Different

Hunter couldn’t imagine being in Ryan’s shoes. He’d hung on to emotions before, like anger, but he’d never experienced being unable to let someone go. It had to be incredibly hard.

“You must have loved him very much.” His voice remained gentle. Seeing Ryan so fragile was difficult in itself. He sipped on his malt and cocked his head, thinking. “Normal’s overrated,” he mused. “Besides…nobody’s normal.” He worked a little more on his malt, still pondering her situation. “Maybe letting go is more of just actually admitting he’s gone from your life, but…you can always keep him in your heart. He never has to leave there if you don’t want him to.” It sounded a little corny once it was out of his mouth, but Hunter didn’t know how else to say what he was thinking.

For some reason, he wanted to help. Maybe being a friend to Ryan was his own kind of distraction from his own recent loss. “Regardless…going fast always clears the head. Always. So…” He looked over at her as he sucked on his straw. “There’s a race tonight, and my passenger seat still has your name on it. All you gotta do is buckle up and sit. And if at any point you want out, I’ll throw the race.” They really were hardly even friends, and he didn’t want her to think he was after anything else. “No strings,” he added. “Promise.”

Just browsing through computer files, Garret had been bored most of the day, but hadn’t complained. It was better than hibernating…at least for today. He’d kept to himself for the most part, avoiding anyone other than Nate. There was still tension with having him around the office, and he could feel it. As much as it bothered him, at this point he knew it would be better just to leave it be.

He knew it was getting close to when Nate would be heading home, so he wasn’t surprised when Nate rolled over to the space he was working in. What did surprise him though were the keys. His eyebrows rose as he picked them up to finger them. From Reese? Seriously? What had changed that all of a sudden Reese trusted him that much? Of course, he couldn’t pay for gas, but at least it was… His thoughts halted as Nate continued and he couldn’t help the shock in his eyes. If he was honest, he’d never thought of ever getting paid by the Elite. He’d set out to offer them whatever intel they wanted and to help with cases, but he’d never expected to actually get something in return, other than a hideout from the Agency. And truth be known, getting paid was…not something he’d ever experienced.

His eyes lowered to the keys in his hand. “That…that sounds doable.” He nodded before glancing back up at Nate. While in the Agency, he’d been giving what he needed to survive, whether on a mission, or on leave. Never more, never less. It was never his money. The Agency had owned him. Nothing had been his own. So to be paid without needing to turn in proof of everything purchased would be…different.

“Thank you…Nate. I…appreciate this.” It might have been Reese’s doing, but without Nate, this never would have happened…

…Driving himself back to Nate and Laura’s not too much later, Garret felt like maybe, just maybe the glimmer of hope had returned. He’d lost more than he wanted to think about…but maybe there really was some amount of hope for him to have some kind of life.

It was late enough that he knew Laura would be getting supper and Maggie would be home already. As he stepped inside behind Nate, the smell of lasagna filled his nostrils and made his stomach growl. Would he rather hibernate tonight, or join the family? The decision seemed a whole lot harder than it should be.