Page 13 of Out of Reach

“It’s not the first time, you know,” Jude said. “I lived like this before I met you.”

“I know,” Hawk said, staring unseeingly at the book.

Finally putting it down, he wandered into the living room and sat on the sofa with his phone, scrolling until he found a Chinese restaurant that delivered. He ordered a few dishes he remembered Jude liked before pulling up a search engine and typing in the nameSam Prescott. He’d focus his hurt and anger on his work, and maybe that would get him through the weeks ahead.

According to Google, Prescott owned a successful import/export company that mainly dealt with furniture. Successful enough to bankroll an enormous penthouse in Manhattan, a Lamborghini, a private plane, and several houses overseas? Doubtful. He might be transporting drugs in and out of the country. Or guns. Making a mental note to talk to Slade about it, Hawk closed the page and set his phone on the table just as Jude padded in barefoot, wearing a pair of cotton joggers and a Pink T-shirt.

“I ordered some Chinese,” he said.

“Sounds good.” Jude sat on the chair, folding his long legs under him. “I guess you like your job?”

Hawk nodded. “Sure.”

“You miss the SEALS? How long have you been out now?”

“Three years.” The final one had been the worst. After Jude had left, everything had gone to hell. “I don’t miss it.”

Jude turned from the window to look at him. “Really? I thought you loved it. Adrenaline junkie and all that.”

“Things change,” was all Hawk could think to say because he couldn’t put into words how hurt he’d been after Jude had left. How he’d reevaluated everything in his life, including his time as a Navy SEAL, and it had all come out lacking.

“What about you? What have you been doing for the past four years?” Hawk asked after a moment. “Did you come straight here?” It had always been Jude’s dream to live in New York City. Until the day Jude left, Hawk had always thought it had been all talk, though. Just one more thing he did wrong—he’d underestimated Jude’s dreams.

Jude looked away, staring out at the view of the East River, and Hawk went back to scrolling through his phone, looking for dirt on Prescott. Andi called him from the car parked outside the building to let him know the food delivery was on its way up.

“I lived with Cam for a few years until he got married,” Jude said. “Then I got my own place. I waited tables, mostly. Picked up a few small modeling jobs, but nothing like I wanted to be doing.”

“Not until Prescott,” Hawk said.

“Yeah. Not until I met Sam and he paved the way.”

“Did you think he’d blacklist you like he did when you left?”

Jude pulled a pillow to the arm of the chair to rest his head on. “I wasn’t sure how he’d react, to be honest. It isn’t like we had some kind of great love affair or anything, but Sam has his pride. When I told him I thought we’d run our course, he took offense. He said he’d given me everything I wanted and now I was leaving. Looking back, maybe I should have expected that. I don’t know. Maybe he cared more about me than I did about him in the end.”

“He was a little old for you,” Hawk said.

Jude grinned. “I like them old, you know that.”

“If you’re asking if I remember Geoff, yeah. I do.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Sam couldn’t fuck me half as good as you could,” Jude said, his tone sultry.

“Jude.”

“We could get rid of this tension hanging in the air.”

The doorbell rang.

Hawk stood up and stretched. “Food’s here. I’m going to eat, then go downstairs to the gym.”

“Oh, come on. Can’t you take a joke? I’ll be good, I promise.”

“I need to work out.”

“What, you afraid your eight pack will go down to a six?” Jude teased.

Hawk opened the door to Sean, who was holding the delivery bag. “Thank fuck the food’s here.”