Hard to Be Good (Hard Ink #3.5) by Laura Kaye Page A

Emilie said, smiling. Jeremy really admired her ability to find humor so soon after experiencing such tragedy. Having come close to losing Nick in that ambush a year ago, Jeremy didn’t think he’d be able to hold it together nearly as well as Emilie was doing if he lost his brother. “You could call him Boo.”
    “That’s so cute,” Becca said.
    “Or Cyclops,” Charlie said. “Cy for short.”
    Jeremy smiled at Charlie. “That’s a good one. Cy. Cy the Cat. That’s really good, Charlie.”
    Charlie stuffed his hands into his pockets and ducked his chin, but Jeremy could see the pleased grin he was trying to hide.
    “Oh, God,” Becca said. “We are really twisted people, with these names.”
    “How about Popeye?” Shane suggested, earning a new round of laughter. “Come on, that one’s genius.”
    Just then, the door to the gym opened, and a bunch of Ravens poured in, Dare at the head of the group. Nick left their circle to touch base with him.
    “Oh, I better go get dinner together. Everyone’s going to be hungry,” Becca said. “Excuse me.”
    “I’ll help,” Kat said to Becca, then she turned to the group. “It’s potpie and last we checked, it smelled fantastic. We made six big pans, but I wouldn’t delay grabbing a plate or there might not be any left.”
    “So, which name do you like best?” Shane asked Jeremy. “Popeye, right? It’s totally Popeye.”
    Jeremy laughed. “I’m not sure yet, but we have a few winners here.”
    Talking and laughing, they all moved over to his apartment, and Kat was right—it did smell fantastic, like warm bread and savory spices. Becca and Kat scrambled to set out the trays of potpie and bowls of salad as a line formed at the island.
    “How can I help?” Jeremy asked.
    “Put all this over there?” Becca said, pointing to baskets of corn bread and containers of paper plates and plastic utensils piled by the sink. He moved them to the breakfast bar with the other food. It looked like they were feeding a small army. And, actually, he supposed that was about right.
    All the Ravens and a few members of the team grabbed their food and took it over to the gym, where there was a big makeshift table that could accommodate a larger number. Jeremy and Charlie ended up on one of the couches in the living room, plates in their laps, along with Becca, Kat, Marz, and Emilie.
    The conversation was easy and fun. Natural. Like they’d all known one another forever, not just for weeks. Once again, it had Jeremy thinking of family. And regretting the fact that, at some point, the investigation would end and everyone would go their separate ways. As big as the Hard Ink building was, Jeremy had never felt it was too big, even before Nick had been discharged from the Army and moved in with him. But now that he’d shared the space with all these people, he wasn’t sure how he’d ever go back without feeling like he was rattling around in a tomb.
    Was anyone else worried about what happened when all this ended? Stupid, really, since ending the investigation and nailing the team’s enemies was the whole point. Not to mention that, as powerful as their enemies seemed to be, there was no telling when or even if it would ever end. And the longer it went on, the more danger they all were in.
    Including Charlie. He’d already been kidnapped and tortured, and he’d been up on that roof yesterday morning, too. God, what Jeremy should be worried about was what happened if all this didn’t end.
    Jeremy turned his gaze on Charlie.
    Amazing how, sometimes, really fucking good things came out of really fucking bad ones. The way Jer was feeling about the guy was so much more than good.
    As casual as Jeremy had always been about sex and as few actual relationships as he’d had, finding and wanting Charlie was a revelation.
    “What?” Charlie asked around a bite of corn bread.
    Jeremy smiled and shook his head. “Nothing, man.” As he finished the last of his potpie, he caught