Page 34 of Hawk

“It seems like you’re really close to your family,” I said, hoping with a little prodding he would elaborate.

“I am. My mom’s the best, and my dad’s great. I know he was hoping for a son he could hunt and fish and play ball with, but he never made me feel bad about the fact that none of that interested me.”

“How do you know that was what he wanted?” I asked.

“You should see the pictures of the nursery from when I was a baby. It was decorated in a sports theme.”

“I take it you didn’t play?” Mika didn’t strike me as a team sports kind of guy, so it didn’t surprise me he wasn’t into sports.

“I played tee-ball one year, but I was so miserable no one even bothered to ask me if I wanted to sign up the next year. Did you know they play tee-ball in the summer when it’s hot outside, and you have to run? I amnotabout that life.”

He looked so serious I had to bite back a laugh.

“So, if you’re all so close, why Vesper and not where they live?”

“I love my family, but not the town where I grew up. Plus, I was afraid Butch would track me down there since he knew where I was from. Not that it mattered much since he managed to find me anyway.”

I reached across the table and covered his hand. “We’re going to take care of this problem, Mika. Then you can live anywhere you want without being afraid he’ll find you.”

He shrugged. “I like it here so far. I have good friends, a job I love, and it just feels good, if that makes sense.”

“It does. I felt the same way when Wolfe convinced us to visit. It has just enough Austin in it to be accepting, but it’s small enough that it feels like a community.”

We finished our meal, and then I helped him clean up. He’d tried to argue that I was his guest and didn’t need my help, but my momma didn’t raise me that way, so I insisted on helping.

When it was all loaded up, he pressed the start button on the dishwasher and looked up at me. He had to be at least a foot shorter than me. The urge to lean down and place a kiss on his lips was strong, but right now, I was his protector, and I didn’t want him to feel pressured by my advances, so I took a step back.

“What do you normally do in the evening?” I asked.

“Watch television and crochet, or sometimes, if the pattern I’m working on is more complicated, I listen to music while I crochet instead.”

“Do you do it to relax? I know I’ve heard people say knitting is a good stress reliever.”

He laughed. “I find knitting to be so stressful. That was how I landed on crochet instead. Andy was learning, like you said, as a stress reliever. I thought I would try it, too. He didn’t really take to it, but I did. What about you? What do you usually do in the evenings?”

“We have a floor in the building with apartments that are available for any Three Bears employees who would like to live there. It has a common area with pool tables, a poker table, and a pretty elaborate gaming system. They call it the lounge. I usually hang out down there for a while if I’m feeling social. If not, I crash on my couch and watch television.”

“I bet that’s fun, living in a place like that where your friends are close.”

“Yeah, for the most part, it’s great.” It really was. I liked to complain about it sometimes because not all the guys were the best at minding their own business, but the truth was, I loved it there.

“Do all the employees live there?”

“For the most part. Crowe has an apartment, but he mostly just uses it if he needs to clean up or crash. He actually lives out at the camp Three Bears operates on the edge of town.”

“I’ve heard about that. Y’all offer law enforcement training and corporate retreats, right?”

“That’s right. It was Crowe’s idea, and Wolfe’s pretty much letting him run it. So far, it’s been pretty popular among law enforcement especially.”

“I was over at Mars and Samuel’s house one day, and he was talking about trying to get some of the firehouses to go for team building or something.”

He looked around and let out a little sigh. “It’s weird not having to worry about letting Seph out.”

“You really should get yourself a dog.” We’d talked about that before, but he just looked so sad that Seph was gone.

“I think I will once this whole mess is over. Anyway, obviously, I don’t have a pool table or a gaming system, but you know I have a television and way too many streaming services. Let’s go watch something before bed. You can even pick tonight.”

“It’s not about the pool table or the gaming system. It’s about the company, and trust me, the company here is top-notch.”

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