“Good.” Taylor rolled onto his back and covered his eyes with his arm.
Chase frowned, concerned almost as much by the confusion on Justin’s face as he was by Taylor’s attitude. His mouth dipped into an even deeper frown when Justin rolled toward him and buried his face in Chase’s chest. Justin was upset. Taylor was upset. And Chase was confused. He thought that things were going pretty well between them all now. Could he have been wrong?
Was there something else going on?
Chapter 15
Justin glanced over at Taylor as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his mate. There were no outward signs that Taylor was upset, but Justin had been partners with the man long enough to read him.
And Taylor was very upset.
He was nice enough, helping get them packed, smiling and saying good-bye to their hosts, and even placing his hand on the middle of Justin’s back as they walked to the truck. But something was wrong. Justin could feel it.
He just didn’t know how to fix it.
Every time he brought it up, Taylor dismissed Justin’s concerns like nothing was wrong. Justin was starting to feel like he might be the problem. Maybe Taylor was still upset with him for leaving? Justin thought they had worked that out, and that Taylor understood why he had done what he did. But maybe not.
“Taylor—”
“I’m fine, Justin.”
“But—”
“Justin, drop it.”
Justin pressed his lips together to keep from whimpering as he turned his face into Chase’s muscled arm. He hated it when Taylor shut him out like this. It had happened in the past, but only when the Teacher was making Taylor do something he didn’t want to do. The Teacher was long gone, so Taylor couldn’t use that as an excuse for his behavior this time.
“It’ll be okay, angel,” Chase whispered silently through their bond. Justin felt Chase’s hand pat him on his knee. “Taylor will work out whatever is bothering him and talk to us about it when he’s ready to.”
“Do you think he’s still mad at me for leaving?” Justin just had to know. He hated it when Taylor was upset. He felt like each second ticked by slower than the sun set when Taylor was angry. The sun only started to rise again when he would see Taylor’s sweet smile.
“I don’t think so, Justin. Taylor isn’t one to hold a grudge. Something has upset him, but I don’t think it was you.” Chase’s massive shoulders moved as he shrugged. “Maybe he’s worried about everything that we learned about who you are.”
Justin felt like his heart became lodged in his throat. “Maybe he doesn’t love me anymore because I’m a vampire.” It was the only thing Justin could think of that might explain Taylor’s behavior. “He must hate me now. I…I”—Justin barely smothered his sob—”I probably disgust him now.”
“Damn it!” Chase shouted, slamming his fist into the steering wheel.
Justin’s head snapped up when he felt the truck suddenly swerve. He was worried that they might have been heading for a crash until he saw Chase pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and turn the truck off.
“Chase, wha—” Justin was silenced by Chase’s dark, angry expression. Oh perfect, now he had two men mad at him. Justin wrapped his arms around his stomach and slouched down in his seat. If he hadn’t been surrounded by his mates on both sides, he would have slid from the truck and took off running.
“I want answers, Taylor,” Chase said roughly, “and I want them now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taylor replied in a snarky tone.
“You’re lying.”
“Am not!” Taylor shouted.
“Taylor—”
Justin let out a loud screech and started pushing on Taylor, wanting out. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He hated being around people that were arguing or angry. Having that come from his mates made it even worse.
“Let me out!” Justin shouted.
“Justin,” Taylor began.
“Let me out now!” Justin shouted even louder. He felt like he was suffocating in a sea of overamplified testosterone around these two. He needed fresh air, and he needed room to breathe.
Taylor slid from the truck, his moves jerky as he moved aside for Justin to get out. Justin began to walk, feeling his heart sinking that both of his mates were arguing, and most likely, about him.
“Where are you going?” Chase shouted.
“Away from you two,” Justin replied.
“Running away again?” Taylor snapped.
Justin could hear the hurt in Taylor’s voice, but he couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment. He was sick and tired of this damn dysfunctional-ass relationship. They could have each other. If this was how things were going to be, Justin wanted no part of it. He would go back to Danny and his mate, and live out his lonely existence alone.
Justin spun around and stomped back toward Taylor, shoving his finger into Taylor’s chest. “It’s better than having you sulking over god knows what, and Chase yelling his demands to be told. I don’t need this bullshit!”
“You don’t need it?” Taylor snapped. “Then how do you think I feel when—” Taylor curled his lips in and spun around, walking back toward the truck.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Justin said as he hurried after Taylor. He grabbed his mate’s arm and spun him around. Wow, he was shocked at how strong he was. Okay, he would examine that later. Right now he had a mate to chew out. “Tell me what’s wrong, or so help me, I’ll bite you.”
“Is that how I’ll get you to feed from me?” The acid in Taylor’s voice stunned Justin. Never before had he heard Taylor speak that way to him.
He didn’t like it.
“What in blue blazes are you talking about?”
Justin watched as Chase walked slowly around the front of the truck, keeping a close eye on Taylor. Justin looked into Taylor’s blue eyes, seeing raw hurt radiating in them. Oh, gods, what was wrong with Taylor?
“I’m talking
