Nice Guys Collection With Added Bonus Material

by Kindle Alexander

  “Is that okay?” Aaron asked, making the same general visual sweep around the room that he’d just made.

  “Sure. I can get you home if you wanna drink.” Kreed stopped speaking right before he added his next thought. Aaron was back to maybe being semi-friendly again, and he didn’t need to freak him by saying how much he liked drunk guys.

  “Hey!” Colt called out after spotting them from across the room. He left the conversation he was having with a group of people and headed their way. When he was beside them, he said, “Mitch said he thought that was you two at the door.”

  “Yeah, Cody side-tracked him,” Kreed said, hooking a thumb toward the stairs and glancing in that direction. The couple had just made it to the top and was disappearing down the hall.

  “I know I was that sickeningly in love, but hell, they can’t keep their hands off each other,” Colt said. Kreed knew firsthand the shit Mitch put Colt through when he’d fallen for Jace. This had to be heaven for Colt, finally able to give some shit back.

  “You couldn’t get all handsy with me because both your arms were in casts, as well as your legs,” Jace said, coming up behind Colt.

  “I made up for lost time,” Colt shot back defensively, drawing Jace close.

  “Invite our company in and take their jackets. What can I get you to drink?” Jace asked, reaching for Aaron’s coat then handing it to Colt.

  “I’ll have a beer,” Kreed said, shrugging out of his coat and handing it over to Colt.

  “Any special kind? We have just about everything,” Colt added.

  “Heineken?” Kreed asked and Jace gave a firm nod.

  “And you, Aaron? We have a full bar.” Jace pointed to the kitchen where food filled the center island. Kreed looked down to see Aaron’s face light up like a Christmas tree.

  “He hasn’t eaten,” Kreed said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Aaron offered to Jace.

  “Well, come on. We have more than can be eaten.”

  Kreed watched as Aaron trailed away.

  “Come on in. Let me introduce you to everyone,” Colt said.

  Colt held true to his word. He took Kreed around to what had to be every single person at the party. At some point, a cold beer was placed in his hands and an unknown amount of time later Mitch came back downstairs. Cody made an appearance about fifteen minutes after that. Still a little drunk, he was grinning from ear to ear, and had that freshly showered scent going on.

  Kreed watched as his always-smooth partner kept it light and friendly with the people at the party, while still tracking Cody’s every move, making sure he had everything he needed. Colt and Mitch had that in common—flawless attention toward their partner. Luckily they pulled it off without being smothering. Watching Mitch Knox as a man in love intrigued him.

  “You with him?”

  Kreed looked down to see a kid standing beside him. Okay, maybe not a kid, but the guy looked young and short. Maybe five-six…or five-seven on a good day. The best he remembered from his whirlwind round of introductions earlier, this guy was a coach in Jace’s gym, but Kreed had no idea of his name.

  “Who?” Kreed asked.

  “If you have to ask, probably not then. Is he single?”

  Kreed followed the guy’s sight-line as he looked into the kitchen where Aaron had pretty much hovered since their arrival.

  “No,” Kreed answered automatically, probably a little more forcefully than he should have. He’d been holding that same bottle of beer since he’d arrived, and the irritation of the question had him discarding the bottle on the shelving unit behind him as he tucked his fingers inside his jeans pocket to keep from wrapping them around this guy’s throat.

  “Is he straight?” The guy’s eyes were fixed on Aaron and oblivious to Kreed’s reaction. Either that or he didn’t care. Surely this coach had to know Kreed could squash him like the bug he was turning out to be.

  “Why?” Kreed answered in a low, menacing voice. Finally, the guy took his eyes off Aaron and looked up at Kreed. He was older than Kreed had initially thought. He had crow’s feet around his ugly, little beady eyes. So he was clearly a pervert going after younger men. Kreed didn’t let the hypocrisy of that statement penetrate his façade, but the jealousy sure did. He didn’t give a shit that they were both probably about the same age.

  “Hey, no offense. It’s why I asked.” The coach lifted two hands. The universal sign of no hard feelings, but Kreed didn’t feel like accepting that truce as he scowled. “Okkaayyy.”

