Page 35 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
“I may have to kill your brother yet.”
“Get in line.” The two of them smiled at one another. The moment felt like the first natural and easy moment between them.
“Cody, I don’t want to lose you to a war that Arek and I agreed to fight. You should not be so willing to jump into the fray.”
“I’ve spent my whole life fighting. Fighting for a meal, fighting for an education, fighting for my sister. Fighting is what I know. It may not be what I wanted to do with my life, but it is what it is. At least fighting with you and Arek to keep drugs off the street is a worthy cause.” Cody wandered away, and Trev watched the emotions play over Cody’s face. “I sold that shit to kids, man. To kids that were not even teens yet because I was ordered to do so and was too fucking weak to kill Tyson myself. I was no better than those in the Streetlores or the GD’s. This is a chance to do a little good, turn some of that shit around.”
“You really want to do this? To put your neck on the line for an organization you know very little about and for the two of us who you barely know?”
Cody stepped in so close that the delicious scent of his skin made Trev’s head light.Or was it the painkillers?He didn’t care, his body warmed with Cody’s nearness. “What I know is that you saved me from spending the rest of my life behind bars for things that I’ve never been proud of—risking it all for a good cause and…” Cody drew the back of his knuckles down Trev’s cheek. “I would do that a thousand times over.” Cody’s lips hovered just above his, he could almost taste the minty freshness of his breath, and his whole body shivered with the potentness of their connection. “Can I ask you something?”
“What do you want to know?”
“On one of your visits to the prison you said you understood why I did what I did. That you knew that feeling, was that true?”
“It is true. Different reasons, different circumstances, but that soul sucking feeling, that’s the exact same.”
Cody gave him a lopsided grin as he ran his hand through his hair. “I never did understand why you came to see me all the time. I didn’t deserve your friendship or your dedication to my case.”
The room spun a little and Trev grabbed Cody’s shoulder to steady himself.
“That’s enough talking for now, you better lay down. You need to rest.” Trev let Cody help him to the bed and got comfortable once more. The drugs now fully flowing throughout his system had his eyes drooping heavily. Trev grabbed Cody’s hand before he could drift too far. “Will you lay with me?”
Cody smiled wide, producing a second amazingly sexy dimple for a matching pair. Trev held open the covers for Cody and sighed as he scooted under and pressed his body up against his own. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Cody?”
“Yeah?”
“You have more to offer someone than you realize.” Cody’s body shuddered against his own, as those strong arms gripped him a little tighter.
Trev relaxed into Cody’s hold and breathed deeply the scent of a man he could distinguish anywhere. What his future held, he could not even begin to guess, but he was certain that whatever it was, this man would be part of it.
Cody woke up with a start, his heart hammering, and adrenaline spiking, and not for a good reason. His head swung to the door and the loud commotion that was going on. It was dark outside, and he was disoriented. The loud sound of yelling and gunfire kicked his instincts and brain into high alert. Trev was trying to sit up just as the door to the bedroom burst open, and Arek ran in, herding Sally, Renee, and J.J. like cattle.
A small red dot lit up the far wall through the window right near Arek’s head. “Get down,” Cody yelled and yanked the cover over his head as he pushed Trev flat against the bed. Rolling over Trev’s body, he held himself up but acted like a human shield as the window exploded a moment later. Glass rained down on his back, with little thuds as the sound of gunfire and splintering wood was loud in his ears.
“Get in the washroom now,” Arek ordered. Cody dared to peek over his shoulder to see the other three crawling toward the open washroom door. Arek, on the other hand, ran for the side of the window. He pulled up the gun he was carrying like this was just another normal day in the neighborhood and looked through the scope. “Come out, come out wherever you are,” Arek whispered.
“This was not how I envisioned the first time you were on top of me,” Trev said, as his fingertips ran teasingly down Cody’s back. If this had been any other time, he would have ravaged that cocky mouth, but instead, his brain squealed to a halt.
“How can you joke around at a time like this?”
Trev smiled back, his whole face lighting up as if he’d just asked the stupidest question ever. “I’ve seen worse, and Arek has a gun. We’re good unless they have grenades. That could get messy.”
“I think those pain meds have gone to your head.”
Arek opened fire out the shattered window. “Got you, you fucker. Stupid whack-a-moles. Come on, let’s move.” Arek grabbed the comforter, whipping it off Cody’s back, and proceeded to lay it out on the floor. “For the glass.” Arek pointed to the ground and the crunching under his boots.
They moved as quickly as Trev was able to, the entire time he wanted to pick him up and run for the bathroom, but figured Trev would beat his ass if he tried.
“These guys want to play? Oh, I can fucking play,” Arek mumbled as he stormed across the bedroom and pulled on a random book. Cody whistled as the bookshelf moved out of the way, producing a selection of guns and other toys that would put anything Tyson had to shame.
Cody helped Trev get into the shower with the other three and was worried as he stared at the thin line of pink on the bandage on his leg.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll be fine. Just get me a gun,” Trev said.
