Dreamspinner Press Year Eight Greatest Hits

by Brandon Witt

  “Oh come on, you ol’ sour puss,” Ridley snickered and poked Alex in the ribs. “You have to admit it’s pretty funny.”

  Alex rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help but laugh at Ridley. Yeah, it was a little funny. Still not as funny as the time Alex had hacked into Mick’s computer and changed his background photo. Mick had opened it up to show their buddy Carlton photos of his new Harley; instead Carlton got an eyeful of some hot man-on-man action.

  “Yeah, whatever,” he conceded, hiding his grin. “We’ll see how funny you think it is when you’re wanting a little something, something. ’Cause I’m thinking there aren’t a whole lot of opportunities here in the big ol’ town of Hackberry.”

  “Why would I need to go looking when I got you?”

  “Oh hell no,” Alex hooted. “There will be no incest going down in this house. That’s just….” He scrunched up his nose and shook his hands. “Eww.”

  “I don’t know,” Ridley murmured and lunged at Alex, missing when Alex spun out of reach just in time. “Aww, come on.” He stalked Alex as Alex backed away with his hands up in defense. “How about a little brotherly love?”

  “Eww. Eww.” Alex faked a dodge to the right—“Eww”—then jumped to the left instead.

  Ridley anticipated the movement and hit Alex in the gut with his shoulder, lifting him off his feet. “Jesus.” Alex flailed, trying to grab something, and ended up over Ridley’s shoulder looking at his back. “Put me down,” he squeaked.

  “C’mon, big brother. Teach me about the birds and the bees.”

  “Okay, that’s just sick,” Alex complained and slapped Ridley on the ass. “Now put me down.” Christ, Ridley was strong. Alex wasn’t used to being manhandled. He did the manhandling but—he kneaded Ridley’s firm butt cheeks—he kind of liked it.

  Ridley stopped, his body stiffening, and he whistled and hummed. “Oh wow,” Ridley drawled and set Alex on his feet.

  Alex followed Ridley’s gaze out the patio window. “Oh wow,” he echoed.

  “Now a man could get used to a view like that,” Ridley commented appreciatively and opened the sliding glass door, allowing Alex to step out on the deck ahead of him.

  It wasn’t a beach, more like marshland, but a large deck had been constructed from the backyard across the marsh to the open blue water. Tied up at the end of the dock was a small fishing boat. Not only did they have an amazing ocean view, but they also had an amazing outdoor space complete with rattan seating areas, wooden tables, a gas barbeque, and a fricking pool! Mick definitely made up for his little joke with this place.

  “Holy shit, we’re right on the ocean,” Alex said in awe.

  “Actually Hackberry isn’t on the ocean. That’s Calcasieu Lake,” Ridley corrected. “But it is amazing, isn’t it?”

  “How the hell do you know so much about this place?” Alex asked, cutting a sideways glance toward Ridley.

  “While you were busy complaining about Agent Daigle’s driving skills, I was tuning you out by reading a pamphlet I picked up on West Calcasieu Parish at the gas station.”

  “I wasn’t complaining. I was critiquing them,” Alex said wryly.

  “Uh-huh,” Ridley hummed, sounding skeptical. “Man, I say we check out the rest of this place and then head out and do a little fishing. What ya think?” he asked and draped an arm over Alex’s shoulders.

  When he’d been dropped into Slater during the middle of the night, Alex hadn’t been feeling all warm and fuzzy about it. He’d always had a very active work and social life. He was used to having people around him, so the idea of holing up in a small, sterile white place in the middle of the woods, alone, had totally sucked. It took him weeks before he had pulled his sappy, lonely ass up out of the dumps. As Alex tried to discreetly push a little closer into Ridley’s side as they stood there looking out over the ocean—the lake—he knew this time was going to be different. Hell, he’d be happy if he didn’t see another person for the next few weeks except Ridley. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he refused to look too deeply at the way Ridley made him feel… well… warm and fuzzy.

  “Fishing sounds like a great way to spend the evening,” Alex responded with a wide grin. “Let’s go check out the digs.”

