Page 31 of Code Violation

Forrest scowled. He suspected Tim Dennis was a player—he was friends with Xavier, after all. Maybe he and Nero weren’t a thing, but he didn’t want Tim Dennis looking at him, either.

“Seriously, Forrest, maybe you should haul him off somewhere private and take care of that itch.” Magnus’s voice made Forrest jump.

Forrest hadn’t noticed that the asshole had returned to his post behind the bar. No way was he going to publicly admit that he and Nero already been there, done that, and that, even worse, he wanted more. Wanting more wasn’t what Forrest did. And Nero probably wasn’t sticking around anyway.

Forrest wondered if he wanted him to.

Crap. Did he want Nero to stick around? Had Magnus seen his truck over there last night? Probably, but it was too late to fix that now.

“Fuck you. What’s up with Rufus?”

“What do you mean, what’s up with Rufus?” Magnus looked around. “And where is he?”

“He left.” Forrest gestured the direction most everyone, including Rufus, had headed. “Seemed a bit off. Definitely shaken up by the news.”

“I think we all are, aren’t you? Those poor girls, up there all this time. I was in high school the same time as they were.” Magnus frowned, something Forrest wasn’t used to.

“Yeah, but… more shook up. I can’t explain it.”

Magnus stared at him for an extra beat, seemed to realize Forrest was serious, and came to a conclusion.

“Keep an eye on the bar for a minute. I’ll find out what’s going on.”

“Me?” He looked around to see if there was someone else Magnus might be talking to. But no, it was just him. Most of the townies who’d stopped in to hear the announcement were already gone.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Yes, you.”

After untying the half apron he wore, Magnus tossed it on the bar as he came around to the seating area and headed to the exit.

“Hurry up. Can’t just sit there and twiddle your thumbs.”

Bemused, Forrest slipped off the stool and moved to stand behind the bar until Magnus returned.

He stood there and watched the stragglers depart, not sure what to do with himself. Now he knew why Magnus was wiping the bar down all the time; it gave him something to do with his hands.

Forrest noticed Xavier and his suspect college friend had left already, but Nero wandered over to stand at the end of the counter.

Forrest blinked.

He wanted to kiss him. In public. The realization rattled him. He’d hated him at first sight, he’d avoided him as much as possible, and now he wanted to kiss him? In public?

“What are you doing?” Forrest asked instead of performing unnecessary mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He was curious if, in the hours since Forrest had slunk back to the farm, Nero had discovered anything. Maybe he had needed to sleep; it had been well after midnight by the time Forrest had left. Nero needed to be investigating, not lingering at the pub.

Nero overtly glanced around. “The same as you, I think.”

He also looked like he was trying not to smile, which both irritated and turned Forrest on. Maybe he was starting to understand why Xavier had been so fucking weird last fall when he’d opened his eyes and really seen Vincent Barone.

“Have you found anything out yet?”

“You have a remarkable trust in my skills considering you were bad-mouthing me as recently as yesterday morning.”

Forrest leaned across the bar. “I’ll bad-mouth you more if you want me to,” he murmured.

Nero’s cheeks turned red—but so did Forrest’s. This kind of talk was not like him.

Finally, Nero broke the only slightly awkward silence between them. “You know, Magnus is much better at this bartender thing than you are. He at least would’ve asked what I wanted to drink by now.”

“Fine. What do you fucking want to drink? Happy?”

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