“Well, then,” Snow said, wrapping his arm around Jude’s shoulders. “It sounds like we’ve got a plan.”
Jude stared at the man beside him, his heart already starting to feel lighter. Ian had a damn good point. If anyone had a shot of finding and helping this lost, little boy, it had to be these men. “You ready to do some real hiking?”
Snow winked at him. “Bring it.”Chapter 5Snow stopped in the middle of the path, sat on a large tree root, and prayed for rain. Not that he believed anybody or anything was listening out there, but the heat was overwhelming and he was willing to try just about anything to cool off.
Three hours before, they’d redistributed their hiking supplies, leaving Lucas and Ian with one full bottle of water while the search party took both their water and snacks. They stuck together until they reached the point where Sheltowee Trace Trail met up with Rough Trail. Rowe and Andrei had conferred over a map, coming up with a few ideas of where the kid might possibly end up.
But after hours of walking in the unrelenting heat, Snow was struggling to keep going. He watched as Rowe followed some trail through the underbrush that only he could see while Jude picked along the main trail. The paramedic gave no sign his energy was dwindling despite the fact that he was covered in sweat. He was determined to find the child.
“Running out of steam, Doc?”
And then there was Andrei. Lucas’s boyfriend had taken great joy in needling Snow at every turn, and as much as he was reluctant to admit it, he was enjoying dishing it back out to the man. It at least helped to keep his mind off the fucking heat.
“Should we have sent you back to the camp?” Andrei continued.
“I’m fine,” Snow said, smiling broadly. His eye caught on how Andrei stood with all his weight on his right leg at the side of the trail and flexed his left knee. “How’s that knee you keep rubbing? It giving you any problems there, Rocky?”
Andrei said something in Romanian that Snow couldn’t dream of catching before flipping him off. He just snickered. “I’m sorry,” Snow said innocently. “I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat it?”
“I said, you can lick my sweaty taint,” Andrei replied.
Snow shook his head. “I think I’ll leave that to Lucas. I’m sure he gets off on it.”
Andrei walked over to where Snow sat and leaned his shoulder against the tree trunk. “Nah, but did you know that I can get Lucas to scream my name by nibbling on the soft fleshy part of his instep while I’m fucking him?”
“Ahhh! What the fuck?” Snow jumped to his feet and paced away from Andrei as the man cackled relentlessly until he fell to the ground and into the bushes. He couldn’t even close his eyes to push away the image that rose up from Andrei’s words. He loved Lucas like a brother and they’d shared more than enough details of their sexual exploits, but there was something about hearing the intimate details of how Lucas lost his mind when he was with Andrei that just gave him the willies.
“You know,” Andrei started, still gasping for air. “All I need to do now is just touch that spot with my thumb and he—”
“Oh God! Stop! Just stop! You win!”
“What the fuck are you two doing?” Rowe demanded as he appeared from around a tree, returning to the trail.
“Nothing,” Snow and Andrei replied in unison, sending them both snickering.
“No.” Rowe pointed at Andrei and then Snow. “No. You are not allowed to be like this asshole. Pick someone else to be like. Be like Ian. Everyone likes Ian.”
“Hey!” Snow called as Rowe turned and continued down the trail they had been following, indicating that their break was over. “Jude likes me.”
Rowe lifted his hand into the air and flipped him off. “Jude needs help.”
Snow shook his head, watching the retreating back of his friend. So maybe he’d had that same thought a couple of times when it came to Jude’s love. Certainly no sane man would love him. On a good day, his brain and emotional state were like a basket of wet cats, but Jude’s love was unwavering.
Turning his attention back to Andrei, he found the younger man closely watching Rowe, his arms folded over his chest. He looked…worried.
“He’s better, right?” The words softly tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
Andrei opened his mouth but nothing came out before he closed it again, his arms tensing as if he were inwardly debating what to actually say. Snow was torn between wanting to shake the man, demand more information, and respecting him for wanting to protect Rowe’s privacy. Of all of them, Andrei was the one who saw Rowe the most. If Snow was lucky, he might see Rowe in person once every other week due to work. He didn’t trust phone conversations. The man was fucking sneaky and was too damn good at hiding shit.