Brendon (Alluring Indulgence #8)(66)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Brendon turned to face the group, taking a position beside Z as he made introductions. “Z, this is Travis, Gage, Kaleb, Ethan, Sawyer, Beau, Zane, and my father, Curtis. This is Zachariah Tavoularis, aka Z.”

“Nice to meet y’all officially. And this here is the big boss man, Ryan Trexler. Most people simply call him RT.”

Brendon offered RT his hand as he said, “Nice to meet you.”

The guy’s no-nonsense presence and staid expression had Brendon’s curiosity meter redlining. Something was going on, he just didn’t know what.

“Same here,” RT offered, the resonant tone of his voice contained in the small area.

“Your reputation precedes you,” Travis said, shaking RT’s hand.

While the others greeted RT, Brendon pulled Z to the side. “Seriously, man. What’s goin’ on? Why’re you here?”

“It’s cool. I asked him to help out. RT wanted to get the lay of the land. And when the boss man says jump, I fuckin’ jump.”

“I thought Trace was your boss?” Brendon had heard a few stories about the Trexlers and the Kogans—the two families who owned and operated one of the nation’s leading security companies—over the years and Z always spoke highly of them.

“I’ve got more than one,” Z said with a sly grin.

“Any news?”

Z’s eyes narrowed. “Unfortunately, no. We’ve got RT’s younger brother, Austin, workin’ his magic. He’s one of those tech nerds—a hacker for the good guys, if you know what I mean. If this asshole can be found, Austin’ll find him.”

“And until then … what? You thought you’d just come hang out? Grab a beer? Shoot the shit?”

“That a problem?” Z asked, smirking.

Brendon sighed, realizing he sounded as uptight as he felt. “No, it’s not, actually.” Now that he thought about it, Brendon figured it was a good idea for Z and RT to stop by and check on things. If this guy did end up in Coyote Ridge, which Brendon prayed never happened, it would only make sense to have them there.

Then again … as Brendon watched the two men, he noticed something else. A strange tension between the two of them. It was … Well, now that he thought about it, it was the same sort of tension he’d witnessed between Ethan and Beau, back before those two got together.

Brendon smiled to himself. That made complete and total sense. He knew that Z was gay, and from the way RT was eyeing Z from time to time, he figured it was safe to assume RT had his sights set on the big guy. Interesting.

A soft hand on his arm drew Brendon’s attention, not to mention Z’s gaze moving to the woman beside him. Offering her a small smile, he turned his attention back to Z. “Z, meet Cheyenne Montgomery.” Brendon saw the way Z’s eyes lit up, so he tacked on, “My girlfriend. Cheyenne, this is Z.”

Z chuckled and then shook Cheyenne’s hand. “Loud and clear, bro. And I promise, you ain’t got nothin’ to worry about,” Z said to Brendon, and to Cheyenne he added, “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“I’m almost positive that guy’s bigger than Beau,” someone said from behind him.

“I didn’t think it was possible, but yeah,” someone else said—a woman, of course.

Brendon knew without looking that they were talking about Z. The guy was by no means small. In fact, he looked like a fucking linebacker. Brendon wasn’t a small guy, but even he felt intimidated by Z’s size. Or maybe it was the don’t-fuck-with-me gleam in the guy’s eyes.

“Is everything okay?” Cheyenne asked.

“So far,” Z answered, “yes. We’re just checkin’ things out.”

“Of course.” Cheyenne’s tone didn’t match her words, but she left it at that.

“You ready to head home?” Brendon looked down at Cheyenne. Although Z had assured her that things were fine, she suddenly looked jumpy. He figured it was because everyone was there and ultimately, her greatest concern seemed to be everyone else’s safety.

“If you are, sure.”

“We’ll follow y’all back to your place,” Z informed him. “Lemme talk to Braydon a minute.”

“Sure.”

Brendon took Cheyenne’s hand in his, the smooth feel of her fingers in his palm soothing him. The fact that no one was looking at them strangely made him feel better as well. It was as though his family had accepted what was transpiring between him and Cheyenne. And that was a damn good thing too, because if Brendon had a say in the matter, the only way from there was up and he fully intended to go that direction.