  IN CONTRAST to the amazing outside space and views, the inside area of the house was much more humble. Built in the nineteen thirties, it had original hardwood floors throughout, glass-paned french doors between the living and dining room, and all original wood trim and cabinetry. It kind of reminded Ridley of his grandma’s home, less the feminine touches, horrid wallpaper, and stench of mothballs.

  As they explored their new living quarters, Ridley found himself grinning like a fool, something he’d been doing a lot since they’d left Slater. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the danger they were in, but the whole experience was surreal and it felt more like he was an actor in an action film with a really sexy costar as a sidekick. Eventually the well of emotions he felt for what his family and friends would have to endure would overwhelm him with guilt, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about their pain and to dwell on it wasn’t going to make the situation better or change anything. So instead he focused on the excitement and joy he felt getting to spend time with Alex.

  “Now this is almost as great as the back deck,” Alex murmured as he ran his hand down one of the thick wooden posts on the large king-size four-poster bed in the master bedroom.

  Ridley gave him a questioning look. “Dude, I’m sorry, but I don’t care how cool this looks,” he said, sitting on the mattress and bouncing up and down a couple times, “or how comfortable, it’s still not as great as the view from the deck or the pool.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the look or the comfort.” Alex smirked and then walked over and opened the closet door. “Tiny,” he commented. “Good thing I don’t have a lot of clothes and you have none.”

  “We’re going to have to do some shopping soon. Your jeans are a little tight on me,” Ridley commented.

  “I like ’em tight.” Alex opened another door. It was a small en suite.

  “I’m talking about the jeans, not my ass,” Ridley chuckled and checked out the bathroom over Alex’s shoulder. It wasn’t anything special. Just a stand-up shower, sink, and commode, but it was clean and the shower was big enough for two. The idea of a naked Alex, wet and soapy and hot, caused Ridley’s dick to perk up and press against the front of his already too-tight jeans.

  “I’m talking about both,” Alex countered.

  Ridley couldn’t help but give in to the urge to touch Alex. He wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist and pulled him close. Ridley rubbed his growing erection against Alex’s ass. “Yeah, and what was it about that bed that put that look on your face and had you thinking it was almost as great as the view?”

  Alex pushed his ass back and ground it against Ridley’s dick, causing it to swell further and pull a moan out of Ridley. “Did you notice the thickness of those posts?” he asked, still rubbing and swaying.

  Ridley let his hand slide down Alex’s body, and he cupped the impressive bulge. “Yeah, I did,” he murmured against the warm skin of Alex’s neck. He squeezed Alex’s dick to emphasize his meaning.

  Alex laid his hand over Ridley’s and pushed it even harder against his dick. “How could you not?” Alex snorted. “It’s a fucking monster.”

  “Big fucking battering ram,” he agreed, stroking Alex’s even more impressive ego, knowing he’d be rewarded for the efforts.

  “Still, I was talking about the posts on the bed.” Alex spun in Ridley’s arms, grabbing his hips and slamming their groins together. “I want to tie your wrists and ankles to them,” Alex growled against Ridley’s mouth.

  He’d never been tied up before, but the idea of being bound and at Alex’s mercy caused a thrill to race down Ridley’s spine. “That would be hot,” he responded huskily, throat dry.

  Alex answered by taking Ridley’s mouth in a bruising kiss using teeth and tongue, leaving Ridle
y breathless with his heart racing and his cock throbbing when it ended.

  “But first, I do believe you mentioned wanting to fish,” Alex said, his tone teasing as he abruptly released Ridley and stepped past him.

  Ridley looked down at the straining bulge in his jeans, a wet spot the size of a quarter obvious. “Damn him and his cockiness,” he grumbled. He was in the mood for fishing all right, but the worms and rods he wanted to play with didn’t have a damn thing to do with slimy swimming creatures.

  “Hey, you come back here,” he called out and stalked after Alex.

  THE SUN was high in the sky without a single cloud anywhere to be seen. A slight salty breeze kept the eighty-degree temps from being too hot. After enduring the long winter of northern Michigan, this was heaven. Ridley sat up from where he’d been lounging and set his fishing pole in the holder. He hadn’t had a bite in over half an hour and didn’t care. Messing with a fish would have only interrupted the tranquil peace.

