All Kinds of Tied Down

All Kinds of Tied Down Read Free

Book: All Kinds of Tied Down Read Free
Author: Mary Calmes
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chuckle at how contrite the Cleaver appeared.
    “Maybe I’ll just stay put.”
    “And shut up,” Ian barked.
    “Yeah, okay.”
    He turned around and gripped the steering wheel, and I realized how tense he was.
    “Shooting people is bad,” I stressed playfully, poking Ian’s bicep.
    I got a derisive sound back, but that quickly, he seemed better, the edge gone.
    “Move this crate. I need to get this guy processed fast, because I really have to change.”
    “At least your shoes, huh?” Ian teased, the tip of his head and the eyebrow waggle really annoying.
    I did my best to ignore him.

Chapter 2

     
    G RANGER ’ S WAS an older pub downtown, close to The Loop. I had fallen in love with it over the many times Ian dragged me there. It had good cheap beer, great hotdogs, and a haphazard floor layout that sort of meandered from room to room, making it feel bigger than it really was. Ian and I normally staked out a spot between the pool tables and the dart boards where we could still see whatever game was on the TV above the bar as well as the door. Checking who came in was always important to law-enforcement types and was something that couldn’t be turned off.
    So I wasn’t thrilled that the table where my gym cronies gathered was toward the back, but I made my way through the crowd to them anyway after stopping at the bar to get an IPA I liked.
    “Miro you made it,” Eric Graff, my occasional racquetball partner and one-time fuck buddy, greeted me as I reached them.
    The other men and women were also pleased to see me, all except Eric’s new boyfriend, Kyle, who, I was guessing, didn’t love Eric’s arm draped around my shoulders. I would have told him not to worry—I never went back for seconds unless either my mind was challenged or there were fireworks in bed. Neither had been the case with Eric.
    Giving his arm a quick pat, I extricated myself and moved through the group until I reached Thad Horton, who was more than an acquaintance but not quite a friend.
    “Hey,” I greeted the pretty man who I had swam laps with many a time. He was a tanned, tweezed, manscaped twink, always quick with a smile and a kind word.
    “Miro,” he almost squeaked when he saw me, which alerted the gorilla standing beside him.
    “Babe?” he asked, checking on Thad before focusing his attention on me. “Who’re you?”
    “Just a friend from the gym,” I said quickly. “You must be Matt. Thad talks about you all the time.”
    He took my hand, clearly relieved, shaking fast. “Matt Ruben.”
    “Pleasure.”
    “Oh, are you the FBI agent?”
    “Marshal,” I corrected him, watching Thad grimace behind him and mouth the word “ Sorry. ”
    Quick shake of my head to let him know it was no big deal.
    “That’s right. Marshal,” Matt went on. “Thad was very impressed.”
    “It sounds far more glamorous than it is.”
    “Doubtful,” Matt said kindly. “You wanna break, man? We’re just starting a new game.”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    It was fine, and everyone was nice enough, but I’d made up my mind to leave when the game was over. I was bored, as was the usual with me unless either Ian or one of my very best friends was there. I really was lousy at casual interactions. When my phone buzzed a few minutes later, I leaned back against the exposed brick wall to answer.
    “You’re on a date,” I commented.
    “It’s actually a group thing, and we’re having dim sum.”
    I snorted out a laugh. Dim sum would not fill Ian up. He loved Chinese food as much as me—but noodles, chicken, and pork in large portions, not small pieces in steamer baskets.
    “Fuck you, come meet me.”
    “Meet you? It’s a date. She wants you to get comfortable with her friends.”
    “I don’t care. I feel like hitting a ball.”
    Whenever he was bored, he thought about going to the batting cages. “Closed until March, buddy,” I reminded him. “It’s like twenty degrees outside right now, plus snow.”
    “What about

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