Chapter 11
Aiden unlocked his front door and went inside, Frost and Zielinski following behind him. Frost shrugged out of his hoodie and threw it on a hook on the standing coat rack. Aiden swapped his jacket for a fleece pullover. “Get comfortable and take off your vest if you want,” he offered to his partner.
“Thanks.”
Zielinski unbuckled the closures on the sides of the tactical vest he wore and pulled it over his head, leaving him in the thin long-sleeved black t-shirt that clung to his well-defined torso. Aiden gestured at the bench next to the coat rack and Zielinski carefully set the vest down on it.
“Where’s your bathroom? I want to wash up.”
Aiden pointed in the direction of the lower-level guest bath and Zielinski headed that way. “We’ll be in the kitchen when you come out,” he called after him. As soon as the door closed behind his partner, Aiden whipped around to his friend. “I’m going to murder you,” he said to Frost.
Frost walked past him to go into the kitchen, not at all afraid of the threat. “Why?”
“You know why,” Aiden said as he followed, flicking on the lights in the spacious white and stainless-steel kitchen when he walked into the room. “What were you thinking inviting him here?”
“Why wouldn’t I? He’s your partner. You two are getting along now so it should be cool.”
“We worked our shit out so we can function as a team. That doesn’t mean we’re besties.”
“Hmm...” Frost leaned against the counter, fingers plucking at the hem of the long blue sweater they wore over a pair of ripped white jeans. “Maybe not. But you’re definitely something.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I know what I walked in on and it wasn’t you two talking. Nobody has a conversation with their faces that close to each other.”
“It didn’t mean anything,” Aiden said with a nonchalant shrug as he washed his hands in the white porcelain sink. “It was only left-over adrenaline that found an inappropriate physical outlet. It won’t happen again.”
“And how many times have you had these moments of left-over adrenaline?”
Annoyed at the question and what Frost would construe from his response, Aiden answered from between clenched teeth. “Twice.”
Frost snorted a dry laugh. “He wants you, Aiden.”
“He doesn’t.”
“He does. When he looks at you, he has this soft, admiring expression, as if he’s about to throw down a carpet of rose petals for you to walk on.”
That was so far-fetched that Aiden audibly scoffed as he yanked open the freezer to grab their snacks for the night. He took out three boxes of frozen Hot Pockets and tossed them on the counter next to the microwave. “Be serious. I’ve never seen him look at me like that.”
“I’m not surprised you haven’t. One, because you don’t want to see it. And two, he’s pretty good at changing his face whenever you do look at him.”
Aiden ripped open the boxes for the Hot Pockets. He didn’t want to believe what Frost said was true. Zielinski wasn’t the man for him. He might enjoy looking at him in those tight shirts. And maybe wondering what was beneath them was slowly driving him wild with the urge to rip off one of them to see for himself. And sure, they’d exchanged a few hot kisses. But Zielinski was too uptight. There was only one way a relationship with a man like him would end.
“What are you going to do about it?” Frost quietly asked.
“Nothing.”
“He’s your type.”
Aiden didn’t have a rebuttal for that because it was true. He loved big, clean cut, hard-jawed men. He loved it even more when they were kneeling at his feet. “Doesn’t mean I’m his. Or that he wants what I have to give.” He meant to answer flippantly, but a hint of wistfulness slipped into his voice. Frost’s eyes widened in surprise before their expression gentled into something uncomfortably close to sympathy. Luckily for Aiden, Frost didn’t get a chance to say whatever it was they planned to say because Zielinski strolled into the kitchen. Aiden was relieved to see him—only because his presence brought an end to the ridiculous conversation he was having with Frost.
Aiden cleared his throat. When he spoke again all hints of vulnerability were gone from his voice.
“I actually have more than one flavor Hot Pocket tonight so you guys can pick what you want.”
Frost smoothly went along with the change of subject.
“Good, I was getting tired of Ham and Cheese.”
