Chapter Thirteen
The alarm went off, and Steven Tyler wailed about Janie having a gun. Kyler groaned and rolled away from the alarm, turning his back to it as if that would make it go away. His head hurt from the lack of sleep, and he regretted his attitude from the night before. Y ou can sleep when you're dead was the dumbest thing he had ever thought.
It didn't matter that he felt drained and could sleep for another few hours. Royce would come over and drag his ass to the garage. Royce wouldn't give him a pass because he stayed out to late the night before. Kyler knew because he'd tried once.
Kyler felt around for Andrew, but all he got was warm sheets. He sat up and threw the covers back, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and shutting off the alarm with the other.
He might have a vague memory of Andrew leaving. Maybe. Andrew might have kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "I have to go into the station, carino. I'll call you in a couple of hours to say good morning." Either it was a good dream or a good memory.
Kyler scratched his stomach as he made his way down the hallway to the kitchen. Coffee first and then a shower. The smell of the coffee brewing woke him up a little bit more, so he stood there for a few minutes, taking in the goodness.
He went about following the rest of his morning routine. It wasn't until he was back in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of joe and a bowl of cereal that the phone rang.
His heart beat a little harder with excitement. Kyler grinned when he saw the caller ID say it was from the Pickleville Police Station. He lifted the receiver. "Hello."
"Good morning, carino." Andrew's accented voice sounded like the sexiest thing Kyler had ever heard over the phone. Or at all.
That bedroom quality huskiness made Kyler think of wicked things, and his cock hardened.
"Good morning." Kyler took a bite of his cereal.
"I borrowed one of your shirts."
"You didn't go home after you left?" That surprised Kyler.
"No, I took a shower at your house. My shirt had glitter on it, and it smelled bad. I'm still confused about the glitter."
Kyler chuckled. "Luis had some on his face, chest, and arms."
"I don't remember Luis rubbing himself on my shirt, carino."
"No, but he was next to me, and I pressed against you. A lot." And saying that aloud brought heat to his face. As much as Kyler wanted to have a conversation face to face, he was glad Andrew couldn't see him. He didn't need to look in a mirror to know he blushed.
"That I remember." Did Andrew's accent get thicker? "Are you free for lunch?"
Kyler took a bite of his cereal and tried to ignore his horniness. "Um…I have to work today, and I only get half an hour."
"What about dinner?"
"I was going to stop by Greg's later." But he could maybe change his plans.
Andrew sighed as if he was out of ideas.
Kyler decided to cut the man a break. "You could come by too if you want. I get off work at six o'clock today. We could have dinner afterward."
"I'd like that."
Kyler took a sip of his coffee for the first time. He shut his eyes at the goodness of the caffeine washing over him. His brain shorted out until he could only think about the dark, liquid goodness. Taking another sip brought him back to reality.
So did Andrew's voice in his ear. "Are you drinking coffee?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't have a chance to get any yet this morning. And Foley makes sludge. It's worse than the stuff they made when I was a detective. Never thought that was even possible." Andrew chuckled.
Kyler laughed. "Police coffee is bad, huh?"
"The worst. Describe your coffee to me."
Kyler lifted his eyebrows. "You want me to describe to you what my coffee tastes like?"
"Mm…please."
Kyler was going to have so much fun with this. "Well, first of all, it's hot on my tongue. It slides over it and down my throat so nicely. Like a great big leaking cock." Kyler took a sip, then hummed in the back of his throat. "I grind my beans. So the flavor is stronger, nuttier." Kyler thought about the last time he'd had sex, which just so happened to be with Andrew. "The liquid looks like mocha-colored skin. I use a chocolate-flavored creamer that is almost orgasmic. It tastes so good in my mouth. It's like licking off chocolate on hot skin."
Andrew said something in Spanish that sounded like pretty curse words. "I'm hard, carino."
Kyler laughed. "How about I bring you a cup before I go to work?"
"Okay, but that only solves one of my problems."
Kyler parked behind the garage like usual and carried Andrew's cup of coffee in one of Greg's to-go mugs. He couldn't remember how or why Greg's mug had ended up at his house, but it had been there a while.
