Page 31 of Nugget

The guy laughed before he opened the window. He leaned out with a wide smile on his face. “Who are you hiding from?”

Stryker showed him the can in his hand.

“Gotcha! I’m River,” he greeted before sticking his head out the window. “Hurry! Come on!”

Pushing off the side of the cabin, Stryker crab-walked forward.

“Dude!” River laughed. “What are you doing?”

“Being sneaky.” The duh was implied.

“Cool! I love being sneaky.” River glanced around. “No one’s watching. Just get in here.”

“You want me to climb through the window?”

“Dude,” River mocked. “I just saw you climb out of a bathroom window. At least this is an office.”

Well, that was kind of a good point. Reaching River, Stryker handed him the can before he scrambled up the wall and hoisted himself inside.

River slammed the window shut then dropped down out of sight. “This is hot.” He handed Stryker the can back.

“It was in my backpack,” Stryker explained. He took another sip and winced.

“Come on.” River crawled on his hands and knees toward the door.

Stryker followed until they were out of the office.

River helped Stryker to his feet before he stole the can from Stryker. Stryker followed River down the hall to the kitchen. River went to the fridge and opened one of the bottom drawers. He moved aside several packages of deli meats and cheeses before pulling out two new cans of the same brand of energy drinks.

“Score!” Stryker cheered.

“I take my lunches here.” River passed Stryker an ice-cold can. “Rainier doesn’t like me drinking this shit, so I have to hide it. Anton doesn’t really care one way or another, but he’d tattle on me if he thought it would win him brownie points.” River explained all this with a fond smile on his face.

“Anton is Axel’s brother, right?” That was what Gavin had told him. Stryker was still learning how everyone connected. He knew a lot from his stalking, but the deeper connections were more complicated.

River slurped up his drink then nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been mated to both of them for a while now.”

That was right. They were a throuple, along with another mated trio. Crazy shit. Mates and all that. What would it be like to have two mates? Hell, Stryker couldn’t even keep one man around. For more than a few weeks anyway. He expected to be around these guys for about a week or so until Stryker was ready to hit the road.

Gavin was obviously not done with him. Not after that caveman move in the RV but he wouldn’t be keeping Stryker forever. Stryker didn’t need forever.

“So…” River grinned. “You’re the masked biker hacker.”

“Well not really masked at the moment.” Stryker pointed at his face.

“But you are a hacker?”

Stryker shrugged. As much as he liked all the men there, Stryker couldn’t go around telling them all his secrets.

“And a bit of a brat?” River bounced on the tips of his toes.

Stryker laughed. “Why?”

“Oh, man! I need to get back at my brother,” River shared. He cackled while rubbing his hands together. “Seb. He’s the smart one. Loves making spreadsheets and shit. Can’t live without his computer. I could really use your help.”

Stryker found himself grinning along. He lifted his energy drink. “I think you and I are going to be very good friends.” He already planned to keep in contact with Dean, Noah, and some of the others. River would fit right in with Stryker’s new buddies.

River clanked his can against Stryker’s. “The best.”

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