Embracing His Syn (34 page)

“
Furi. Are you even
listening to me?”

Furi’s head shot up at Doug’s loud
voice. “Y-y-yeah, I’m listening.”

“
Soooo. Receptionist or no
receptionist?”

“
Umm. Even though we have
it in the budget to hire a receptionist, I think we should just buy
a good office phone system for now, have cordless receivers around
the shop and let the mechanics take turns answering the phones. If
it gets busy fast, then we’ll hire someone.” Furi checked off a few
notes, flipping through a ton of other papers they had spread
across the six-top table.

Right after Syn left this morning,
Furi went to wait across the street for Doug to pick him up for the
meeting with their new property manager. Both of them were buzzing
with the anticipation of finally being able to make their dream a
reality.

They’d found Jase’s Auto Shop almost
six months ago. Anytime Furi needed specialty parts for his school
assignments, that’s where he’d end up. Furi really liked the guys
who worked there; they were friendly and talented as hell. It
reminded him of his dad’s place. When Jase said he was retiring and
selling the place the following year, Furi and Doug immediately
jumped on it. Jase’s was a great location in a prime area of
Atlanta with very loyal customers. The work the man did was nothing
short of phenomenal. Definitely some of the best auto repair and
customizations in the state. The seventy-five hundred square foot
space had a decent size waiting/reception area, a detailing space,
two offices, a fully equipped garage with five bays, four of them
with lifts. Although it’d taken them an extra nine months to save
the deposit needed for the lease, they knew it’d be worth it. The
great news was Jase was willing to offer them an excellent price on
his entire inventory, too.

They’d been at IHOP for the past three
hours since they’d signed their lease. The garage was theirs,
jointly owned, fifty-fifty. Now they were hashing out important
details with their new manager and two assistant managers on grand
opening ideas, staffing needs, inventory, permits, customers, etc.
They’d decided to open in thirty days. The garage was already fully
functional, so all they required were the new licenses, setup of
some of their newer tools, and enough time to run a two-week grand
opening ad. During the last week, they’d have the place
professionally cleaned by industrial specialist, all the new
furniture brought in, including Furi’s father’s bike, which would
sit on a raised platform in the window – it was sure to intrigue
passersby. Furi and his dad had completely rebuilt and tricked out
the bike before he passed. It was the last project they worked on
together. Furi was having it shipped all the way from his
grandmother's in Florida, the only place he knew it would’ve been
safe.

“
Furi, this place is going
to be fuckin’ awesome man. I already got people lined up. Are you
sure you don’t want to open up the auto detailing portion?” Doug
asked taking another sip of his third cup of coffee.

“
I think it’s a good idea
to open it, Furi, since it was the most popular service Jase
offered. We don’t want to lose his client base,” Roderick, one of
the assistant managers spoke up. The older man was a brilliant
business major from Morris Brown College. There wasn’t a business
related problem he couldn’t solve.

“
Alright,” Furi agreed.
“We can give it a try. But that means hiring a few more
guys.”

“
Let’s hire two
experienced detailers and get some senior year interns from the
Vo-Tech school," Roderick suggested. "I can start the paperwork on
that immediately. They could do it for the experience and we’ll get
a tax break for participating in a non-profit educational
program.”

Doug smiled, “Nice thinking,
brainiac.”

“
Well, I think that about
raps up this meeting. Let’s meet at the shop tom–” Furi stopped
midsentence, when he noticed two uniformed police officers staring
at him. Doug turned and looked.

“
Are they looking at you,
Roderick?” Doug asked.

Roderick dropped his pen down on the
table, throwing his hands in the air exaggeratedly. “Why the hell
would they be looking at me, Doug? Because I’m the only one in here
with a damn record? Nice, man, real nice. That really
hurts.”

“
Jesus, Rod. Ain’t’ no one
trying to hurt your sensitive-ass feelings. Tell me, how’s your
vagina feel, did that get hurt too, you fuckin’ wimp?” Doug rolled
his eyes, looking back at the cops that were still staring in their
direction.

