Page 55 of Uncharted

Take care of my little brother, got it?

8

JAKE

“What did you do?”

Confused, I looked up from the mangled piece of wood I’d been whittling. It was less whittling and more like shredding a perfectly good chunk of tree so it looked like something even one of those ‘modern’ artists would have said, “I don’t get it.”

Xander was glaring at me, and I squinted. “If I’m gonna be in trouble, I kinda wanna know what I did this time.”

“That’s what I’m asking you.”

“It doesn’t feel like askin’, feels more like gettin’ grilled if I’m honest.”

“Your problem is sometimes you could be a little less honest,” Xander ground out. “Now why the fuck has your buddy been looking at me like I have something on my face?”

“Reno?” I asked, tossing the mangled piece of wood to the side and shifting uncomfortably on the stump. After a few weeks, I could breathe without feeling like I was being stabbed, could laugh with only a bit of pain, and I didn’t feel winded just walking around. Still couldn’t do much, but at least now everyone and their grandmother wasn’t breathing down my neck.

“Do you have another buddy I should know about?” Xander asked curtly.

I nodded toward the grimy toddler playing in hardening mud a few yards away. “Blake and me seem to be doin’ just fine in each other’s company.”

“You have a lot in common,” he said and scowled when I chuckled in agreement. “Fuckin’ kids, I swear.”

“Language,” I chided, not buying his attitude for a minute. Oh sure, he was pissed as hell that Leon had been foisted on us for reasons no one had explained to me, but he would never take it out on the kids. If he thought for a moment I hadn’t seen him grumble over the rock Blake had given him yesterday before pocketing it, then he didn’t realize how much I noticed now that I couldn’t do much more than watch people.

“Well, he should’ve thought about that before he brought his kids to a fucking SAR outpost. We don’t do delicate sensibilities here,” he grunted, but I noticed he said it a lot quieter than before.

“I like Leon,” I told him. “He’s cool. And his kids are awesome.”

“You liked Aidan too,” he pointed out.

I grunted. “Yeah, well, I can’t always be right about people.”

“Talked to him yet?”

“When I have to.”

“At least I’m not the last one to be a petty asshole about this,” he said, and when I raised a brow, his expression scrunched. “Colin’s…phrase.”

“Happy in love is a good look for you, Big Boss,” I told him brightly, immediately glad to have something happier to talk about than Aidan. He could be as sorry and dedicated to making up for his bullshit all he wanted, but it was going to be a long time before I accepted it.

“Shut it,” he said, looking at the kid, and I sighed.

After everything with Aidan, we were all a lot more wary of Leon, which wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t as if we treated him any differently than we would anyone new, but after the near miss with Aidan, we had to be careful. None of us gave a shit about Xander and Colin’s relationship, but it would be terrible if someone higher up the food chain got wind of it. Especially if that someone was out to get Xander.

“How’s, uh…the Bryce thing goin’ for ya?” I asked as quietly as I could, and apparently succeeded because Xander had to inch closer to me to hear.

“Dealing with it. That takes time, and I gotta be smart. And you should be smart and not talk about it when you don’t know who can hear you,” he rumbled. “But don’t worry, I’ll bring that bastard down with me if he gets too hellbent on bringing me down.”

“I’d kinda prefer ya didn’t go down at all.”

“Me too. But you idiots will be fine.”

“Not worried about me, Big Boss. I got options if I need ’em, but I’d rather ya be here, with us. We’re your idiots, no one else’s.”

For a moment, I thought Xander was growing soft enough to feel a moment of sentimentality in his cranky, shriveled heart, and then he ruined it by rolling his eyes. “Keep your feelings to yourself; I get enough of those at home.”