13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Andy

I woke up the next morning all warm, cozy, and engulfed in the softest blanket I'd ever felt. My alarm hadn't gone off yet, and I was so comfy I didn't want to move, but the aroma of coffee and—was that bacon? I was pretty sure that was bacon—it lured me out of my cocoon.

I distinctly remembered falling asleep wrapped in Jesse's arms, but he wasn't here now, and neither was Seph. I threw back the blanket and sat up. Coffee waited for no man.

I made my way to the kitchen, hoping to find the source of the smell.

"Are you looking for coffee?" Jesse asked.

"Yes, please."

"I set a cup by the pot for you. I know you don't drink your coffee black, but I don't have any creamer. I do have milk, though."

"Milk will be fine. I really like the sweet Italian cream one, but if I add enough sugar, this will taste almost the same." I spooned a fair amount of sugar into the empty cup he'd set there for me.

"I didn't know what you usually ate for breakfast, but I made scrambled eggs and bacon. I also have tortillas and cheese if you want to turn it into a burrito."

"You didn't have to fix me breakfast."

"I know, but you had a rough night. I want you to start your day off better."

"I appreciate that." I inhaled the scent of the coffee and then took a drink. "Almost as much as I appreciate the coffee."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, have a seat, and you can eat real quick before you get ready to go."

I took a seat at the bar, and I was barely seated before I had a full breakfast in front of me. "I thought you said it was bacon and eggs."

He motioned at the bar in front of me that had eggs, bacon, hash brown potatoes, tortillas, cheese, and a variety of sauces ranging from add a little flavor to set your mouth on fire . "There are eggs and bacon there."

I went to work assembling a burrito for myself to eat while he watched like he might need to jump in and help at any moment. I might not have lived here long, but I was pretty sure I could figure out how to roll up a burrito. Once I'd proven myself competent, he took a seat across from me.

"So, what time will you get off tomorrow morning?"

"We normally get to leave right at seven-thirty unless we're out on a call, then it could be hours later, but I told you, I can get someone else to bring me back to your place." I took a bite of my burrito and let out an appreciative moan. "This is really good."

"Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it, but there's no reason for you to have someone else bring you home. I'll come get you."

I shrugged. "Okay, but if you change your mind, just let me know."

When I finished eating, I glanced at my phone. "This was really good, Jesse, but I need to hop in the shower if I'm gonna make it to work on time."

"Cool. Use mine. The one in the guest bath is old and can be a bit persnickety. That bathroom is next on my list of remodels."

"No problem." Last night when he'd pointed out the guest bathroom, I'd noticed that it had dated pink tile, and the knobs on the sink looked like they were original to the house. I'd thought it was cute. But I'd also used the ensuite bathroom, and it was all-new and shiny. New and shiny beat cute and persnickety, so I wasn't going to argue. I paused and met his eyes. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Jesse, and thanks for last night."

"No thanks necessary. You go get ready while I clean up in here, and then I'll run you to work."

I grabbed my bag with my clothes and toiletries in it and took that with me to Jesse's bathroom. I paused and looked around at the large walk-in shower, the jacuzzi tub, and the double vanity. I didn't know if he was the one who did all of this, but there was no way a house this old had been built with a bathroom this nice.

I put my bag up on the counter and pulled out my toiletries. The last thing I needed was a towel. I grabbed one from the towel rack and pulled on it, but a small slip of red fabric came off with it.

I bent over and picked up a familiar pair of lacy underwear. So that's where those got off to. I'd looked for them after we got back from our camping trip and didn't find them. Looked like someone else did.

But the question was, what were they doing in his bathroom? In my fantasy world, he would've kept them unwashed so he could smell me on them while he jerked off in the shower because he wanted me that much. Of course, that probably wasn't what happened. Although now I was curious.

I walked back to the kitchen where he was still cleaning up and held them out.

"Umm, Jesse, something you want to tell me?"

"What?" he asked, looking at me over his shoulder. His eyes landed on my outstretched hand and the dangling red lace.

"Why exactly is my Cosabella G-string in your bathroom, Jesse?"

"Oh, so that's where those went." He tried to look all nonchalant, but I could tell he was embarrassed. "I found them in my dirty clothes after we went camping. I washed them for you, though."

"In the washer?" I pulled them to my chest in a protective gesture.

