Page 164 of Hard Rain
Then Memphis stole the last slice of pizza, Knox started yelling, and whatever Axel thought he’d noticed vanished beneath another round of laughter.
Axel searched for Whip without moving. He couldn’t help himself. And really, he’d stopped fighting the pull.
Whip was like his anchor in a world that suddenly offered everything he’d ever wanted.
And he was going to hold onto Whip with everything he had.
Whip leaned against the old pool table, a bottle of beer hanging loose from one hand.
The room had settled into its usual rhythm of pool balls cracking, low conversation, and laughter.
Someone argued over a football game on the television.
Crash was pretending not to smile every time he looked in their direction.
Memory had a way of freezing places in time. The pool hall looked exactly the way he remembered because, for the most part, it was. The same people. The same laughter. The same familiar rhythm.
He looked around the room again.
Snook was accusing Memphis of cheating at cards.
Memphis claimed he’d never cheated a day in his life.
Nobody believed him.
Grant stood with one shoulder against the wall, listening more than talking.
Knox hadn’t stopped moving in nearly ten minutes.
The kid bounced from conversation to conversation like he’d been born with too much energy to stay in one place.
Grant watched him every time.
A warm shoulder bumped his.
“You staring?”
Axel.
Whip hadn’t heard him walk over.
“Observing.”
Axel snorted, leaning harder against him with no regard for personal space.
“Same thing.” He leaned in.
Their cheeks brushed, his hair caught in Axel’s dark scruff.
“Not even close.” Axel pulled the strands free and fingered them lightly before bringing them to his mouth.
Whip flicked his gaze up. The blue in Axel’s eyes reminded him of Summer Lake just after sunrise, when the wind hadn’t reached the water yet.
Shit.
Axel nuzzled his cheek and let the strands slide from his fingers. Whip eased in and leaned his head on Axel’s shoulder.
For a while, neither of them said anything.