He'd left home twenty minutes earlier than usual so that he wouldn't be late. But as he jogged passed the garage and across the street, he could practically feel Royce's disapproving gaze follow him over. Kyler turned and waved when he got onto the sidewalk in front of the station.
Royce leaned against the doorjamb with his arms folded at his chest and concern on his face. He nodded in that usual way he always did.
He entered the station and searched around. He had never been inside.
He walked to the woman behind the counter. He was pretty sure he had graduated high school with her son, Tyler Harris, but he'd never talked to her before. She was maybe middle-aged and gave the impression she was the secretary. "Hello, I'm here to see Chief Martinez."
She smiled in a very mom way and gestured to an open door. "You can go on in. He's expecting you."
Kyler could see a portion of a dark, wood desk and a painting on the wall, but not much else through the open door. Kyler started past the swinging half-door but stopped before he could. "I can just go through?"
"You sure can, sweetie." She answered the phone when it rang.
Kyler pressed against the swinging door and made his way to the other side, nodding to an older man who appeared as if he had needed to retire when the former chief had. Kyler smiled before turning his gaze to Olivia Welsh. He'd known and talked to her a time or two because she was part of the LGBTQ+ community, so they knew some of the same people. Pickleville had a growing LGBTQ+ population, but the town was small, so it meant they all knew each other.
Despite the counter separating the cops from the criminals, the station was one big open room with three doors in the back, and a wall partitioning off what Kyler assumed held jail cells but couldn't be sure because they were out of his line of sight.
The secretary was the only one not in a uniform.
When Kyler got to Andrew's office, he stood at the door. Andrew sat at his desk, talking on his phone, but when he saw Kyler, he smiled and waved him inside. His conversation was in Spanish, and the only word Kyler understood out of all of them was Mami.
Kyler set the coffee mug on Andrew's desk in front of him and then sat down in one of the chairs.
"I gotta get off the phone, Mami. Kyler's here… Someone I'm dating." Andrew winked at him. "Don't tell them. Ay dios mio. You know how they are…Si. I promise…Si…I'm hanging up…te amo, Mami."
Andrew shook his head as he put down the phone. "One of my sisters gave my mom the station's phone number, and she's called me every other day since."
Kyler smiled. "Why doesn't she call your cell phone?"
"She thinks people are listening. Like the CIA or something. I don't know why she thinks they'd wanted to monitor her phone calls." Andrew stood and took the mug Kyler sat on his desk, taking a drink as he came around the desk, leaning against it. "Thank you, carino."
"Did you tell her we're dating?"
"Yes. Are we not?"
Kyler shrugged. "I guess that's what dinner is, right?"
"That's what I want with you."
Kyler smiled. He wanted to think Andrew wasn't just using his charm to manipulate, but he didn't know him well enough. He would proceed with caution.
"I gotta go." Kyler raised a hand to wave and turned.
"Kyler." Andrew's voice stopped him.
He turned and met Andrew's gaze. "Yeah?"
"Come here."
"I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, if I come over there, you're gonna kiss me. I can tell you want to. If you kiss me, I'm gonna have to go to work with a stiff dick. And that's just evil to do to someone."
Andrew chuckled. "Just come here."
"Now, see, here's the thing. I don't think I should. I'm supposed to be mad at you still, remember. How would it look if I came to you every time you asked me? What kind of message would that send?"
"Kyler."
"I'm just trying to be a good teacher to the tender grasshopper." Kyler tried not to laugh but couldn't hold back anymore when Andrew stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.
"‘Tender Grasshopper'? Really?" Andrew was the one who closed the distance between them, which had to be a good sign that he wasn't playing at the dating thing. He wanted to get to know Kyler. Right? It was a good sign.
"Well, it just seems like you have a lot to learn when it comes to me."
Andrew grabbed him around the waist and kissed him soundly. They were standing in the doorway of Andrew's office, making out like a couple of teenage boys. Andrew licked at Kyler's lips, just little flicks of a tongue that set fire to Kyler's blood and made his dick stiffen. Kyler moaned, and Andrew took advantage, plunging into Kyler's mouth.
Kyler's fingers laced through the thick strands of Andrew's hair and pulled back, holding Andrew in place so he could chase after the kiss. "We're at your work, Andy."
"You're right. I got a little carried away."
Kyler smiled. "Yeah, me too."