  “Hey, everyone! It’s on!” Colt had a massive television brought into the middle of the family room in honor of an ESPN special on Jace’s cheer gym. This was the first night the special would air, and since just about everyone in the place worked for Jace, the entire room gathered around the screen. Colt stood right up front, remote in hand, raising the volume as he dimmed the lights with another remote.

  Mitch came to stand close to Kreed. Cody hadn’t slowed in his beer consumption and was hanging out closer to Aaron, who by Kreed’s best estimation had just started on his third plate of food. Aaron seemed to be having a good time on the other side of the room, which was technically as far as he could get from Kreed. Smart boy was animated and friendly, surrounded by people closer to his own age, probably the same reason Cody gravitated that direction.

  Kreed purposefully kept his distance, wanting Aaron to maintain the happy place he’d developed. A happy that he’d only seen over the last twenty-four hours until he’d blown it with the leg cramp.

  “You’re quiet,” Mitch said softly. They were supposed to be absorbed in the television special. Actually, Jace and his team didn’t seem to care so much, but Colt was riveted to the screen.

  “I’m good. I get it more now,” Kreed answered quietly, staring at the television.

  “Get what?” Mitch asked.

  “What happened to you,” Kreed explained, nodding toward Colt and Jace. He still hadn’t made eye contact with Knox.

  “Huh. I’ve been thinking about that. I came to the conclusion it’s probably more the whole thing. Them, the case, the hate following so closely. It’s kind of life-altering,” Mitch replied honestly. Kreed finally looked over at his partner who was focused solely on Cody. Kreed didn’t respond.

  Mitch lifted his beer to his lips, taking a long drink before a sour look crossed his face. “Ugh. I don’t know why I did that. I hate hot beer.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Kreed said, tilting his head to indicate his discarded bottle. It wasn’t more than a third gone over the last couple of hours.

  “Aaron seems in a better mood.”

  “He’s been pretty up since he did so well yesterday,” Kreed answered. His gaze ventured to Aaron before moving back to the television. He’d probably unconsciously sought out Aaron about twenty times over the last thirty minutes. He could tell himself he was only watching his partner’s back, but truthfully, that wasn’t the only reason he kept an eye on Aaron. Not that he’d admit that to anyone…ever.

  “You two getting along?” Mitch asked.

  “Sure,” Kreed said, a bit guarded.

  “It doesn’t seem like it,” Mitch retorted, now staring at Kreed.

  “We’re trying. Takes time.” Kreed shrugged.

  “What’re you gonna do when they reassign me?”

  Fuck.

  He so didn’t want to have this conversation right now. In fact, he didn’t want to have it at all—ever.

  “I’m not thinking about that right now,” Kreed answered honestly. Damn, he wished he had a cold beer in his hand.

  “It won’t be my choice,” Mitch said, a darkness underlying his tone. That was something Kreed could relate to. He was happy with his life just the way it had been before all the shit hit the fan.

  “I know,” he finally added. They were silent for several long minutes. For the first time since he’d entered this house, his focus wasn’t on Aaron. Mitch had finally made a real reference to the huge elephant sitting between them. He couldn�
�t have asked for a better partner than Mitch. Honestly, Kreed wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to continue with the marshal service without Mitch there by his side, and that just pissed him off that much more. Maybe it was time to reevaluate his life plan. Kreed stared absently at the screen, wishing he could think of any way to stop the inevitability of losing Mitch as a partner.

  “Hey, Michaels, how come all those kids jump when Montgomery just looks their way?” Mitch called out in his standard way of diverting attention to escape the heavy conversation they were having.

  “I know, right? My baby’s a scary guy at work,” Colt answered, pride in those words.

  “Yeah, right,” Jace started, his tone showing his discomfort with that statement.

  “No, he is!” It was the girl sitting on a barstool next to Aaron who spoke, drawing all the attention her way. If he remembered correctly, her name was Haley. She was Jace’s number two at the gym. “You should see him. He’s like this force that no one wants to mess with. He stands there with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs apart and he never smiles.”