  “Toss me another beer, please.”

  Alex turned his head from where he was resting it against the back of the captain’s chair and mumbled sleepily, “Don’t wanna move. Man, this is the fucking life, eh?”

  “It would be if I had another beer. C’mon, the cooler is right at your feet. You don’t even have to get up.”

  “Demanding little shit,” Alex grumbled but reached down, grabbed a beer, and tossed it to him.

  Ridley caught it easily, replaced his empty one in his koozy with it, and lounged back against the cushions, stretching out his legs. “Now this is the life,” he agreed. He popped the top on his can and took a big gulp.

  The sound of the water lapping against the boat and the gentle rocking lulled Ridley, and he stared out toward the horizon as he enjoyed his beer. He’d spent a lot of time fishing with his grandpa when he was growing up, but as soon as he hit his teens, fishing was just a good excuse to drink with his buddies and work on his tan. He was sure his new job as a fisherman wouldn’t be as enjoyable as this.

  “Do you know anything about commercial fishing?” he finally asked, interrupting the silence.

  “Not a thing,” Alex admitted. “But how hard can it be to catch a fish?”

  “We’ve had our poles in the water for over an hour and haven’t had so much as a nibble,” he reminded Alex.

  “I didn’t put any bait on my hook.” Alex chuckled and tossed his empty can into the box and grabbed another beer. “I’m just here for the sun and suds.”

  “Nice. But I have a feeling fishing for a living is a little different than this.” Something occurred to Ridley and he sat up and faced Alex. “Do we even need to make a living or is Uncle Sam footing the bill?”

  “Uncle Sam is a fucking tightwad,” Alex sniffed. “We don’t have to worry about the housing and shit, but if we want to eat or enjoy the finer things in life”—he held up his beer—“then we’re gonna have to work. You really think I’d work as a library assistant by choice?”

  Ridley studied Alex for a moment. Even with everything he now knew about Alex, his initial impression still fit. “What about in high school?” he asked curiously. “Were you a geek before you went to the police academy?”

  Alex sat up and shoved his shades up on his head and looked at Ridley with affronted shock. “Did you seriously just ask me that?”

  “There is nothing wrong with being a geek. Hell, it’s what first attracted me to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell yeah. I remember thinking you worked the fuck out of cute.” He winked at Alex who was still looking at him with shock. “I still think you do.”

  “That’s it,” he grumped and pulled the shades back down over his eyes. “I’m so shaving my head as soon as we get back.”

  “What?” Ridley said, alarmed. “You can’t!”

  “The fuck I can’t. It’s not very manly to be called cute. And just so you know, I was not a geek in high school. I barely passed. And I’m not sure if I ever walked into a library before Slater. I was a jock, thank you very much.” He smirked and flexed his bicep.

  “Yeah, so is Kyle,” Ridley muttered lowly.

  “What was that?”

  “Impressive gun,” Ridley said, tipping up his beer to hide his grin.

  “Uh-huh,” Alex hummed dubiously.

  “No, seriously, it’s impressive. So what kind of sports did you play?”

  “Are we going to play twenty questions now?”

  “I don’t really know that much about you. I mean, I now understand why you didn’t like to talk about yourself, but I’m having a difficult time coming to terms with the vision in front of me and the guy who runs out into the path of bullets.”

  “Not really much to tell,” Alex said with a shrug. “Before all this craziness, I had a pretty average life. I grew up in a small middle-class town in southern California. My dad’s a factory worker, and my mom is the secretary at the high school I attended.”

  “That had to suck,” Ridley laughed.

  “Actually it wasn’t too bad, she’s pretty cool and I wasn’t a troublemaker, but my sister hates it.”

  “You have a sister?”

  “Yup. Emma is only seventeen. My mom had a hard time getting pregnant after me. Anyway, Emma is your typical pain-in-the-ass kid sister. She’s also a little pampered princess. I’m kind of her hero since I haven’t lived at home since she was ten. I got to miss all the drama of the teenage shit and since I’m not there to scare off the little fuckers who come sniffing around wanting to take her out, we get along pretty good.”

