Page 8 of Claiming Ours
“Damnit, Liam,” he shouted as he righted himself and turned, bracing for another attack. “What the fuck was that for?”
“For being a motherfucking cockblocker, you little shit. Just because the woman you want would rather sleep with a Kodiak bear than be in the same room with you, don’t take your disappointment out on those of us who aren’t acting like assholes.”
A stormy expression crossed his reddening face. When his lips parted, no doubt ready to lay into me for bringing up his fucked-up feelings for Juno, I waved him off and started toward the side building where the Monday morning meetings were always held.
We had ten minutes before we were late, which meant less talking and more walking. Thankfully, the barn wasn’t too far away from the central area of our community, since every long stride had my still-stiff cock chafing against denim.
“She doesn’t hate me that much.” I shot Lang an incredulous look where he now walked beside me, keeping up with my quick pace. “Better than you and?—”
Without thinking, I lashed a hand out and wrapped it around his throat, cutting off his next words. His emerald-green eyes flared with annoyance before narrowing.
“I dare you to finish that fucking sentence, Lang. I fucking dare you to say one negative thing about my Baylee. I haven’t had a decent fight in a while.”
I released him with a hard shove, and he stumbled to the side, rubbing at the red marks blooming around his throat.
“Whatever, fucking asshole. I wouldn’t say anything bad about her, just you.” He glanced down at his phone and cursed. “Shit, we need to hurry the fuck up. We don’t have time for all thisJerry Springerdrama shit.”
Gravel crunched beneath the balls of his feet as he twisted around and began jogging toward the meeting. Huffing a laugh at his random comment, I sprinted to catch up with him.
“You watch a lot ofSpringerreruns, do you?” Langston rolled his eyes, making me bark out a laugh. “You do seem one for the dramatics. I can see why it’s your favorite show.”
“Oh, fuck off,” he snapped, but I didn’t miss the slight curl of his lips in an almost smile.
Shaking my head, I increased my pace, pulling ahead of Langston, which of course the uber-competitive jackass couldn’t allow, so he did the same but added a little more. A carefree smile tugged at my lips as I huffed and sprinted full speed toward our destination, with Langston keeping stride right beside me. With neither of us okay with second, we didn’t slow until we were only a few feet from plowing directly into the side of the building. Langston and I slammed into the cement block exterior with a grunt at almost exactly the same time. Chest heaving from my rapid breaths, I turned a cocky grin his way, finding Lang smirking right back at me.
“I won,” we both declared at the same time.
“Pretty sure that was a tie, gents. You two act more like kids than the somewhat adults your ages suggest you are.” West, Uplift’s mechanic, chuckled as he approached from theopposite direction. “You’re both idiots, by the way, and too damn competitive for your own good. Now get inside.”
With a pointed look to the man beside me, West marched up the steps and yanked open the door, muffled voices and rolling laughter pouring out as he stepped inside.
I groaned at the pain radiating from my crotch. I should not have raced in jeans with a half-mast dick. After adjusting myself to lessen the rub, I slapped Langston on the shoulder to move him along and followed West, hoping we weren’t late.
Once inside, I did a quick scan around the room and cursed under my breath. We were the last two to arrive. Miles and Aiden, our motor vehicle adventure guides, sat side by side at the very end of the round table, the former giving me a nod in greeting before turning his attention back to his best friend. To their right, West flopped down onto a metal chair and leaned back on its two rear legs, fingers interlaced behind his head as he watched Langston lumber in behind me.
A bark of laughter drew my attention to Finley and Dax, both in their matching black flight suits, telling me they had either a float plane or helicopter tour later. They were best friends, having served together in the Air Force, stationed outside Fairbanks, and came here after. Dax poked Finley’s shoulder, making her swat his hand away with a wide grin on her face.
I really wish the two of them would just fuck and get it over with. Neither one had an idea that the other was helplessly in love with them, and it was grating on my nerves. Though not as much as the center of a different shit show that sat beside Finley, frowning at her phone.
Juno Jones. Thorn in Langston’s side and charmer of West. Those three… fuck, there wasn’t enough time in the day to even scratch the surface of the toxic mess they had going on.
As I made my way to an empty chair, Oliver, Anchor Bay’s deputy sheriff, and Hudson, a former LA detective Brandonknew from his SEAL days and had asked to come help investigate the missing women’s cases, hitched their chins in greeting.
The metal chair groaned as I sat, making me grimace. Hopefully, it would hold. I didn’t need another one breaking on me.
Brandon, the owner and founder of Uplift, stood at the head of the oval conference table, making everyone halt their individual conversations.
“I’ll let Oliver and Hudson go first since I know you’re all wondering what the hell happened after we caught Jasper Cain breaking into Caroline’s cabin last week.”
I smirked, remembering how the asshole screamed for help till he went hoarse after I caught him sneaking into a missing team member’s cabin and hog-tied the asshole. He was a flight risk, and I needed a nonlethal way to keep him secure while we waited for Oliver and his idiot father, the sheriff.
Oliver cleared his throat and scanned the room, making eye contact with everyone before speaking.
“Unfortunately, it’s a dead end.” The room went utterly silent at that admission. “He’s not responsible for Caroline’s disappearance or connected to the other missing women’s cases.”
A beat passed before shouts of outrage and disagreement erupted from everyone around the table. Everyone except me. This wasn’t a surprise. I had a feeling that weak ass couldn’t have done anything to Caroline. She was capable and tough as hell. I knew if he had tried to hurt or take her, she would’ve kicked his ass all the way to Anchorage and put his body in the morgue herself.
No, there was something more sinister going on around our town and along the trail than Jasper fucking Cain.