  Haley jumped down and assumed the position, making fun of Jace. She had everyone in the room laughing at the disgruntled look on her face. “Yeah, just like that.” She pointed to Jace, who was standing exactly like she’d said, glaring back at her now. “He gets that look, and it just freaks everyone out. No one wants to disappoint him.”

  “You don’t seem to mind,” Jace shot back at Haley.

  “That’s because you love me.” She batted her eyes and hopped back on the stool.

  “She’s right, though. He’s like two different guys. Watch this.” Colt replayed a specific part where a team was on the mat during a performance, to the right and left of the floor there were darkened figures jumping up and down, cheering the team on. Right in the middle was a man standing there, not moving an inch, even with all that chaos going on around him. “That’s Jace. He’s the guy in the middle. That’s my cheer man. While everyone’s jumping all over the place, excited at how well this team did, he’s studying them, going over each step in his mind. This team just won Worlds and he never cracked a smile,” Colt explained.

  “You’re making me sound terrible.”

  “I’m making you sound sexy,” Colt countered, sliding both arms around Jace’s waist.

  “I have seven hundred kids in my care who are tossing themselves or each other through the air. They must be disciplined and have respect for what they’re doing. I’ve never had one serious injury…”

  “See how sexy he is? And don’t respond to that, Knox,” Colt said, causing everyone, including him and Jace, to laugh. Kreed did chuckle. They were fun together, and Mitch clearly felt at home here, but his entire focus remained on Aaron and the young woman sitting close by his side.

  It sucked to admit they were pretty together. They had about the same coloring, both dark-headed and tanned, but she accomplished something that Kreed hadn’t been able to do. She put Aaron at immediate ease and made him truly smile. Oh man, he wished the kid looked at him like that.

  God, Aaron had him all kinds of screwed up.

  Kreed lifted a hand to his face, his palm covering his lips as he stood there and watched Aaron interact with Haley. He was confused, uncertain about everything as he watched the two of them together. The kid inclined his head as he listened intently to whatever she had to say. After a few minutes, Aaron’s laughter filled the room and Kreed’s stomach dropped when Aaron placed his hand on her arm.

  Now he was back to contemplating Aaron’s sexuality. Maybe he’d only imagined hearing his name in the bedroom that night.

  Fingers snapped in front of his face, snagging his attention. He looked over to see Mitch glaring at him. “I’m worried about whatever’s going on with you two.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Kreed asked, trying to deflect.

  “I thought we agreed, no playing with our partners. It’ll fuck you up in the field,” Mitch cautioned.

  “Who? Stuart? I’m not fucking him.” There was no lie there. He absolutely, with deep regret, wasn’t fucking the kid.

  “But you want to,” Mitch countered, stating the obvious.

  “Doesn’t matter. Look at him. He’s not a bit interested in me,” Kreed argued defensively. Mitch did look over at Aaron before turning back to Kreed.

  “Are you serious?” Mitch’s tone seemed a little angry now.

  “Is who serious?” Cody asked. He’d come out of nowhere to stand by Mitch’s side. Cody draped his arm loosely over Mitch’s shoulders.

  “He’s into you. You’re all he looks at and this shit needs to stop. You got my whole life riding in your hands,” Mitch lectured, wrapping an arm around Cody’s waist as the man swayed a little on his feet.

  “Who? Aaron?” Cody asked, trying to follow along. As confused as Kreed was by Mitch’s statement, he smiled at Cody’s attempt to catch up. His buzzed brain no doubt made things harder. Kreed didn’t imagine Cody let loose too often, proving he must feel comfortable here.

  “Yeah, you see it too, don’t you?” Mitch asked in a softer tone while helping to keep Cody on his feet.

  “You don’t see it?” Cody asked Kreed.

  “No, not at all,” he answered honestly. Actually, he was certain they were way off base.

  “She’s a lesbian,” Cody blurted out. The word lesbian came out a little butchered, but he got what Cody was trying to tell him. Huh, that had never occurred to him. He looked up to see her and Aaron laughing again. She didn’t give off the lesbian vibe, and he immediately chastised himself at how stupid it was to even think something that stereotypical in the first place.

