residents waved and encouraged him to ride faster. Syn waved them off, his smile growing wider.
It was obvious they liked him, and God couldn’t blame them. Syn was a damn good man. It’s why God made him his sergeant. This town was lucky they were getting him as their new sheriff.
Furi watched him from beside God with tenderness all over his face.
God glanced at Furi. “He looks good out there.”
Furi kept his gaze on Syn. “Yeah, he does. He’s really bonding with that horse.”
“You two seem good?”
Furi turned toward him then. “We are.”
God believed him.
The night stretched on.
Xander tapped out a little after midnight, claiming he wasn’t a partier, and not used to being up at that hour.
God shook his hand. “It was really cool you came all this way for Curtis. Thank you.”
Xander’s smile warmed. “He’s hard not to love.”
Cassidy shook God’s hand next. “You and Day heading west next week?”
“Yeah.”
Cassidy’s grip tightened once. “Good, we got a lotta shit to do.”
Xander addressed the group. “I also wanted to invite everyone to the premiere of What Remains After Silence in LA. I’ll have VIP passes for all of you.”
The reaction was immediate chaos.
Curtis wasn’t there to scream, so Vickie did it for him.
Someone toasted Curtis and Gen again even though they were gone.
Someone toasted the task force.
Someone toasted new beginnings.
By the time the hours crawled toward early morning, they were all damn near holding each other up.
Ruxs and Green laughing with Judge, Duke and Quick.
Tech tucked under Steele’s arm while Free argued with Hart about marketing the Hart Locator to NASA.
Apparently, his best friend wasn’t interested in being a billionaire.
Syn and Furi were sitting together on the fence, with Nimbus close by, shoulder to shoulder, their heads bent close.
Ro, Micheals, and Mason were playing a never-ending game of cornhole with their new team of PIs and bounty hunters. They were so drunk, they’d changed the rules of the game from getting the bag in the hole, to how far away they could throw it.
Fox and Bull were swaying to the low music under one of the speakers, Bull’s arm around Fox’s back, his face lifted toward the stars.
Day came up beside him, quiet for once.
God pulled him into his chest. “You ready?”
Day sighed. “No.”
“No?”
“I’m not ready for any of it. Leaving. Starting over. Running a private security firm. Hollywood. Wearing suits and not chasing bad guys down the street. Seeing the guys on holidays only. Curtis being married. Gen being grown. Us…getting old. Dying from smog.”
God kissed Day’s temple. “You’ve got to stop worrying about this damn smog, sweetheart.”
Day looked at him.
“And we’re only as old as we feel.”
“Yeah, well my knees said I was ninety-seven this morning.”
God took his hand. “Come on.”
Day let him lead him away from the lights, the music, the racket of the crew breaking down the tent, beyond the tables, laughter and drunken squabbles.
They walked toward a quieter part of the property where the grass sloped down toward a pond, which reflected the stars. Strings of lights trailed along the fence behind them, but out there, the night had more room.
God stopped beneath a large oak, its branches spread wide overhead, leaves whispering in the warm breeze, fireflies blinking near the water.
Day stepped in front of him. “What’s in that brilliant mind of yours?”
God stared into those gorgeous hazel eyes that’d seen him at his worst and stayed. His husband, who’d walked through every impossible thing with him, hand and hand, shoulder to shoulder. And never faltered. “I was thinking…”
“About what?”
God slid his hands to Day’s waist. “About the first time I saw you.”
Day’s expression shifted, surprise warming his cheeks. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You were loud, sarcastic, cocky, disrespectful…a fuckin’ pain in the ass.”
Day laughed. “Is this your idea of romance?”
“And I knew,” God kept going.
Day’s smile faded slowly.
God swallowed. “I knew I was gonna be by your side for the rest of my life.”
Day blinked, his eyes shining brighter.
He brushed his thumb along Day’s jaw. “We did a lot of damage.”
Day huffed. “That we did.”
“We saved a lot of people.”
“That too.”
“And we also lost some.”
“But not a single brother.” Day covered his warm hand over his. “And not each other.”
God glanced over Day’s shoulder, back toward the lights where their brothers were still causing a ruckus.
God dipped his forehead to Day’s. “I don’t know how to do this new normal.”
“Me either. But we’ll figure it out. Me and you.” Day kissed him, slow and sexy, brushing the tip of his tongue along his bottom lip.