  “You must miss them. Your family?”

  Alex pursed his lips, nodding slowly, and then took a long pull from his beer. “Yeah,” he responded curtly and tipped up his beer again.

  Ridley could tell by the tenseness in Alex’s shoulders and the way he looked away that the subject bothered him. Ridley had only had to think about what his disappearance was going to do to his family for a couple of days; he couldn’t imagine the guilt and sadness Alex had had to deal with over the last year and a half.

  “Did you always want to be a cop?” Ridley asked, changing the subject.

  “Yup, ever since I got my first cap gun. Actually, at first I wanted to be a cowboy, but cop came quickly after that. I got a job as a security guard right out of high school while I took some college courses and entered the academy as soon as I was old enough. Planned on working my way up to homicide detective, but….” Alex downed the rest of his beer and tossed the can in with the other empties. “Well, you know how that turned out.”

  “You’ll have plenty of time to work on your goal once all this is over,” Ridley reminded him.

  “These people have a long memory, Ridley,” Alex muttered. He grabbed his fishing pole and started reeling in the line.

  When he didn’t say anything further, Ridley asked, “Meaning?”

  “Nothing. Reel in your line. I’m getting hungry.”

  The conversation about Alex’s past was effectively over. Ridley knew not to push him. When Alex got that closed-off look on his face, Ridley wouldn’t be getting anything more. Still, it hadn’t been a total waste; he’d learned more about Alex’s home life in the last few minutes than he had in all the months since he’d met him.

  Ridley gulped down the last of his beer and disposed of the can. Without a word he reeled in his line and set the pole aside. Alex put the boat in gear and headed back to the dock.

  “What about you?”

  “Excuse me?” Ridley asked as he took the seat up front next to Alex.

  “What about you?” Alex repeated as he ran his gaze over Ridley’s tattoos. “Geek or jock?”

  “Jock,” Ridley chuckled. “Basketball.”

  “I would have taken you for a burnout.”

  “You assume wrong and we’ve already established what happens when one assumes.”

  “Touché. What’s the meaning behind your tats?”

  Ridley looked down at his colorful arms. “I don’t know that they sta
rted out with a meaning, more about rebellion, I think,” he said, pointing to an evil-looking devil on his forearm. “Then I realized they should mean something. The road leading up to the sunset on my bicep is about my path to something more, happiness perhaps.” He shrugged.

  “You find your happiness yet?” Alex asked thoughtfully.

  “Yes and no. I had a hard time being bullied when I was young. I’m a lot happier now, but this one is a reminder of who I am now,” he said pointing to Underdog on his other forearm and laughing. “Bumbling protector. The basketball, Pokémon, and Mad Hatter are just things I like.”

  “I like them too. Weird combination, but your artist was brilliant the way he made them all work, complement each other,” Alex commented. “What about the Chinese symbols?”

  “Those are for my family. They are the symbols for love, strength, and home.”

  “That’s cool. Tell me about your family?”

  “Dad’s an electrical engineer, Mom takes care of him.”

  “Brothers and sisters?” Alex asked.

  “Nope. I’m an only child. My mom, too, had a problem after she had me. They had to take out her baby-making shit. Mom and Dad thought about adopting, but I guess they figured I was enough.”

  Ridley’s chest constricted and he turned away from Alex, watching the waves hit the side of the boat to hide the sadness that rushed up in him. He wasn’t making light of what Alex’s parents were going through, but he was all his mom and dad had. There was no irritating kid sister. He might like to give off a bad-boy image with the way he looked, but at heart he was a mama’s boy and he hated that he was causing her pain.

  It took him a moment to get his emotions under control, reminding himself once again that it wouldn’t help anyone to dwell on things he couldn’t change. Plus, he reasoned that not knowing what happened to him, being able to hold on to hope had to be a hell of a lot better than actually attending his funeral.

  “Hey, look!” Alex called out, pulling Ridley from his morose thoughts.

  Ridley looked to where Alex was pointing but saw nothing but blue skies and water. He scanned the area and then spotted gray breaking the surface of the water. One dolphin jumped, followed by two more. “Cool!” Ridley exclaimed.