There was a kid creeping around McMillan’s apartment. Austin had heard him snooping around outside the door, making one hell of a racket, then he’d overheard as he opened and closed the door. Once upon a time, when they were still on good terms with each other during their high school days, Austin had thought that Michael was cool. After having served in the Navy alongside him, he no longer held the same opinion—but that didn’t mean that he wanted to see Michael’s apartment stolen from or vandalized.

Austin counted the seconds, making sure the intruder felt nice and at home, before he slipped out the door and headed across the hall to check on what the hell was going on in his neighbor’s place. Had it not been for the yelling, Austin would have thought that Michael had finally hired on a cleaning lady. The stench in his apartment had started to seep out into the hall, and Austin smelled it even now as he stood in front of Michael’s door.

He lifted his fist to knock only to find his hands were trembling again.

I need to get a grip. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m the one with the advantage, here. If he has a weapon, I know how to disarm him. If he doesn’t, I know I’ll be able to improvise better than he ever could... so why the hell am I shaking again? I’m not weak. I can do this.

Darkness haunted the corners of Austin’s vision as he pushed forward and knocked on the door, not afraid to be loud. Whoever the hell was in Michael’s apartment should be scared. Austin would see to it that they got what was coming to them. He didn’t take kindly to thieves.

When no one answered the door, Austin knocked again, louder this time.

“I know you’re in there,” he said, letting his voice dip down into the intimidating baritone notes he reserved for serious business. “Pretending that you’re not inside is only going to make things worse. Open up the door.”

To his surprise, the door opened. A young, well-dressed man with flawless auburn hair and a stick-skinny physique stood there. He was tall and baby-faced, and his wide blue eyes looked at Austin in awestruck confusion.

Austin recognized him a split second later. He dropped his hand. The tremor stopped.

“... Hale?”

“Austin?” Hale offered him a little smile. “You’re... wow. You’ve grown up. The last time I remember seeing you was at your graduation. Um, I was there for Michael, you know... because he graduated, too.”

Austin didn’t know what to say. He kept his gaze locked on Hale, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating or not. The last time he’d seen Hale McMillan, he’d been a tiny freshman going into his sophomore year—barely anything more than a kid. Now he was...

Fuck, he grew up. Where the hell did time go?

“I’m not the only one who grew up,” Austin said. He slid his hands into his back pockets, playing it casual. “What the hell are you doing here, anyway? I’ve never seen you here before.”

Hale’s reply was soaked in sarcasm. “I’m Michael’s cousin, Austin. Why do you think I might be here?”

“Did he invite you in?” Austin asked, replying back with sarcasm in kind. It had been a long time since anyone had treated him like a normal person, and he was both as stunned at the feeling as he was frightened by it. It was the first taste of normalcy he’d had in quite some time. “I heard you knocking and causing a fuss, twerp. I’m pretty sure he’s not home... and if that’s the case, then you’re trespassing. Do you want to start your arrest record here?”

“Oh, honey,” Hale shot him a wicked grin that Austin wasn’t able to easily process. It caught him by surprise and disarmed his defenses. “That’s cute that you think I’m innocent. I’ll take the compliment. Really, you’re too kind.”

Who the hell is this kid, and what did he do with the Hale I know?

“Here’s the deal,” Hale said. “I’m worried about Michael. His parents don’t think it’s a big deal, but I know him in a way they don’t, and I happen to think that something’s happening. If you’re going to cause a stink because I’m investigating his apartment to make sure everything’s still okay, then you seriously need to have the stick up your ass de-thorned. You know who I am, you know that he knows who I am, and more than that—” Hale dug into his pocket and produced a door key, “—he gave me his spare key, which pretty much entitles me to check on him if I think something fishy’s going on.”

The shy boy Michael had brought to Austin’s house party in the first few weeks of senior year was nothing like the sassy young man before him. If it wasn’t for his auburn hair and almost-too-pretty-to-be-real blue eyes, Austin would have thought that he was someone else—but there was no mistaking Hale’s trademark look.

