Counting Stars

Chapter 2

Brian barely held back a low growl as he paced back and forth in his room, one hand raising to brush through his hair in his annoyance. In less than twenty four hours, he had twice nearly blown his chance; losing his job at Harry's would have more than likely lost him the assignment and the best way he had to get closer to the Toretto pack without suspicion. Using the guise of delivering the parts they ordered to scope out the scene and hopefully get them to be more relaxed around him. Though his wolf was whining only for nearly losing a chance to join the pack. To feel like they belonged for once.

It had only been thanks to Harry that he hadn't been kicked to the curb as Toretto had been determined to. And, true to his word, Brian was making sure Harry didn't regret his decision to give him another chance.

Determined, he quickly swallowed a couple of suppressants before heading out of the back room that had become his temporary home. "Hey Harry, I can take the stuff over for you." Harry paused in his discussion with Hector to get him to drop the parts off to the Toretto's, glancing over to the blonde. A couple of minutes passed by as the two watched each other, Harry seeming to be deciding whether Brian would get himself in more trouble before he eventually nodded and headed back to the desk.

Grabbing the first box, he carried outside and put it in the tray of his ute, soon putting the other three with it before he headed off to the address Harry gave him. Pulling up near the driveway, he got out to survey the house for a second, unsure whether to take the stuff straight to the garage or knock on the door first.

Picking up one of the boxes, his gaze flicked between the house and the garage in thought before moving to the latter, placing the box down by the closed door before turning to retrieve the others. Hearing a familiar growl, Brian barely bit back an annoyed curse as he turned to Vince, who was stalking across the lawn to him. "What do you think you're doing here, pup? Snooping around?"

"Just dropping Toretto's order off man, thought I'd just leave it by the garage for him." He offered a small shrug before turning away and heading back to his truck for the other boxes, though he didn't make it far before he found a hand gripping his arm and yanking him around, slamming him into the garage. Vince growled again but, before he could do anything else, the garage door opened and Dom stepped out with a frown. "What's going on here?"

Brian glanced over to him, staying silent as Vince pushed him against the garage again before taking a step back. "Apparently dropping your order off, though he didn't decide to go knock on the door and let us know."

After a jerk of Toretto's head in the direction of the house, Vince finally backed off, leaving the two alone as Dom then turned to look to Brian once more, one brow quirking up questioningly. "This my whole order or am I going to have to wait a little longer for the rest?"

❖ ❖ ❖

After the last box was put into the other garage, Dom signed the papers before placing the clipboard on top of the nearest box when Brian didn't move to take it from him. Turning to locate the wandering blonde, he raised a brow as he spotted the Beta standing by Leon's car, newly restored after another racer had gotten a bit too careless and nearly gotten both cars trashed, though Leon's had ended up much better than the other guy's.

"You like racing eh?" Moving closer to him, he slipped his hands into his jean pockets as he stopped by his side, using the excuse of leaning in to talk close to his ear to subtly scent him. Neutral scent like a lot of Betas, but he still felt that there was something hiding under the scent, his instincts having wanted to check again if he was the Beta he came across as.

Noticing Brian take a step to the side, he realised he'd been lingering for too long, clearing his throat before looking to him expectantly for an answer.

❖ ❖ ❖

Crap. When Dom lingered by the side of his neck for a little longer than was comfortable, Brian had worried that his cover was blown, trying to recall if he had taken the scent suppressants or not, the question asked momentarily forgotten as he tried to casually step away. Blinking as he watched Toretto recover his composure and cross his arms over his chest waiting, the blonde managed to remember the question, glad when Dom didn't voice any questions about whether he was a Beta or not. His cover was still safe, hopefully. "Uh, yeah. Use to watch a lot of the street races back in my old town, but thought; why let everyone else have all the fun? Might as well join in."

A small grin tugged at the corner of Dom's lips, gaze darting briefly to the door before returning to the male before him. "You trashed your old ride eh? Hate to burst your bubble Brian, but that truck you've got ain't going to get you anywhere."

Tilting his head up in challenge, he watched as Dom's eyes narrowed slightly, no doubt his Alpha instincts kicking in as a response to Brian's expression as his jaw tightened minutely. The blonde allowed a grin of his own appear before turning and heading out the door, casually calling over his shoulder. "What makes you think I'd even be driving that?"