Page 33 of Pain
Matt's heart ached hearing that. "That isn't good. You have no good memories?"
"Oh, I have plenty of good moments in my life. It's mixed with bad, but I've done a lot of things in my past. I'm not going to lie to you and play innocent. What I do with the team is only part of who I have been. It's the part I am now, and honestly, it's probably the best part of who I've been. I'm able to look at myself in a mirror now and not hate the person staring back."
"That's a good thing then." He wanted to ask why he hadn't been happy with himself before, but he doubted Xander would tell him.
"Thanks for the ice cream. It was good." Xander stood and took his bowl to the sink, rinsing it before setting it on the counter.
"Are you okay now that you got the text?"
Xander leaned against the counter. "Better, but still pissed Bryon didn't let me go. I'll get over it. I'm going to head home and go for a long run. It will help clear my head."
"At this time of night?" He looked up, seeing it was after midnight already.
"It's the best time. It's quiet out and I can think." Xander gripped his beard. "I guess I should go and let you get some sleep. Thanks for letting me come over tonight."
"It was nice to have company for a change." Matt hadn't realized how much he missed just being able to sit down and talk about simple things and not dwell on Faith all the time.
"We'll have to do it again." Xander pulled a card from his pocket. "Here's my number. If you get bored or just need to talk, call me. We can hit the gym, drink more beer in the backyard or do whatever. I'm sure I'll see you around the team house too." He slid the card onto the table in front of Matt.
"Thanks, I really appreciate that. I seriously might take you up on that. I'm not sure what I'll do with my time now that I can't do much online here."
"You'll find stuff, but I don't mind you calling." Xander rubbed his hands down his tattooed arms. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah, just another long night wondering where my daughter is. I'm used to them."
"I wish I could help."
"You are, and the team is too. It helps give me more hope and other things to focus on. I like knowing that everyone will be digging for information on her now, not just me."
"We will, and we won't stop," Xander told him. "I'm going to head out, but promise you'll call if you need anything."
"I will." Matt stood, walking Xander to the door. "Thanks again."
"You were the one helping me tonight." Xander stepped outside. "See you soon."
Matt nodded as he watched Xander turn and run down the front steps to his car. He didn't wait to watch him go. He shut the door and locked it, setting the alarm before heading to the living room. He might as well get started deleting everything off his computer. The last thing he wanted was to put the team at risk. Tomorrow, he'd head over to the team house and start his search again from there.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"What the fuck?" Xander swatted Dyson's arm away after he'd smacked his arm, right where he'd gotten the tattoo done two days before. "You know yours is going to hurt worse than mine." He went to grab Dyson, so he could hit the back of his shoulder.
The two wrestled around the living room for a few minutes before pulling back laughing. "It doesn't even hurt now." Dyson rolled his eyes.
After five days of no work, the two of them were getting restless. It wasn't the longest stretch they'd gone without a job, but without any other way to really help the team, Xander got bored easily. There was only so much he could do around the house, and hanging out at the team house was boring after they'd gone into the basement and played hours of video games day after day.
Bryon, Carter, Trenton, and Matt had all but locked themselves in the geek cave, working on trying to find leads on Faith, and searching out more child trafficking rings for them to take down. The lull in work was killing him. It was the one time he wished he had more computer skills, so he could at least do something.
Kasey had flown to Vegas with some of his friends, so that left Xander and Dyson looking for anything to do.
"Did I tell you I showed up at the team house early the other morning and caught Becca making breakfast for Bryon?"
Xander raised a brow. "Do you think he finally told her?"
"I was wondering if we've been the blind ones and something's been going on for a while between them and they were hiding it from us." Dyson shrugged. "They looked too comfortable, and a bit too guilty at being caught together so early in the morning."
"Hmm, could be. Wouldn't surprise me. The tension between those two has been bad for a year now. It was just a matter of time before something happened." Xander reached for his pack of cigarettes on the coffee table. "If they finally hooked up, I'm happy for them. They both needed to get laid."
"There is more to life than sex, you know?"
