Sinful Longing (Sinful Nights, #3)(45)

*

“I owe you, man. The Cristal’s on me,” Rex said, offering his hand to shake as Colin pulled up to the building at the community college where Rex and Marcus were slated to take the math test. “Wait. I meant the Shirley Temple’s on me.”

Colin waved him off. “Get out of here. Happy to do it.”

“What are you doing today? You gonna go find the next Google to buy, or go scale the side of a mountain with your Spidey hands?”

“Both,” he said. “Work. Some climbing, a run, then a swim.”

“You’re nuts.”

“You should go with me sometime.”

“Now you’re really crazy,” Rex said, laughing with his mouth wide open. “But I will cheer your badass ass on when the day comes.”

“Excellent,” Colin said, then looked into the backseat as Marcus grabbed his backpack. The kid had been quiet the whole ride. Then again, Rex tended to occupy the majority of the conversational space in any room. “Good luck, Marcus.”

“Thanks for the ride. I didn’t know ’til Rex told me this morning that you were the one picking us up.”

Colin furrowed his brow for a moment, wondering why it mattered that he was the one picking them up. But he figured Marcus had more important matters on his mind. “Happy to help. You guys will do great.”

He went to his office, where Larsen greeted him with a coffee and the sheer excitement of having found a kickass startup.

“Talk to me. Tell me why I want in,” Colin said as they walked down the hall. By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, he’d worked on a term sheet for the first round of funding, then headed for an evening trail run with Johnny Cash. The day was made perfect by the photo that landed on his phone that night. An image of Elle’s legs from the thighs down in her roller derby socks.

The message said, See you tomorrow.

*

The whistle blared loudly, and Janine took off around the track, hell-bent on scoring more points. Elle and the other blockers joined in, jostling and jockeying against the Resurrection Girls’ efforts to score on the Fishnet Brigade. Elle’s quads burned, and her heart beat furiously. Her focus narrowed, as it always did during matches, to her mission—protect the jammer and win the game.

On the next lap, Elle held out a hand for Janine, who gripped it for a few seconds, then let go as Elle sent her shooting faster around the curve. As Janine sped past a Resurrection Girl, an image of Colin popped into Elle’s head. She shook it off. She couldn’t think about him now. Couldn’t think about the fact that he wasn’t here. Hadn’t shown up. The match would be over in two minutes. Her team was ahead. The point Janine just scored from her assist was more padding on the total.

Maybe by the time they finished he’d be here. He’d show, right? He had to. He’d better f*cking show.

A brief burst of frustration powered her around the track, her muscles cursing at her. She didn’t want to believe that the man would fail to show up for her and her kid.

The only thing that would hold him back would be—

Her wheels slipped out from under her, and she crashed hard onto the sleek wood.

*

As soon as he heard the rumble of Ryan’s truck, Johnny Cash whimpered and thumped his tail against Colin’s floor. “He’s back,” Colin said to the dog, who wagged harder. “C’mon, boy. Want to go see Ryan?”

The tail became a propeller, moving so fast it could power a motorboat. Colin opened his front door, and the Border Collie took off like a shot, tearing across the lawn to greet his master. Colin joined the two of them on the sidewalk. “Looks like someone missed you.”

Ryan stood up and gave Colin a quick hug. “Thanks for watching him. I appreciate it.”

“He’s easy. Welcome back. How was it?”

Ryan cocked his head and seemed to consider the question for a few seconds as he pet his dog. “I’m going to ask her to marry me next week.”

“Holy shit. Guess you had a great time.” He shook his brother’s hand in congratulations and proceeded to pepper him with more questions.

Ryan answered them all then capped it off with a simple truth. “Sophie’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Colin parked a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and looked him square in the eyes. “She is. And don’t ever forget it.”

“I won’t,” he said, then opened the door of his truck for the dog. An engine rattled down the street, as Colin patted Johnny Cash good-bye.

“He’s back,” Ryan said in a hiss. “He knows where we all live. Sophie told me he stopped by more than a week ago.”

Colin furrowed his brow and was about to ask “who’s back” when he heard a familiar-sounding “hey.”

“What’s the deal?” Ryan said, and Colin nearly stumbled when he turned and saw who his brother was addressing. “My fiancée told me you stopped by my house the other day. Just man up and tell us what you want.”

Shit. Colin had told Ryan about Marcus and the Protectors, but he’d had no idea that the kid had stopped by Ryan’s house before. What the hell?

“Marcus?” Colin asked, trying to figure out why he was here, and how he knew where he lived. Was he here to share his math results? But then why had he gone to Ryan’s house a week ago?