“
Calm down guys, it looks
like they’re looking at me.” Furi began to gather his papers,
keeping an eye on the officers, one of them talking on a cell phone
now. “Let’s just go.”

“
Something you need to
tell us, Furi?” Roderick asked while gathering his own
belongings.

“
No, Rod. Look, I’ll meet
you guys tomorrow at nine.” Furi got up, tossing the rest of his
papers in his book bag. He was hoping that the cops weren’t there
to question him about his ex getting the shit beaten out of him. He
wondered how much damage Syn did. He’d assumed the man had used
some restraint since he was a police officer. Furi pulled out his
phone and turned it back on.

“
I’ll drive you home,
Furi.” Doug stood beside Furi openly glaring at the cops. “You
think this has anything to do with Illustra?”

“
I don’t think so,” Furi
whispered.

“
Why are you whispering?”
Doug said loudly, making the couple in the next table look
over.

“
Will you shut up? Come
on, let's just go.” Furi pulled out a few bills and tossed them on
the table. He waited on his three new hires to pack up their stuff,
and he followed them to the front door.

“
Excuse me, sir.” One the
young officers put his hand up to stop them. “Are you Furious
Barkley?”

“
Maybe. Maybe not. Is
there a problem, officers?” Doug stepped in front of
Furi.

“
Damn straight there’s a
problem.” Syn stepped inside the door, yanking his dark aviator
glasses off his face. The scowl he wore told Furi this was not a
pleasant coincidence. “Thanks guys, you can go.”

Furi stood with his mouth hanging open
while Syn dismissed the officers.

“
Seriously, Starsky. You
gonna track my boy down every time he leaves the house?” Doug said
angrily, still blocking Furi.

“
He’s not
your
boy. And what I do
regarding Furi is none of your goddamn business.” Syn’s clenched
jaw made his words sound like an evil hiss. He shouldered past Doug
and got directly in Furi’s face. “When I’ve been calling him for
over six hours and he hasn’t picked up or returned any of my calls,
I’ll send a fuckin’ SWAT team to find him if I want to.”

Syn spun and pointed his
finger in Doug’s face, “That’s
my
say, not yours.” Syn’s voice was rising with his
growing temper, and all eyes were on them.

“
Okay, let’s get out of
here.” Furi pushed at both men, urging them out the
door.

As soon as they were out in the brisk
fall air, Syn rounded on Furi, pushing their chest together. “Where
have you been, Furious? I’ve been going crazy trying to check on
you, and you’re sitting here casually eating pancakes,” Syn
growled.

“
Hey, back up, man.” Doug
tried to wedge in between Furi and Syn.

Syn looked up in annoyance. “Doug, I
swear, if you touch me, I’m gonna ensure that you never regain the
use of that hand.”

“
Okay, okay.” Furi put
both hands flat on Syn’s chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat
underneath all that muscle.
Fuck. He
really was scared. What was I thinking turning off my phone with
everything that’s going on?
“Syn. I’m so
sorry. I turned my phone off because–”

“
You don’t owe him an
explanation. You’re a grown man, Furious. You were having a
business meeting; he has no right to demand you be available to him
at all times, just like Patrick.”

Furi and Syn both snapped at Doug. But
Furi took control. “Hey! Don’t you ever say that again. This man is
nothing like that asshole.” Furi shook his head at the absurdity of
Doug’s accusation. “Don’t even say his name in the same sentence as
Patrick’s.”

Doug looked at Furi as if he were a
stranger.

“
Doug, you don’t know
everything that’s been going on. But I promise I’ll catch you up,
okay? Then you’re going to feel pretty shitty about what you just
said about Syn.” Furi nodded his head. “Go home. I’ll call you when
I’m back at Syn’s place.”

“
You’re staying with him?”
Doug yelled.

“
Doug. You know it’s not
safe at my place,” Furi said softly, his eyes pleading with his
friend for him to understand.

“
Then you should come to
stay with me. I don’t trust this guy!”

“
This is fuckin’ crazy,”
Syn snarled. “I know you’re his friend, but you’re sounding more
pissed than a
friend
should be.”