"Yeah, but I didn't put them in the drier, though. I hung them up, cause they looked… delicate?" He said it like it was a question not a statement. "I was going to give them back, but I couldn't find a good time, and then the longer I had them, the more awkward it got."

"Do you like them?" I teased, and oh my lord, his expression. "I was wearing them the day of the photoshoot. Our turn-out gear gets so hot." I rolled my lip up between my teeth and bit down while I fanned myself.

"Go take a shower, brat. You have to work today."

I laughed and hurried back to the bathroom because messing with him was fun, but he was right. I had a shift, and I was going to be late if I didn't hustle.

Thirty minutes later, he dropped me off at the station after making me promise to text him and let him know what time to pick me up. I didn't see why I couldn't just have Kevin or Ronda drop me off, but no, he had to be the one to come get me.

Robert had officially made captain, so he led our morning meeting. It was a short one because Robert wasn't as long-winded as the chief.

Robert dismissed everyone, but when I turned to leave, he called out to me to wait.

"Listen, Keith told me what happened last night. Someone seriously set your car on fire?"

"Whoa, hold up, Probie," Ford said as he and Kevin doubled-back to where we were still standing. "What happened?"

"Me, Caleb, and my friend Mika were hanging out at my house, and someone set my car on fire."

"Do they know who did it?" he asked.

"No, but they have a suspect. Some guy I had some trouble with at Kirby's last Friday night." I shrugged. "But I don't know for sure. Fox is on it, though."

"Fox is investigating it? He doesn't think it's connected to the other arson cases, does he?" Ford asked.

"He didn't seem to."

Kevin shook his head. "I wouldn't think so. It doesn't fit the arsonist's MO."

"Right," Robert agreed. "Most arsonists don't change their patterns. Our guy is all about empty buildings."

"But either way, you need to be careful." The serious look on Kevin's face told me how worried he was. "You mentioned the other day that your brother was out of town. Do you have a place to stay? You can come stay with me and Jamar if you want to."

"Thanks, Kevin. I appreciate the offer, but I'm staying with my brother's friend, Jesse, so I'm good."

"Okay. If anything changes, you just call me.

"And if you need a ride, I'm your man," Ford said.

I'd had so many emotions when Victor had shown up that day to inform me I was coming to Texas with him. Anger because who the fuck did he think he was, relief because Victor had finally seen me and realized I was drowning, not to mention fear because… hello, a queer guy moving to Texas. But now that I was here, now that I had my shit together, I had to say it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And these guys right here at this station were a huge part of that.

"I'm going to get a new car tomorrow, so I'll be fine. But seriously, thanks, guys. It means a lot."

"Keep me informed, Andy," Robert said, and I nodded. "Okay, how about if to show you how sorry I am about your car. I let you kick my ass at that driving game you like so much."

"Like I couldn't do it anyway," I said, rolling my eyes.

We spent the rest of the morning hanging out, playing games, or reading. A little before lunch, we got a motor vehicle accident call that luckily didn't involve any serious injuries. After that, we all went back to the station, got our chores done, and then spent the rest of the afternoon killing time.

I planned to give knitting one more go, but I was pretty sure I was a lost cause where that was concerned. Ford spent a little time with me, repeating all the basic knitting instructions he'd given me previously. After a while, we both decided me and yarn did not mix, so we gave up. He made his way over to the couch to watch a movie, while I challenged Ronda to a game of foosball. I don't know why I bothered because she always beat me. And today was no different.

She'd beat me twice and was busy kicking Si's ass when Kelly, the photographer who had handled our calendar shoot, walked in carrying a large envelope. "Hey, everyone, is Chief Sheridan around?"

"No, he had a meeting with the mayor this afternoon. Is there something we can help you with?" Robert asked.

"Oh, I sent him a text and let him know I was dropping off the calendar proof. It didn't occur to me he might not be here."

"Is that it?" Ford asked, hopping up and heading towards her. "I want to see."

"This is it, and if I do say so myself, they turned out fantastic." She reached into the envelope and pulled out a calendar, handing it to Ford.

"Oh my, oh my, aren't we a team of sexy beasts!" Ford held up the calendar so we could all see the cover.

We all crowded around to get a better look while Kelly stood there watching us.

"I'll put this in the chief's office for you," Robert said.

"Thanks. I'll get in touch with him on Monday to make sure he's happy with it." We all watched as she turned and walked away, and as soon as she was gone, we all surrounded Ford while he flipped through the calendar.

