Despite It All by Reese Knightley

 

Greene

What the ever-living fuck was going on?

Over an hour later, he was still pacing from the kitchen to the living room and back, wearing a tread in Summer Peterson’s carpet. Liam had ripped them all new assholes. Like the break in upstairs had been his goddamned fault. Then the colonel put in a call to Dave to have Forest meet them here.

He wasn’t going anywhere until Forest showed his face.

Samuel Beckett and Colin Savage had arrived five minutes ago. Beckett stood outside on the dark patio, refusing to be in the same room as Holden. Which was laughable because Holden had split out front the minute Beckett and Colin were safely inside the apartment.

Colin was currently holed up in Summer’s bedroom attempting to open the safe, a safe that Forest could have damn well opened. If he hadn’t run off.

The little escape artist. Although, Forest wasn’t that little. Sure, he was lean, but he was tall; at least six feet, maybe six one. He was little to him, was all. And a liar. That stuck like a piece of wood lodged deep.

Not that Forest owed him anything. He thought maybe they’d connected enough to quit with the bullshit. But, if they quit with the bullshit, he’d need to come clean, and there was no way in hell he was doing that.

He couldn’t get over Forest taking the contents of Hardier’s safe. It wasn’t often that a perp got away from him, but that prick was fast. Forest wasn’t a perp. Tonight he was! He’d swiped his hand out, but the lean, darkly dressed figure had leaped out of his reach like a cat. He almost had the little bastard, but his accomplice cut the rope.

The husky laughter even now still rang in his ears, filling the air in front of him like a dare.

“I swear that was Forest.”

He’d been repeating himself for what seemed like the tenth time in the past few hours.

“He’s on his way,” Liam said.

Bent on confronting the sneak, he didn’t answer, and instead, stalked out onto the back patio and lit up a cigarette.

“Quit, my ass,”he grumbled. Forest would be lucky if he kept the bet at all. Moving as far as he could, he blew the smoke downwind when Beckett threw him a glance.

“Sorry.”

“No problem.” Beckett crossed his arms and gazed out into the darkness beyond the patio.

“Someone’s got to rein that guy in or I’ll do it,” he growled.

“He giving you a run for your money?” Beckett snorted on a laugh. “Sounds like you met your match.”

“What?” He squinted at Beckett.

“Forest. He’s a real catch, you know. I’ve seen him. What a freaking hot blond. I bet a guy would give his left nut to have a chance with someone like him,” the chatterbox said all in one breath.

He blinked, gaped, and then snapped his lips closed.

“I mean, if I were his type, which I’m not because I don’t have the muscles, I’d go for him.”

“You know he cares about you, don’t you?” he snapped roughly, grasping at anything to shut the talkative guy up.

“What?” Now it was Beckett’s turn to look surprised.

“Holden,” he said.

“Are you playing matchmaker, Sergeant Greene?”

“Maybe I am.”

“Maybe you should take care of your own love life before you come judging mine,” Beckett sniped.

He squinted through a haze of smoke. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re overreacting over Forest.” Another smart mouth, no wonder Holden gave Beckett a wide birth.

“You’re overreacting about Holden.”

“Ain’t life grand?” the curly-haired Lieutenant said with a smile.

“How’s life grand?” Holden spoke from the doorway, causing Beckett to jump like a jolt of electricity shot up his ass.

“Get ‘em, big guy.” He crushed out his smoke in the small tray on the patio table, stepped past Holden, and stalked back inside.

“I ordered pizza,” Holden told him, blocking Beckett from escaping.

“Excuse me,” Beckett said, trying to march around Holden.

“No, I don’t think I will,” Holden rumbled.

He gave a huff beneath his breath when the chatterbox got what was coming to him.

“Get out of my way,” Beckett hissed at Holden.

“Not until I get some answers.”

Closing the sliding door all the way, he headed toward the kitchen. Those two needed to work their shit out before it affected either one of them more than it already had. Holden was quieter than usual, and Beckett had a strain around his mouth and shadows in his eyes that weighed a man down.

He should know, he’d lived with enough hurt to last a lifetime. His own shadows came from how he’d been raised. But knowing that didn’t make the pain of fear, loneliness, and abandonment any less of a reality. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen the numbness he found at the bottom of the bottle. He’d been raised just as his mother had and his grandmother before her. Drugs and alcohol had been staples in his home, not so much toilet paper or food.

He’d taken to the streets to find something to eat and answers to a life that had backhanded him way too often. At fourteen, social services had removed him from the home for missing too much school and showing up drunk when he did show. They’d placed him in a temporary home and he’d detoxed, gone back to classes, and completed a ton of catching up on school work. He’d graduated sober and in clean clothes with food in his belly. He had a shit ton of respect for his foster dad. When he turned eighteen, the man had driven him to the recruiter’s office. The Army gave him his second shot at a good life until things went to shit and once again, he’d found solace with booze.

Reaching the vacant kitchen, he snatched up a glass, filled it with water, and guzzled it down.

The vision of his past faded, pushed away by thoughts of a bright head of hair and lean body. Forest had a way of doing that to him, just cutting into his head when he least expected it. The guy was an enigma and so fucking smart. And fast, hella fucking quick. Faster than he’d come up against in a long time.

Who was the man with Forest? Not that he wasn’t glad for the other guy. When Forest had lost his grip, he thought he was going to have a fucking heart attack until the guy swung over and saved him.

“Food’s here.” Liam entered the kitchen carrying three pizzas. He hadn’t even heard the front door open, that was how far into his own head he’d been. He quickly shook off thoughts of the past, but not so quickly of Forest.

Beckett and Holden came in from the patio, and Liam grabbed a few slices and headed back into the living room.

“I’m fucking starving.” He opened the first box, pulled out a slice, and took a bite that covered half of the piece.

“Geez, save some for the rest.” Beckett pushed him aside with a laugh.

He tossed the smiling man a glance and then one to Holden. Had they resolved their issues? There was a pretty blush on Beckett’s cheeks and Holden wasn’t meeting either one of their gazes.

“All’s well in paradise?” He leaned back against the counter and took another bite.

“Shut up,” Holden grumbled at him.

Beckett only grinned and grabbed a slice of pizza on a paper plate.

“Making up for lost time?” He tried another tactic.

“Greene! Let’s see…” Beckett gave him a big, wide eyed smile.

Shit.

“How’s Forest? Do you keep your eyes glued to his ass so much that it’s hard to look away? Or are you a shoulders man? Maybe it’s the cut of his lean body?”

He gulped, almost choked, and then coughed.

“Have you tasted his lips yet? Have you held him close?”

“Beckett,” Holden warned.

“Have you -.” Beckett’s words were cut off by Holden’s hand over his mouth.

“Fuck.” He laughed, just fucking cracked the hell up. Holden was going to have his hands full if he took the bait.

Beckett shoved Holden’s hand away and smiled at him. “Shall I continue?”

“No.” He backed up, hands up.

“How did Forest get away from you twice?” Beckett continued anyway.

He groaned, his irritation rising all over again, but it wasn’t directed at Beckett.

When he got his hands on Forest…