Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(11)

Border shook his head. “I only met you and Wes, actually. But it’s hard to forget the Montgomerys since y’all know each other so well and constantly talk about one another. Plus, don’t you have like a hundred cousins?”

Storm laughed and shook his head. “Well, it’s true we’re multiplying like crazy. And not all the cousins live near here, but we still see them from time to time. Oh, and Maya’s the other sister, by the way. And the only female one not married. You never met her?”

Border shook his head. He’d never met Maya, but he’d sure as hell heard about her, and not from Storm.

“She’s still best friends with your man, Jake, you know.”

Border nodded slowly. “That I know.”

Storm let out a breath. “So, you talk to Jake, then?”

“Not as much as I used to.” Border wrapped his hand around his glass. “I lit out of here pretty fast.”

“I noticed.” Storm paused. “I never mentioned it to Jake, by the way, the fact that we knew each other. Wes didn’t either. I mean, you talked about him, and so I knew shit about the two of you, but we didn’t know him then. It wasn’t until Maya showed up with him by her side later on, declaring them best friends, that I put two and two together.”

“Small world,” Border said slowly. “That we’d all know Jake and each other but Jake not know that we know.” His brain hurt just thinking about it.

Storm shrugged. “We hung out at the same places.”

“And you Montgomerys breed like bunnies so it’s not like it’s that hard to find one in the entire city of Denver.”

Storm flipped him off as Bob set their meals in front of him. “Thanks, man.”

“Yeah, looks great,” Border added honestly.

Bob just grunted and walked off without answering.

“Friendly,” Border said with a smile.

“You know it,” Storm said as he took a bite of his burger.

Border did the same and actually moaned aloud. Flavor burst on his tongue, surprising him enough that he almost choked. “Holy shit. I don’t care if Bob doesn’t speak. I want to have this burger’s babies. You think that could happen? Because I’m in love.”

Storm snorted, his mouth too full to answer for a minute. “You can try, but I’d just eat it and order another one if you’re starving.”

Border nodded and took another bite. He’d have savored it, but he was so f*cking hungry, and this burger was manna. All perfect grease and cheese and burger glory. He licked his lips and finished the thing in no time at all before he went to the fries. They were still hot, salted just right, and damn near perfection.

“I don’t remember the bar food here being this good before,” Border said after he took the last bite. He barely resisted the urge to suck the salt off his fingers, instead wiping them on the napkin. If Storm hadn’t been there watching him, he might have licked the paper in the basket.

“Bob got a new cook a few years ago,” Storm explained, wiping his own fingers on his napkin. “Increased business nicely for those that actually know about it. Bob doesn’t do much advertising.”

Border shrugged. “With a burger like that, he doesn’t need advertising.”

Storm grinned. “Agreed. It’s usually busier in here, but its shitty weather outside and a weeknight. Which leads me to ask why the hell you’re on that bike.”

“I’ll get my truck tomorrow,” he said with a sigh. “I was too hungry to keep going tonight and find a motel.”

Storm raised a brow. “You drove all the way out here without a place to stay? And with what, a few things in your saddle bags?”

“The truck’s with…people I know.” He wouldn’t exactly call the compound a place full of friends, but at least they weren’t the ones he was on the lookout for. “I’ll get my clothes and shit sent to me from my storage locker when I find a place I’m comfortable enough in to stay for a bit. I’ve slept on shittier things than a motel mattress before.”

Storm studied him and frowned. “You ever going to tell me why you left? Where you’ve been all this time?”

Border shook his head. “If I do, it won’t be until after I talk to Jake.”

“So that’s how it is?” Storm asked.

“That’s how it always was.” The other man knew a little bit of Border’s and Jake’s past so he didn’t have to hide it. He just didn’t want to tell Storm everything. That was for Jake…if the other man even wanted to hear it. Border had f*cked up years ago, but it had been for good reason.

Over the years, he’d tried to keep in contact with Jake with letters, calls, and texts. Only, as time passed, Jake grew more distant, the calls going shorter, the replies terser. Border’s fault, he knew, but maybe he’d figure out a way to make it a little better. Plus, if he were honest about his true intentions, he wanted to know who Maya was, other than Storm’s baby sister. Jake talked about her like she walked on water after she’d kicked some guy’s ass. There had to be something more going on there, and Border wanted to know what it was—even if he didn’t have a right to know.

Bob came by and took their baskets, sliding the bill on the bar top without a word. Wordlessly, Border reached to pull his wallet out of his pocket.