  Could Mitch and Cody know something he didn’t?

  If so, this piece of information was a complete game changer.

  “Stop trying to hide it, ass. He’s into you and you’re into him, but you need to wait, Sinacola. This case’s too important to me, and I’ve got enough to worry about without adding that to the mix,” Mitch said, pulling Cody tighter to his side. Mitch barely paused to give Kreed the evil eye before his face softened as he looked over at Cody. “Are you still my sexy drunk fiancé?”

  Cody nodded and leaned closer as he attempted to whisper to Mitch in an octave slightly lower than his normal speaking voice. “Come outside with me. The countdown’s startin’ soon. Kiss me under the stars.” The sweet, somewhat slurred declaration had Kreed smiling as he looked down, wishing he could give them some privacy, but he was trapped between the shelving unit and Mitch.

  “Come on.” Mitch took Cody’s hand, but looked back over at Kreed. There was meaning in that stare, so Kreed did what he did best. He lifted his middle finger and flipped Knox off.

  “Worry about yourself. I got me handled.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you think you do,” Mitch said, turning away. Kreed was back to standing alone. His arms were crossed over his chest and he purposely kept his head lowered just enough that he could watch Aaron without anyone noticing. He’d never once caught Aaron looking his way, and he’d done more than his fair share of hoping. Mitch would definitely be the one to mess with him, give him shit, and laugh when he crashed and burned with Aaron. Mitch always joked around, but tonight his tone held warning, not encouragement. Kreed could understand that given the circumstances, but he wouldn’t put them in danger…any of them.

  Feeling very much like a teenager, Kreed couldn’t help but glance in Aaron’s direction every chance he got. The kid was beautiful. Of course, Aaron would probably argue that a man couldn’t be beautiful. Kreed smiled to himself, because he knew Aaron would be wrong. Everything about the guy was beautiful—his lips, his skin, the gentle curve of his jaw, the way his eyes lit up when he smiled.

  Man, he was so dumb. Why the fuck was he sneaking peeks like a teenager in a classroom? Kreed lifted his head and blatantly stared in Aaron’s direction, startled when their gazes collided. Curiosity flashed across Aaron’s face seconds before he dropped eye contact and looked down at his
shoes. Kreed watched as Aaron’s head lifted and those piercing blue eyes shifted back toward him again.

  “Twelve. Eleven. Ten.”

  Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the countdown beginning. With his heart pounding wildly in his chest, he watched as Aaron diverted his gaze for a second time, but this time, didn’t look back.

  They’d been playing this dumb cat-and-mouse game for the last week. It was too much. Fuck the consequences. He wanted Aaron Stuart. Hell, he couldn’t even think straight anymore, because every single thought he had was centered on that man who was back to pretending to ignore him.

  “Nine. Eight. Seven.”

  The voices rang out in unison. Kreed pushed away from the wall and stalked across the room. He had a single-minded purpose, barely noticing all the happy couples waiting for the stroke of midnight as he passed them by.

  “Six. Five. Four.”

  Aaron held a plate in one hand and a drink in the other. The guy sat on the barstool, his head turned, facing the television as he chomped on a piece of ice. Kreed kept going. Within a foot of his target, Kreed reached for the plate, startling Aaron, who looked at him but didn’t move. He dropped it on the counter behind Aaron as he threaded his fingers through Aaron’s hair.

  “Three. Two. One. Happy New Year!”

  Loud cheers erupted throughout the house. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the fireworks on the TV in the distance. The symbolism wasn’t lost on him. He had a feeling those fireworks were about to explode inside his own head. Kreed didn’t give caution to anyone around him, his only focus was on Aaron.

  He pulled Aaron’s head back and stared deeply into his startled eyes. Kreed knew the exact moment when surprise shifted to hunger, and Kreed descended, crushing his mouth to Aaron’s. The big bang came seconds later when Aaron’s cup slipped to the floor, his lips parted, and he slid his tongue forward. The ice cube Aaron had been chewing melted quickly as their tongues met and tangled. The sensation of Aaron’s cold tongue exploring his heated mouth sent a wave of excitement through Kreed as he deepened the kiss.