“I’ll help,” Kat said to Becca, then she turned to the group. “It’s potpie and last we checked, it smelled fantastic. We made six big pans, but I wouldn’t delay grabbing a plate or there might not be any left.”
“So, which name do you like best?” Shane asked Jeremy. “Popeye, right? It’s totally Popeye.”
Jeremy laughed. “I’m not sure yet, but we have a few winners here.”
Talking and laughing, they all moved over to his apartment, and Kat was right—-it did smell fantastic, like warm bread and savory spices. Becca and Kat scrambled to set out the trays of potpie and bowls of salad as a line formed at the island.
“How can I help?” Jeremy asked.
“Put all this over there?” Becca said, pointing to baskets of corn bread and containers of paper plates and plastic utensils piled by the sink. He moved them to the breakfast bar with the other food. It looked like they were feeding a small army. And, actually, he supposed that was about right.
All the Ravens and a few members of the team grabbed their food and took it over to the gym, where there was a big makeshift table that could accommodate a larger number. Jeremy and Charlie ended up on one of the couches in the living room, plates in their laps, along with Becca, Kat, Marz, and Emilie.
The conversation was easy and fun. Natural. Like they’d all known one another forever, not just for weeks. Once again, it had Jeremy thinking of family. And regretting the fact that, at some point, the investigation would end and everyone would go their separate ways. As big as the Hard Ink building was, Jeremy had never felt it was too big, even before Nick had been discharged from the Army and moved in with him. But now that he’d shared the space with all these -people, he wasn’t sure how he’d ever go back without feeling like he was rattling around in a tomb.
Was anyone else worried about what happened when all this ended? Stupid, really, since ending the investigation and nailing the team’s enemies was the whole point. Not to mention that, as powerful as their enemies seemed to be, there was no telling when or even if it would ever end. And the longer it went on, the more danger they all were in.
Including Charlie. He’d already been kidnapped and tortured, and he’d been up on that roof yesterday morning, too. God, what Jeremy should be worried about was what happened if all this didn’t end.
Jeremy turned his gaze on Charlie.
Amazing how, sometimes, really fucking good things came out of really fucking bad ones. The way Jer was feeling about the guy was so much more than good.
As casual as Jeremy had always been about sex and as few actual relationships as he’d had, finding and wanting Charlie was a revelation.
“What?” Charlie asked around a bite of corn bread.
Jeremy smiled and shook his head. “Nothing, man.” As he finished the last of his potpie, he caught Kat smiling at him. This time, though, it wasn’t a sarcastic or troublemaking smile. It was full of warmth and happiness. She nodded at him, her gaze skating for just a moment toward Charlie. And though he didn’t need her approval, it still made him feel happy to have it. And lucky. Because both Kat and Nick had always supported him. No matter what.
After dinner, Jeremy and Charlie took a long turn reading documents. Marz, Emilie, Easy, and Jenna helped, while the others took up watch in the snipers’ roosts or guarding the perimeter. Half of the Ravens took a guard rotation, while half slept, bunking down in sleeping bags on the gym floor.
By about one o’clock in the morning, the words on the screen in front of him started running together. “I’m afraid I’m starting to skim this,” Jeremy said in a low voice. “And I don’t want to miss something important.”
Marz rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. You guys have been at this long enough. Call it a night.”
“What about you?” Charlie said. “You’ve been here all day.”
“I know, but—-”
“Come up with me,” Emilie said, cutting him off. A look passed between them and then Marz agreed and started shutting things down.
As they quietly crossed the gym, Easy fell in next to Emilie. “Thanks again for today.”
“Any time. And I mean that, Easy.” She smiled at him and then at Jenna, who gave her a hug.
“Thanks, Em,” Jenna said, her dark red hair contrasting with Emilie’s chocolate brown.
Emilie worked as a clinical psychologist, and Jeremy really hoped those words of thanks meant that Easy was getting help. Just last week Easy had admitted to the whole group that he was struggling with suicidal feelings. Jeremy didn’t think he’d ever been in a quieter room than when Easy confessed what he was going through.
While the other two -couples made their way up the steps to the third floor, where they were staying in an apartment Jeremy had only partially finished renovating, he and Charlie went back to his apartment.
Mr. Clean had apparently come through some time in the past few hours, because the wreckage of dinner had all been cleaned up. No doubt that was thanks to Becca and Sara, who’d been going out of their way to try to take care of everyone.