“You said something fishy’s going on,” Austin said. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know yet. I was in the middle of investigating when you came slamming your hammy fists against the door.” Hale pointed at Austin’s hands, which were shaking yet again. “I know that it’s exciting to see me—I mean, sometimes I get excited to see myself, so I totally understand where you’re coming from—but you really don’t need to shake with excitement. I promise, if you’re good to me, you can come see me anytime you want.”

It wasn’t often that Austin was taken aback. He’d been through hell with the Navy, and hard to stomach situations had left him immune to most shocking scenarios. Or at least, that had been the case before the accident. Now, faced with Hale’s cockiness, he found himself at a loss for words.

Hale chuckled. He cocked his head to the side and looked Austin in the eyes. “Well, I didn’t think that I’d get a reaction like that out of you. If you want to be that good for me, then you can definitely come ‘round whenever you please.”

“What are you talking about?” Austin demanded.

Hale hitched an eyebrow and pointed at Austin’s crotch. Austin looked down and was mortified to discover he was hard. His cock strained against the front of his sweatpants—he’d been lounging around his apartment, trying to find the motivation to do the dishes when he’d heard Hale creeping around.

“Shit,” Austin muttered. He tried to shift his thighs to hide his bulge, but it was no use. Unless he adjusted himself, he wasn’t going to get any coverage—and he had no intention of doing such a thing in front of his high school friend’s younger cousin. “I didn’t mean to.”

“If I had a dollar for every time I heard that...” Hale snorted, then shook his head. “But seriously, Austin, are we good? If you’re worried that I’m going to rob Michael of his impressive second-hand television with the busted pixels, or maybe his top of the line, flat-cushioned couch with the upholstery all chewed to shreds, then you can watch me while I’m going through the apartment if you want. I really don’t care. All I need to do is finish my sweep of the rooms to see if Michael is here or not. I’m worried about him.”

Austin eyed him, trying to get a sense of whether Hale was telling the truth. His gut was good, and right now it wasn’t telling him that he had anything to be worried about. Hale had never been a bad kid, and if anything did turn up missing, Austin would know who was responsible.

Besides, it wasn’t any of his damned business, anyway. The guy had a key. If Michael trusted him that much, then there was no reason to worry. All Austin had to do was mind his own business and let Hale do whatever he wanted.

“You know what?” Austin asked, quirking an eyebrow. “You go on ahead. It’s not really any of my business, anyway. But if you find Michael inside? Tell him to clean his damn apartment. It reeks all the way down the hall.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You’re the one with the key. I guess it becomes your problem then, doesn’t it?”

A flash of emotion passed through Hale’s eyes. Austin had a hard time identifying what it was, but he knew everything it wasn’t. It wasn’t hostility, because Hale’s expression didn’t sour. It wasn’t irritation, either, or anger, or even indignity. Whatever it was, it was charged in a way that Austin felt it tingling all the way down in the depths of his gut, like something had hooked him to Austin and wasn’t about to let go.

He took a step back to try to put some distance between himself and the man who’d made him feel something. The fog of depression that typically kept outside stimuli from breaching Austin’s soul was gone, and for the first time since he’d come back to Hidden Creek, he felt like he’d found a foothold in something.

It was terrifying that the something was Hale.

“Just get it cleaned up, okay?” Austin murmured. “I’ll see you later, twerp.”

He shut himself back inside his apartment, twisted the lock, but felt no compulsion to slide the deadbolt into place or slot the chain into its catch. Instead, he leaned back against the door and sucked in a deep, grounding breath. His heart was racing.

Nothing had happened with Hale apart from a conversation, but that didn’t stop Austin’s insides from tumbling around inside of him like they were goddamn acrobats in a bounce house.

He closed his eyes, let the deep breath out slowly through his nose, and slid his hand down over the erection he’d been unable to hide out in the hallway. Pleasure shot through him, more urgent and intense than it had ever been before, parting his lips in a silent moan.

After months of therapy, of tweaking his meds, and of abundant self-care, something was finally happening... and it was all thanks to the guy across the hall.