Page 32 of Nugget

“Stryker?”

Shit! Stryker hurried to down the remainder of his drink before he shoved the can at River and started back to the office he’d entered through.

“Dude,” River drawled. “That will just look more suspicious. Go out the front door like a normal person.”

“Yeah, good idea!” Look at his new bestie watching out for him already.

“Hey! Have you seen Stryker?” Gavin’s voice came clearly from outside the cabin. River must have another window open somewhere in the cabin.

“I don’t know who Stryker is, but I saw River help someone crawl through the window a few minutes ago.”

And Stryker didn’t know who Gavin was talking to, but he was a total narc.

River groaned. “Anton has no chill. Come on.”

Stryker followed behind River. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. It appeared that they were busted. The door opened from the outside as River and Stryker reached the entry.

Gavin strode in followed by an attractive and clearly upset young man that Stryker recognized was Anton.

“What are you two doing?” Gavin demanded.

“Nothing!” Stryker and River said at the same time.

Gavin grunted. “Real convincing.”

“Why are you sneaking men into the house?” Anton asked quietly.

“Oh, baby.” River pulled Anton hard against his chest. “It’s not a stranger. It’s Gavin’s…friend.”

“Then why isn’t he with Gavin?” Anton peered up at Stryker with a deadly look. “If he’s Gavin’s friend.”

Well, he wasn’t making friends there. It would probably be a bad idea to mention how cute Anton was when he was huffy and annoyed. Yeah, probably a really bad idea. But Stryker both wanted to mess with Anton and protect him. Weird. He wasn’t the protective type. Never had been.

“And why are you crawling out of the bathroom window?” Gavin demanded.

“Who me?” Stryker batted his lashes at Gavin. His innocent face had a chance of getting him out of trouble. Maybe. Hopefully. His fast fingers and being able to hack any system were his real solutions. He couldn’t hack into Gavin though. That would be a cool trick if he could!

“Anton, look at me.” River cupped Anton’s face, forcing his compliance. “Baby, you know that I love you and Rainier. What’s this about?”

Stryker glanced over at Gavin. Away from the intimate scene, feeling bad for upsetting Anton. Although it hadn’t even been his idea. River had invited him in.

“Nothing,” Anton snapped. He tried to pull away, but River wasn’t having any of that.

“Nope!” River squeezed Anton tight against his chest wrapping both arms around Anton’s back. “I get that you are upset but we will not have the return of asshole Anton.”

Anton huffed. “Let me go.”

“Sure,” River drawled. “I’ll let you go and call Rainier to deal with you.”

“What?” Anton gasped. “That’s…that’s not fair.”

“Then talk to me,” River demanded.

Dropping his head on River’s shoulder, Anton mumbled something too low for Stryker to hear. Stryker grew uneasy, realizing that he was already causing trouble. He hadn’t even meant to! There was no way that Gavin was going to want Stryker to remain around his family. Stryker could never do anything right. He was always a problem.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that baby. What did you say?” River asked Anton.

Stryker wanted to escape the awkward scene, but he’d have to pass the couple and Gavin. Gavin wasn’t saying a word. Juststanding with his back to the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

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