I hadn't been overly excited about the idea of wearing the bunny ears for the photograph, but when Ford paused on April, I had to admit it had turned out great. I looked playful, sexy, and a little bit flirty. She'd managed to bring out a side of me I'd been working really hard to keep under wraps, and seeing it right there in print made me realize I missed it. Not that I was telling any of them that.

"Aw, look how cute you are in your wittle bunny ears." Ford said it like he was talking to a little kid.

I shot him the bird before saying, "Fuck off, Ford, cute sells."

Then we flipped back to February to find Kevin's picture. He was holding a red heart-shaped box of candy in one hand and cradled a white ball of fur with a red collar in the other. I was sure the point was to make people fall in love with the puppy, but what it did was draw attention to Kevin's beautiful dark skin and massive biceps. Seriously, the man was stacked.

"Damn, Kevin, look at those guns. Cute ain't the only thing that sells." I tapped the page. "I bet a lot of people are gonna be wishing it was February all year round."

We spent a few minutes teasing Robert about his Fourth of July suspenders, and telling Ford he wasn't half as sexy as he thought he was. Which wasn't true at all because he was indeed sexy as hell. We just didn't need his head to get any bigger.

Somehow, she'd made Keith appear even bigger, which said something cause, in real life, he was a big man. I couldn't wait to hear what Caleb thought about his picture.

Next, we flipped over to December. She'd put the chief in a Santa hat, and with his silver beard and stern expression, his picture was going to feed a whole lot of holiday fantasies.

"Oh my, hello, Santa Daddy," I purred, looking at the photo as Fox coughed and Robert cleared his throat.

"Fuck. He's behind me, isn't he?"

"Yep," Ronda said, chuckling.

"I got a text from Kelly saying the calendar proof is here. I assume that's it." He pointed at the calendar, and I nodded.

"Yeah, umm, the pictures all came out great. Gonna make a ton for the animal shelter. Umm, I have chores to do." I turned and scurried off as quick as possible. Maybe I could change stations or towns. Shoot, I bet they needed firefighters in Alaska, even. Alaska sounded good right about now.

Jesse

Once a month, we had what my mom liked to call family dinners. We normally did it on Sundays because everyone was off work, but my parents were going out of town, so we were doing an early dinner today. Which worked for me since I needed something to take my mind off of the last 24 hours. Someone had set Andy's car on fire, and I brought him home with me. Which meant I had him right where I wanted him, for all the wrong reasons.

I'd gone over to my parents' house shortly after lunch so my dad and I could work on their new deck more. We chatted a little about how the club was going, but for the most part, he tried not to interfere. I knew all the changes that Victor and I had made to the bar made it seem like it was a completely different place. In reality, it was. What I didn't know was if that made things easier for my dad or harder.

We were just finishing up when my mom stuck her head out the back door. "By the time y'all get cleaned up, we'll be ready to eat."

"Is everyone here?" I asked. We'd been so focused on our work that I hadn't noticed anyone arriving.

"Your Aunt June is here, and so are Shawn and Molly. The kids are riding with Dylan, though."

That made sense because, as of yet, no one had launched themselves on top of me. For some reason, they both seemed to think I was a jungle gym. It took us a few minutes to put all our tools away, but once we were done, my dad stepped back and gave the deck an appraising look.

"I think that'll do. Thanks for all your help, son."

"Any time, Dad. We better get inside before Mom comes back for us a second time."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that."

Inside, June was sitting at the table playing a game of Scrabble with my brother, Shawn. I didn't know how she talked him into playing, but I had to stop and tease him.

"Who's winning?" I asked.

"Who do you think's winning?" Shawn grumbled, which meant he was losing as always. Our aunt was a wicked good Scrabble player, and it was rare for any of us to beat her.

"I didn't want to assume. I mean, miracles do happen." I leaned down and placed a kiss on June's cheek.

I walked over to where Molly was taking cookies off a cookie sheet. "Where are Dylan and the kids, Mol?" I reached around her to grab a cookie, but she was quick to swipe my hand away before I could get one.

"Uh-uh, big brother. Those are for dessert. You can wait like everyone else." I tried giving her my best pouty face, but it didn't work. I think being a teacher made her immune. It always had our mother. Before she had a chance to tell me where Dylan and the kids were, the kitchen door opened, and they came in.

"Uncle Jesse! You should've seen it. We went to the park to fly my airplane, and there was a guy who had a drone. It was super cool." Carter wore a grin that was almost as big as his excitement.

