Primal Instincts Volume 5 is Live!

HAWK

Spending an entire week with Garrison, especially on a business trip, usually resulted in a good time. Not only was he exceptional at fucking me, the guy was good company. I liked hanging out with the man. He was always the life of the party.

Except when he wasn’t.

This week, I’d been lucky if he would even crack a smile. He did once. Maybe. It was when I stepped out of the elevator at the hotel and tripped over a ripple in the carpet. Laughing at someone else’s expense qualified, didn’t it?

I was certain he had cracked a smile at that, but not since. And every time I attempted to get him to open up about what was wrong, he would insist it was nothing I needed to concern myself with. He had enforced his desire to avoid conversation by disappearing for lengthy periods. I suspected he had visited his family while we were in Central Texas. I’d met them a few times, so if he’d been so inclined, he could’ve asked me to tag along. I would’ve gone. But he didn’t, so I hadn’t tried to insert myself. Something was going on with Garrison, and I was astute enough to know when to back off.

Only problem was I couldn’t keep from being concerned, worrying about him. I still had no fucking clue what had changed between Garrison and me in recent weeks, but something had. Or I thought so until this trip. After that last encounter, we seemed to be making progress.

Granted, there was a good chance I was standoffish as well. After spending the night with Journey, I felt like a different man. As though the blinds had been lifted and the sun was allowed to shine on my priorities. Namely, her. Since we had all agreed we wouldn’t have sex with other people outside the four of us, I was attempting to abide by the rule. And yes, I understood this could be misconstrued to mean we could have sex with each other, and technically what Garrison and I were doing wasn’t exactly cheating. However, the fact that we were keeping it from Journey felt deceitful.

So there was a good chance Garrison thought I was blowing him off because I wasn’t openly pursuing him. That wasn’t the case. Not intentionally.

My phone buzzed at the same time Garrison’s did. I glanced at the group text message from Creed.

— Journey and her friends are going to Austere tonight. We should make a night of it.

Since Garrison didn’t bother looking at his phone, I read Creed’s text aloud. “You up for a night out?”

“Nah. You have fun.”

“Seriously, man. Journey’s going to be there. Plus, she’s bringing her friends.”

He didn’t respond. Didn’t even acknowledge me.

“Your loss,” I told him, peering out the window as he drove us from the airport to the house.

When he didn’t acknowledge I was attempting to discuss the issue, I tapped out a response to Creed.

— I’ll be there. Garrison’s sulking, so I think he’s going to pass.

— The fuck he is. Garrison, get over yourself. We’ve got shit to work out. All four of us.

I read it off for him and earned more silence. I had no idea what Creed’s intentions were, but I had a feeling tonight was going to end badly.