AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gray paled. “Back where?”
“To work.”
He looked relieved but still confused. “You don’t want to be a cop anymore, but?—”
“What did you think I meant?”
Gray ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and sighed. “That you didn’t want to go back to how things were with us.”
Jack shook his head. “No, I need you, both of you.” He looked back and forth between his two lovers. “You two are the only thing I’m sure of.”
“But you wouldn’t talk to us, wouldn’t even touch us.”
The pain in Gray’s voice told Jack how badly he’d hurt him. “I’m sorry. I’m scared, and I thought you might not want me anymore if you realized how fucked up I am. I thought that if you touched me, I wouldn’t be able to pretend I was okay. I might fall apart and you might…”
Mason slid to his knees on the floor. “I’ll never stop wanting you.”
Gray scowled. “No more foolish shit like that. We love you. Nothing is going to change that. From now on, you’re going to trust us and talk to us about whatever you’re feeling. You got that?”
Jack could have gotten pissed at Gray’s tone, but he knew that acting annoyed at Jack for worrying was Gray’s way of showing how much he cared. “Yes, sir,” he said, smiling at his gruff lover.
“Good. Now why don’t you want to go back to work?”
Jack sighed. “I wanted to help people, and I’m not sure I’m doing that.”
“Bullshit,” Gray said.
Mason shook his head. “Hear him out, Gray.”
Gray blew out a long breath. “I’m sorry. I just want to fix it. I can’t stand seeing you like this, Jack. I don’t give a fuck if you’re a cop or not. I just want you happy.”
“I’m not sure I can be distant enough, that I can put my feelings aside, especially about people I care for. I love you, and I had to try and save you, but I fucked up so badly.”
“You saved my life.”
“But it?—”
“It was foolish and reckless, and I don’t ever want you to do anything like that again, but you saved me, and I’m fucking glad of that every second. I don’t doubt that asshole Morales would have killed me whether I’d told him anything or not. He intended to make an example of me. You cared enough to risk your life for me. That kind of passion can get you in trouble, but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad cop.”
Mason nodded. “Gray’s right. I beat myself up again and again because I let you run off after him that day, but I still have both of you, and if you hadn’t jumped in to save Gray, things might have gone very differently. You both face danger all the time, and that is even more real to me now, more so than when I was held up by the fuckers who robbed Nathan’s. You scared me to death, but I also admire you even more.”
The throbbing pain in Jack’s chest eased. “Thank you.”
Mason smiled and stroked Jack’s leg. “I know why you became a cop, and I’m guessing that even though you aren’t sure about your future, there’s something you still enjoy about it and parts of the job you feel like you do well.”
Gray jumped in. “He can make people talk. People are comfortable with him, they’ll tell him anything.”
Mason scowled at Gray. “I’m talking to Jack.”
Gray used to piss Jack off when he spoke for him, but now he found it adorable. He failed to hold in a laugh, which quickly turned to a groan. “Fuck, that still hurts.”
Gray snarled. “You never want to admit how damn good you are, but detectives send you out to canvass people, especially kids, because they know you’ll bring back something useful.”
Mason looked at Jack and raised a brow.
Jack sighed. “Yeah, I guess he’s right.”
“You guess?”
