Page 81 of Sweet Little Spies

He turned and Zach moved in beside him, a beer in his hand.They were the only two in the lounge, the sub who worked the bar having longsince gone home. The Hideout was big enough to have a bar but small enough itwasn’t always manned. It was cool. Most of them knew how to grab their ownbeers.

“Thing on my face?” Tris asked. The lights were still set atplay level, giving the whole place a club atmosphere, and he was reminded therewas still some fun going on downstairs since he could hear the snap of a whipand then a masculine groan. “Are Kala and Coop still at it?”

Zach snorted and leaned against the railing, looking outover the dungeon. “They are hardcore, and so fucked up it hurts to watch them.Is the problem with them that they’re both tops? Also, I was talking about thesmile on your face. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile before. It looks weird onyou, man.”

He playfully gave his friend the finger. “Fuck you, butalso, I am happy tonight. And the problem with Coop and Kala started a longtime ago. They never discuss it but one day they were doing this sort of datingthing, going on doubles with me and Carys and A, and the next she didn’t talkto him for a year. They got back to being something like friends before the endof high school, and then rarely saw each other until Drake and Taylor broughtthe twins in and they built the team.”

Zach nodded as though he’d had something confirmed for him.“Kala says her dad forced her to take Coop on the team. I’ve never believedthat.”

“Because it’s a lie she tells herself.” He didn’t want tothink about Kala and Cooper tonight. He wasn’t sure they were salvageable, andhe didn’t blame Kala for all of their problems. She’d been so in love with himas a kid she would have forgiven him almost anything. So whatever had happened,it had been bad. He studied Zach. “You know you have a weird expression on yourface, too. Almost like you had a nice night. Did I see you with Devi?”

He could have sworn when he’d looked out in the audience,he’d seen Devi standing in front of Zach, one of his hands almost possessivelyresting on her shoulder.

Zach’s lips kicked up. “Well, you know I’m not a man to kissand tell, but I did get the chance to spend some time with her. After she gotbrave enough to come looking for me. Turns out she’s kind of got a crush onme.”

Zach seemed pleased with himself, but there were problemswith the scenario. “She’s TJ’s sister, you know.”

Though he’d been given a hearty lecture from his own sisterabout staying out of her romantic choices. He would. He would totally stay outof them until the moment she picked an asshole who hurt her, and then he wouldkill the son of a bitch. See. He was allowing her to make her own choices.

He wasn’t sure how TJ would feel about his sister hangingaround big, dangerous-looking Zach.

“I am well aware, and I wouldn’t have played with her at allif I wasn’t interested in seeing where it goes,” Zach said. “I’ve alwaysthought she was cute. Now I know she’s beautiful and funny and kind of awesome.Did you know she’s a fashion designer? Erin and Theo Taggart’s daughter designsfancy dresses.”

“She definitely gets it from Theo,” Tris snarked. Aunt Erinwas not known for her fashion sense. Her ability to take out the bad guys innumerous violent ways was another story. “But seriously, I don’t know she’ssomeone you should play around with. You might think because her mom’s supertough, she is, too.”

Zach turned his way, his expression going serious. “I didn’tsay I was playing.”

But Tris knew something Zach hadn’t mentioned. “We all knowhow you feel about Tasha.”

“And she’s marrying someone else. Look, I admit I had a hellof a torch for that woman, and I have the scars to prove it. But I am capableof moving on, and I’m not pining. I never expected she would care for me theway I wanted her to. I’m happy she’s found someone she loves.” Zach paused asthough he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to continue. Then he sighed and tookanother swig of beer. “I think it’s all the coupling up going on around me. Imight be like hormonal or something, but I’ve kind of started to think I want areal relationship with a woman I could come to love. And I think I might havefound her tonight.”

Tris actually felt his jaw drop. Zach was kind of the playerof the group. He was the one they sent in when they needed a guy to flirt witha target. Cooper was incapable of charming anyone who wasn’t Kala Taggart,though it was kind of wasted on her. And Tris himself wouldn’t because he wastaken even when he pretended he wasn’t. “Big Tag’s going to be so upset. Unlessyou plan on keeping work and home separate things.”

Zach snorted. “Nah. If this thing works between us, I’llhave to close down my honey pot days.” He chuckled. “I kind of never thought Iwould settle down. And it’s like super early between us, so don’t take this asa promise or anything, but I will be able to tell TJ I’m serious about givingit a shot. We have a date planned. We’re going to go to dinner and maybe amovie. That’s good, right? It’s a normal person date?”

He said the words like he’d had to consider them for morethan a hot minute. “Dude, when was the last time you dated?”

Zach seemed to think for a moment. “I went out with LeahJohnson all my senior year of college, but mostly we fucked in the back room ofthe GameStop we both worked at. She was the assistant manager, so I was kind ofscrewing my superior. Mostly we fucked and tried out new games after hours. Shewas excellent at first-person shooters. I tried to convince her to go into theArmy. But we went to the Chili’s for lunch most days. That’s a date, right?”

He and Zach had talked a lot over the years. He probablyknew Zach better than anyone on the team. But they hadn’t talked much aboutprior relationships. Now he wondered if it was because Zach hadn’t had any.“Nope. Eating skillet queso during your lunch break after getting it on in thebreak room doesn’t qualify as a date. Are you telling me you didn’t date inhigh school? College?”

Zach groaned and moved from the landing to one of the comfycouches. “See, this is why I only talk about sports and manly shit. Big Tag isright. All the other stuff is bullshit.”

“Well, I’m sure that attitude is going to serve you wellwith the artistic sub you seem to want to experiment with.” Tris joined him. Heknew he should go back to the privacy room where his subs were sleeping, but hewas fascinated with a side of Zach he’d never thought he would see. What hadDevi done to the man? Zach seemed like all Dom all the time, and not the onewho was looking for a particular sub. It had kind of made sense when he’d foundout Zach thought he was in love with Tasha. He kept his encounters to thesurface, always explaining what he was willing to give and what he wasn’twilling to give. Always, always, always with a contract. Actually, now that hethought about it… “Whoa, did you talk to her or did you…because you don’t likecarry around a contract. Tell me you don’t have a blank contract for the subsyou sleep with.”

Zach’s head fell back, and he groaned. “I wish I could, man.But no, I did not have Devi Taggart sign a contract.”

Tris breathed a sigh of relief. So this was still at thetalking stage. “Good, because again, I think you should be careful with her.You’re gone a lot, and I think she probably needs more stability.”

A brow rose over Zach’s eyes. “More than Carys and Aidanneed? Because what happened on stage tonight looked pretty fucking serious.”

Well, he had to tell him sometime. “It was serious. I’m out.I’m going to let Big Tag get me out of my contract, and I’ll only work for ourteam from now on. After this op, I’m handing the whole Jester mission to youand Tara, and I know you’ll find someone who can do a magnificent job. Hell,Taylor Radcliffe might want to take it herself. She’s good at this kind of anop. She can’t physically be The Jester, but she can handle anything online. Youcan do all the physical stuff.”

“Uh, I was going to talk to my CO about maybe moving my baseof operations from DC to Dallas and focusing as much as I possibly can on ourteam,” Zach admitted.

Again, he was floored. “That must have been a hell of a talkif you’re willing to give up The Court.”

Tris went every now and then when he felt like he needed tokeep his skills up or when there was a social event requiring his attention.Zach was there all the time.

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