Page 13 of Boy Toy Not Included

Diesel shoved his phone into his pocket, freeing his hands. “Why are you hiding in the bushes?”

Both men wore matching evil grins. The taller of the two responded. “We heard a rumor Kuba’s dad hired you to keep him safe from us. Surely that’s not true. We’ve come to introduce ourselves so you can see we’re harmless. Kuba has no reason to fear us.”

Well, fuck. At least he was dressed to fight. “From what I understand, Kuba isn’t scared of anyone, especially two guys who look like they couldn’t harm him if they tried.”

The pair exchanged glances. The air practically crackled with anger at his taunt. At least he knew now who he was up against.

Before they could make a move and show their hands, blue lights flashed as they pulled into the driveway. The pair took off running as the cop climbed out of the car.

“Should I be chasing those two?”

Diesel shook his head as he watched the pair go.

The neighbor on their left rushed out in nothing but a bathrobe and slippers. “Are you okay, Diesel? I saw those two slinking around in the bushes right before you got home, so I called the police.”

Diesel gave Edna a neighborly wave. “I’m okay. Thanks for that.”

He focused on the officer. “That was some great timing.”

The guy looked him over.

Diesel realized he knew him. “Sandy?”

A bright smile exploded across Sandy’s face. “Diesel? I thought that was you. You don’t look the same as you did in high school.”

He absolutely knew that. Sandy was one of the reasons he had changed. He had been the cool kid. Diesel had been the overlooked one. “Wow. What an unfortunate way to run into each other.”

Sandy laughed. “Yeah. Did they get a chance to break in, or did you catch them first?”

Diesel’s hands rose and fell. “I just got here, so I haven’t checked inside. Since they weren’t holding anything, I assume theyhadn’t gotten that far yet. How have you been? It’s been what, seven, eight years?”

“Sounds about right.” Sandy never stopped smiling. “Life’s been good. Went to college and became a cop. Nothing huge to report. What about you?”

Diesel shrugged. “Met a guy at the gym a few years back who told me about a security company hiring. Got hired and now I work all over the world, acting as private security.” He didn’t like to tell people about guarding celebrities. Not only had he signed too many non-disclosures to keep up with, but he would sound like he was bragging. That went against everything inside Diesel.

Sandy nodded along. “Sounds awesome. We should get a drink sometime and catch up.”

Diesel smiled. “We should.” Teenaged him would have fucking died at having an offer like that. As far as Diesel had seen, Sandy had only dated girls in high school. It was almost eerie how much he looked the same. This was just a guy offering to catch up with an old high school buddy, except they had never been friends, and he doubted the offer was genuine.

Sandy pulled a small notebook and pen from the front pocket of his shirt. “Let me grab your number real quick and I’ll give you a call.”

“Sounds good to me.” He rattled off his phone number.

Sandy nodded as he jotted it down. Once he had what he sought, Sandy put the notebook away. “I gotta run, but it was great running into you.” He tapped his pocket. “I’ve got your number now. I’ll give you a call.”

Diesel dipped his chin. “That’ll work. Be careful out there.”

“You too.” Sandy headed back to his patrol car.

Diesel made his way to the door. It had been a weird night. He didn’t even know what to fret over first. The door was locked, and everything looked untouched. Diesel had been fairly certain the two stooges hadn’t been there to rob the place. They had been there for Diesel and nothing else. Still, he checked every room and entry point just to be safe. Once he ensured everything was secured for the night, Diesel headed for his bedroom. He needed to grab some clean clothes and hit the shower.

With his mind on lockdown, Diesel showered and ran through the rest of his routine, getting ready for bed. As he moved to plug up his cellphone for the night, he saw he had missed a few messages. He flipped through them.

Mom:Goodnight. I love you too.

Next.

Sandy:Just texting so you can save my number. It was really great running into you.