“
Don’t try to read me,
Detective. Furi is my best friend, and I’ve had his back since the
first day he got here.” Doug wasn’t backing down from Syn’s
intimidating posture. Syn’s dark glasses were back on, creating a
perfectly badass look with his black leather coat and boots. All
the hardware Syn had tucked under his arms and the shiny badge
hanging around his neck was a sight right out of a sexy cop
porno.

Syn stepped into Doug’s space. “Furi
is mine to protect. He’s with me now, like it or not.”

“
If it wasn’t for
you–”

“
If it wasn’t for him, I’d
be dead right now, and this conversation would be moot,” Furi said,
cutting off whatever Doug was going to say. Furi ignored Doug’s
questioning look. “I will call you okay? And I’ll fill you
in.”

“
I’ll make sure I’m close
by when he does, so you can apologize to me, dumbass,” Syn
grumbled.

“
Fuck you.”

“
Oh, now you want me too.”
Syn barked a laugh. “I thought you were straight.”

“
Syn,” Furi snapped.
“Knock it off.”

Syn took Furi’s backpack off his
shoulder and slid it on to his own. He intertwined their fingers
and Furi couldn’t ignore how much he liked that gesture from his
tough Sergeant. Doug still stood very close to Furi, watching them
both through narrowed eyes.

“
Stop looking like that,”
Furi whispered.

“
Are you sure you know
what you’re doing?” Doug whispered back.

Furi turned and looked behind him at
Syn’s ruggedly gorgeous face then down at their joined hands. He
turned back to Doug’s concerned eyes. “Yes, I do.” Furi leaned in
and chastely kissed Doug on the lips and watched him turn and
leave.

When Furi turned back, Syn was wearing
a large frown and his chest was frozen like he was holding his
breath. Furi got as close to Syn as he could. “What’s the
matter?”

“
Don’t do that again.”
Syn’s voice was rough and low.

“
Do what?” Furi frowned in
confusion.

Syn brought his free hand up and wiped
the pad of his thumb across Furi’s full lips. “Don’t put your lips
on him again.” Syn shook his head when Furi opened his mouth to
argue. “I know it was friendly, and it didn’t mean anything, but
humor me, okay? Don’t put your mouth on his. Syn leaned in and
pulled Furi’s bottom lip into his mouth and gently sucked on it,
right there in the IHOP parking lot. “Only I get to taste these
pretty lips,” Syn moaned inside Furi’s mouth.

Furi put his arms around Syn’s
shoulders. “Okay,” he whispered back, kissing Syn’s
cheek.

“
Let’s go.” Syn carried
Furi’s backpack to the large Suburban he’d parked beside the
building and placed it in the back seat.

“
Whose truck is this?”
Furi asked.

“
I borrowed it from work.
It belongs to the team. We can use them if needed.” Syn started the
powerful engine. Furi hooked his seat belt and turned to look at
Syn, realizing he was just sitting there, staring straight
ahead.

Furi unhooked his belt. “Babe. What’s
the matter?”

Syn took his glasses back off and
turned his body so he was facing Furi. “Furi. What you did today
... don’t do that again. I can respect your privacy. Really, I can.
But in light of recent events, please don’t cut yourself off like
that. I was ... I thought ..."

“
Fuck, Syn. I’m so sorry.
I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to call you so many times
today.”

Syn’s eyes widened.

“
Just to hear your voice.
Not because I was in trouble. But, I didn’t want to seem all clingy
and shit. We fucked once and already I’m acting sprung. Can’t stop
thinking of you.” Furi knew his embarrassment was making him blush.
But Syn was trying to find the words to say he was scared today, so
Furi wasn’t holding back on his feelings.

They closed the distance over the
large console and let their kiss be their words. Furi pushed his
tongue deep in Syn’s mouth, expressing how deeply sorry he was.
Syn’s hot, eager tongue told Furi how important it was to him to
keep him safe. When it felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out
of the vehicle, they inched back slightly to breathe against each
other’s cheek. Syn’s breath came out in shaky bursts, his hands
twisting in Furi’s long hair, trying to tug him in
closer.