"That sounds awesome, Carter. How about it, Amelia? What did you think about the drone?"

"It was cool." Amelia shrugged.

"She was way less impressed by the drone than she was with the dog she was playing with." Dylan looked over at Molly, and the two of them shared a look. I knew they'd been talking about getting them a dog, and I was guessing that's what the conspiratorial glance was about.

"He was super sweet, Uncle Jesse. You should've seen him. He was just about this big." She held out her hand to indicate that the dog came to about her knees. "And his name was Monkey. Why would you call your dog Monkey? He's a dog, not a monkey. But the lady let me pet him. She said he was a…" She looked up at her dad for help.

"A Bichon Frise," Dylan supplied.

"Yeah, that," Amelia agreed.

I was tempted to tell her about Seph, but I wasn't ready to answer the questions that would bring up. I loved my family, but they were nosy as all get out, and my mother was beyond ready for me to settle down. If I told her Andy was staying at my place, she would have us married in a month, and I hadn't even kissed him yet. I had no intention of saying a word until I knew where we were headed. Of course those intentions got blown to hell when my Gigi showed up.

She wasn't there five minutes before she gave me an appraising look and said, "I thought maybe you would bring that nice young man with you. The one with the dog."

I should've known she'd noticed Andy over there since she lived next door. "That's Victor's brother, Gigi."

"And?"

"And, there is no and . Victor's out of town. He had some trouble and needed a place to stay last night, so I let him stay with me. That's all there is to it."

"Well, that's a shame," my mother said. "Andy is such a sweet boy." I'd forgotten that my mother had met Andy shortly after he arrived in town. But she had, and of course, she remembered him.

"So, Mol, are you excited about the new school year?" I asked, desperate to find anything that might redirect the conversation away from me and Andy.

"I am. Third grade just really isn't for me." Molly had taken two years off after Carter was born, and when she went back to work, they didn't have a spot for her in the grade she preferred. She'd been teaching third ever since, but to her relief, a new spot opened up, and she was going back to teaching middle school.

My plan for a distraction worked as Molly proceeded to tell us all about her new classroom and the new things she was teaching. By the time she was done, lunch was ready.

When I finished eating, I put down my silverware and pushed my chair back from the table. "That was delicious as always, Mom."

"Well, thank you, Jesse," she said.

"Are you finished, June?" I asked.

"I am. Thank you." She handed me her plate, and I carried both to the kitchen.

I rinsed them off and placed them in the dishwasher as Shawn came in carrying a couple of plates. We had a rule that if you cooked, you didn't have to clean, which meant Shawn and I were on dish duty. We loaded the dishwasher with what would fit, and then I filled the sink with dishwater to do the rest.

We were about halfway finished when Shawn looked over at me. "Mom's not wrong, you know?"

"Wrong about what?"

"Victor's little brother is a really nice guy, and he's totally your type."

He wasn't wrong. The more I got to know Andy, the more I saw that I'd misjudged him in the beginning, and he was totally my type. But again, not ready to go there with these nosy fuckers. Especially not Shawn. We had a saying in this family. If you want everyone to know something, tell Shawn and say it's a secret.

"What do you know about my type?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on now, bro, you can't tell me you don't have a type."

"I didn't say that. I just don't know how you think you know what it is."

"Whatever. I might not know exactly what your type is, but what I do know is that it's time for you to get back out there. You can't let what happened with Marcus keep you from trying again."

"Yeah, well, I don't see you bringing anybody home."

"I'm still young. Gotta sow those wild oats while I can. You, on the other hand…"

"Am ancient, yeah, I know." I'd been hearing that from him for ages. Probably because I was a full ten years older than him, and he was still a baby who thought anyone over thirty was old. Truth was, he and Andy were the same age. I wondered if Andy thought I was ancient. I sure hoped not.

"Besides, we weren't talking about me. We were talking about you. Seriously, Jess, it's been like two years. I'm just worried about you."

"I know. But honestly, I'm totally over Marcus. I'm just cautious now. I think it'll take a special guy to be secure enough in our relationship to deal with the hours being a club owner requires."

"Bullshit. You were starting a new business. What did he expect you to do? Anyone who knows you, really knows you, knows how hard you worked to make that place a success."

I handed him the clean casserole dish Mom had cooked dinner in so he could dry it. "Thanks, Shawn. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll find a guy who sees things that way."