Page 6 of Throw Down

The kid had been high-strung but friendly outside.A little manic, maybe, but confident enough to help despite not having the tiniest clue what he was doing.Now he was like a different person, as if being enclosed in the same space with Derek made him nervous.

Grimly, Derek stuffed his numb hands into his pockets.He settled in a corner of the room, as far away as possible, but there wasn't much hope of making himself appear smaller or less threatening.Ever since hitting puberty, he'd made people nervous just by breathing.He was big and rough and short-tempered, and he knew it.Worse—every single person dropped from his family tree had been whacked at least once with an ugly stick on the way down.Derek never had much trouble getting women, but he wasn't fooling himself about why.No one was exactly spoiled for choice in a town like Sweetwater.

People looked at him like he was a thug, but he didn't blame them.Especially not someone young and softer than whipped cream.Briar looked like he'd never spent a day outside.His hands were so pale that Derek could easily track the delicate map of blue veins on their backs.The pulse in Briar's throat beat like a rabbit's—quick and nervous.

In a perfect world, people like him would never have a reason to be frightened.They would be protected. But that wasn’t how the world worked.Derek had learned the hard way that there was nothing the universe enjoyed more than punching below the belt.

“When did you first notice she was ill?” Nate Silva’s voice crackled over the laptop speaker.

Derek focused on the screen. Briar had angled it toward the exam table, but he could still make out the frown on Nate's handsome features.

“Two days ago,” he said gruffly.“She’s been off her food for a while.Sleeping more than normal. But she started throwing up this afternoon, and dehydration kicked in fast after that.”

Sabbath was lethargic on the table.Her head lolled over Briar’s slender wrist as he stroked her ears.Dumbo ears; too big for the rest of her body.She was already almost a year old and still hadn't grown into them.She was mostly black and brown with the nose of a hound and the spirit of a cattle dog, and she was so ugly that she'd circled all the way back around to cute.

No telling who had abandoned her, or why they’d ditched her in a box of spare parts instead of turning her in at the shelter.But they’d better pray he never found them.She deserved better than being dropped like trash at his gate.

Briar was carefully inserting a needle into her leg.He didn’t look up when he asked, “What made you bring her in on a night like this?Most people would try to ride it out until morning at least.”

“I’m not an idiot.” Derek didn’t even try to moderate the disdain in his voice.“She’s dying. You need to fix her.”

“We’ll do our best, but—”

“Your best isn'tgoodenough.” He didn't like the doubt in Briar's tone.He came out of his slouch fast.Too fast. Briar jumped and tripped backward, like a startled animal.No, like Derek was theanimal.Like putting the exam table between them could stophim.

Like anything could stop him if he decided a slim little wisp of moonlight was something hewanted.

Chapter Three

BRIAR

Damn. He’d slipped up.

After the disastrous incident at the door, Briar thought he’d done a decent job of getting his own back.He usually enjoyed playing into the stereotype that he couldn’t tell a Philips from a flathead,but it had been oddly satisfying to prove himself in front of a man who so clearly expected the worst from him.Maybe he wasn’t Mr. Fix-It, but he could take out a battery even without Derek’s surprisingly patient instruction.

But with just one accidental flinch, he was relegated back to a chickenshit.A single backstep before he could get control of his lizard brain, putting some distance between him and Derek's looming mountain of muscle, and Derek had instantly noticed.

The other man’s body went perfectly still, like he was even trying to breathe non-threateningly.It didn’t work. He reminded Briar of a panther he used to visit at the Oregon Zoo.It used to freeze in exactly the same way, but the fixated look in its eyes was always hungry, and Briar was the prey.

Of course, Briar was all skin and bones.He’d make a terrible meal, literally and figuratively. Besides, this man’s eyes were green, not panther gold.But they were the brightest, sharpest green he’d ever seen outside of photoshop, and they were sizing him up inch by inch.

Briar swallowed hard. His heart was racing and his palms were damp.He wiped them surreptitiously on his pants, and for the first time, properly looked his fill at Derek Owens.He'd been trying to steal furtive glances ever since the lights came back on, but it wasn't easy to get a clear read after he'd posted up in the corner.

The man’s face was like stone.Not ugly, but not exactly attractive.His features were rough, with broad, sharp edges like they had been carved with a sledgehammer rather than a chisel.Judging by the large, painful-looking knot on the bridge, his nose had been broken more than once.His hair was lank and dark from the rain, dripping down the collar of his sodden jacket, and his lips were pale.

He must be freezing, Briar thought sympathetically.

Briar always kept an emergency bag with a change of clothes at work, but this guy didn’t have anything like that, and he’d been out in the storm much longer.The weatherproof canvas of his jacket could only do so much.

“This is going to be a while.You should take off that wet jacket,” he suggested impulsively. “There are some dry towels in the cabinet over your left shoulder.Why don’t you grab one? I’ll start a pot of coffee to warm us up.”

Derek's expression was hostile.“I’m fine. Just do your damn job.”

“Working on it.” Briar’s eyes narrowed.“It doesn’t take much extra effort to be nice, you know.”

“I don’t need you to be nice.” He sounded like he meant it.There was something dismissive in his tone, like kindness toward him was a waste of time.“I just need you to make her better.”

Briar’s mouth worked soundlessly, zipping through a few smartass responses, but before he could settle on one, Nate interrupted.Briar had forgotten he was listening.