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“It’s Moose.” He drives alongside the semi, parks, and gets out. He approaches the driver’s side door and bangs on it. “Get out, Moose, you asshole. What the hell are you doing here?”
The door opens and the exceptionally large trucker gracefully dismounts his vehicle, landing lightly on his feet. He’s all grins, and the second he exits his truck, I get out of the car, too.
“Dixon, Alexandra, good to see you both. How’d it go?”
“What the fuck are you doing here? Are you staking out Alexandra’s apartment?” Dixon says.
“Seraphina’s orders. But my suggestion, originally.”
“Why?” I say.
“Because they wouldn’t let me go with you guys to the party at Jeremiah Brock’s,” he says. “I decided that, since I couldn’t go with you, I’d rather wait here, just in case some of his men followed you. That way, I could back you up, if need be. The thought of you two getting hurt, it just…” His words end in an abrupt sigh. “I don’t want to think about it. I like you both too much.”
I wrap him in a hug. “It’s OK, Moose. Everything turned out fine. Dixon and I are safe.”
“That’s good.”
“Also, Dixon came in some guy’s face,” I say, adding a teasing laugh I know will rile Dixon up. “Got him right in the eye.”
“Damn it, Alexandra,” Dixon snaps.
“I can’t believe I missed that,” Moose says, sounding exceptionally disappointed. “Dixon, maybe later, do you want to show me how…”
“No,” Dixon cuts him off sharply, but there’s a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe some other time, Moose. But not today.”
Moose nods understandingly, but the disappointment is still clear in his eyes.
“Come on,” I say, patting Moose on the arm. “Let’s get inside. I desperately need a shower and Dixon does, too. Moose, I’ve got plenty of beer and snacks in my fridge. You can do guard duty just as well from my couch as you can from the cab of your semi. Plus, you play your cards right, you might even see Dixon walking around in a towel.”
Moose’s eyes light up. “Really?”
“Damn it, princess,” Dixon says. “Moose, I can tell you now, you’re not getting a show and I will not come in your face.”
“What about the other way around?”
“No.”
We enter the building. Inside my apartment, the cramped space feels smaller than usual because Moose takes up so much room just by existing. He eyes the surroundings, which are an incredible mess because of the fight that took place here the other night.
“This reminds me of my first apartment. It’s a little cleaner, though. And missing the, uh, table with straps on it,” he says as he walks through the mess, then takes a seat on my couch. The sofa emits a pained groan as he settles into it.
“I’m going to grab a bite to eat, then get cleaned up,” I say. The first thing I grab is a beer and a leftover burrito, which I bite into cold. Burritos are good, warm or cold, fresh or… older than I’d like to admit. When I turn around, Dixon is standing in the entryway to the kitchen, watching me. When he’s not being the biggest asshole in the world, I have to admit, he’s almost attractive. “What do you want?”
“A beer, for starters,” he says.
I toss one to him.
“Thanks,” he says. The beer can releases a satisfying hiss as he pops it open. “But there’s something else I want, too.”
“What’s that?”
“You just brushed off how well you did back there. Alexandra, that mission wouldn’t have succeeded if you hadn’t been there. I’m serious. Maybe I could’ve gotten into that party on my own, but I sure as fuck couldn’t have made it out. It was because of you we have that flash drive and we’re standing here with nothing more than some minor bruises. You did good. Real fucking good. And I mean that.”
Is that sincerity in his voice? Honesty in his smoldering, soul-sucking eyes?
“I don’t know what to say…”
I really don’t. I’m not used to genuine compliments from him. I’m used to him being an asshole the size of the Grand Canyon and telling him I hope he dies slowly in a tragic accident.
