Page 43 of Shattered Pieces

I had to get out of here, so I climbed into my car and drove off, not really knowing where I was going.

I found myself parking at Josie’s, ignoring the pain in my side from the wound as I took the steps two at a time.

Since I knew the codes, I let myself in, almost running into Josie as I walked into the kitchen.

“I thought I heard the door. You looking for Ty? He’s in his room,” she said with a friendly smile, not at all bothered that I’d let myself in, and I thanked her before heading upstairs to find him.

He was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, but he sat up when I walked in.

“Hey. You good?” he asked with a frown, and I blew out a breath.

“No.”

“Come tell Daddy all about it,” he grinned, and I snorted as I kicked my boots off, sitting on the bed.

“I’d be your daddy, you little shit.”

“We can both be daddy,” he chuckled, tilting his head at me. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“Just having a bad day.”

“A bad day, or a tempting day?” he asked, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

“A tempting one. The warehouse was too quiet, it was getting to me. Hunt’s on a job, so⁠—”

“We can hang out until he’s done. You want to play Xbox? A movie might not distract you enough. I’d suggest the pool, but I wouldn’t with wounds. You want beer?” he asked, and I nodded, watching him practically skip from the room to get some, and I took the time to look around. It was more personal in here than his bedroom at his own damn house had been.

There were pictures of him and the guys, some of him with Josie, and he’d framed one from his date night with Rory.

I stood, walking towards the one of him and Rory and picked it up, smiling slightly as I studied it. She looked good as a rich chick, but I definitely liked her more in jeans when she was threatening to stab me.

It was more natural on her.

I put it down, scanning his shelves to see what games he had. There were a lot.

“What are you looking for, creeper?” Tyler asked jokingly as he walked in with a six pack of beer, offering me one.

“Just seeing what you have.”

“Pick whatever you want. You and Hunt want to stick around for dinner? We can do pizza. Holloway’s at Skeet’s again, and Josie’s dealing with work stuff, so I was going to eat alone,” he stated, getting comfortable on the bed.

“Pizza would be good. I’ll check in with Hunt soon,” I answered, grabbing a shooting game that I’d been wanting to try, knowing it was multiplayer.

I completely lost track of time as we gamed, drank beer, and taunted each other, and I had to do a double-take when I looked towards the door to find Hunter standing there with his arms crossed.

He looked annoyed, telling me he’d likely been trying to call me and I hadn’t noticed.

“Hey,” I said, swinging my attention back to the TV. “How’d it go?”

“It went good. You were supposed to meet Faris at three,” he grunted, making me frown.

“I was?”

“Yes. I texted you. I thought something was wrong when I realized you never got back to me. You’ve really been here all afternoon? You’ve got shit to do, bro.”

“Give him a break, he was having a bad day,” Tyler replied, coming to my defense. “You were busy, so he came here.”

The last thing I needed was Hunter knowing I was struggling. He had enough shit to worry about.