Page 37 of Tangled With You

“Good.” He sighed with a small shake of his head. “Olliemust be out of his mind. I’ve been there. That feeling of helplessness?” Hisdual-colored eyes seemed to blaze. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Trevor nodded, remembering how gutted Damien had been whenAnne had been taken, then again when Nikki disappeared. “I know. And, yeah,it’s eating at him.” He glanced around the third floor. “I actually came up hereto find him, but I haven’t seen him anywhere. You?”

“The gym,” Damien said. “I think he wanted to burn off somesteam.”

“Makes sense. First floor, right?”

“Right. Just past the kitchen.”

“Thanks,” Trevor said, glancing sideways to the only kitchenhe was familiar with. But he continued on down to the first floor, albeit a bitconfused. Then he remembered that Ollie once told him the house had been builtwith a huge, commercial quality kitchen that was supposed to be the primarycooking area, with the third floor being used only when entertaining.

Another example of something not turning out the way youexpected—but still ending up for the better.

Because, yeah, when he’d first met Ollie, he’d only expectedthey’d be friends. Why pine for more when the guy wasn’t into men? But thenthings shifted. And in the most satisfying of ways.

Now, Ollie was his.

At least, he hoped he was.

He frowned. That damned niggle of doubt kept popping up nomatter how much he told himself that he was channeling Greg. And Greg, frankly,didn’t even deserve to be in Trevor’s head.

He found Ollie in a gym that was bigger and better equippedthan the gym Trevor belonged to near his condo. He supposed he shouldn’t besurprised. After all, Damien could afford to fill the massive room with thebest, and considering his first career as a professional athlete, it made sensehe’d want to stay in shape.

Ollie was on the far side of the room, sitting on a bench infront of a glass wall that looked out over the Malibu hills and the distantbeach. His back was to the room, so Trevor couldn’t see what he was doing, buthe seemed to be looking at something. Probably his phone.

Trevor took a step toward him, then another and another,with each step expecting Ollie to notice him. To turn around. To smile.

But Ollie just sat, and after one more step, Trevor saw why.Courtney.

Ollie’s tablet was in his lap, and even from where he stood,Trevor could see her image. A candid shot in a park. She was bending over topluck a daisy, and someone—presumably Ollie—had caught the image of her as sheturned to face the camera.

It was a sweet image full of innocence and laughter. Therewas love there, too. He could see it in her eyes. In the framing of the photo.In the photo’s very existence.

And he could see it in the way Ollie’s fingers softlystroked the image. Even without seeing Ollie’s face, there was no discountingthe depth of his emotion. And while Trevor would move heaven and earth to getCourtney back, right then the jealousy that ripped through him was almostdebilitating.

Get a grip, Barone.

He must have made a sound, because Ollie stiffened, lockedthe tablet screen, then turned. For a moment, his expression was entirelyblank, and that emptiness felt like blackness inside Trevor. Then he smiled,wide and genuine even if it was a little sad. Ollie held out his hand, andTrevor moved to take it, more relieved than he ought to be. But that was just atestament to how hard he’d fallen.

“I woke up alone,” he said, proud of how the words soundeddetached and reasonable.

“Sorry about that.” Ollie’s expression seemed almostembarrassed. “You looked so peaceful, I didn’t want wake you.”

Trevor took another step closer. “You okay?” He nodded atthe tablet. “Squeezing in some work?”

“Just, you know, reading.” He tugged his hand free.“Clearing my mind.”

“Right.” Trevor had to force the word out. “That makessense.” Fuck it. “I was just tracking you down to give you an update.”

“You’ve learned something?”

“Getting closer.” He explained his assumption that the carhad been in the parking lot the entire time. “If I’m right, we may have thefull plate number soon.”

Ollie’s relief was palpable as tension seemed to retreatfrom his whole body. “That’s something. Tug on that string, and surely it willloosen more threads.”

Trevor shoved his hands in his pockets. “That’s the plan.”He started to take a step toward Ollie, then stopped. Dammit, he didn’t needthis. He was heading up this investigation, he needed his head on straight, notall twisted up because of relationship drama.

Relationship? They’d only fucked. At least that’s how itlooked like Ollie saw it.