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“Luckily, no,” He replied.
“Thank God.”
“Was she drunk? Or was it something else?”
“She was hammered.”
Brendan shook his head and sighed. “Idiot. I can’t believe she would do something that stupid.”
“She was never a big drinker when we were together,” Jayme said.
“Same here. I mean, she liked to get drunk every once in a while, if we went out; but she never drove drunk.”
“I didn’t even ask where she was coming from. It’s just weird. Was she at a bar drinking on a Monday afternoon?”
Brendan shook his head. “Yeah, that is weird.”
“I’m done. Are you done, Jayme? I wanna go,” Tripp said.
“Yeah, I’m done. Brendan, we’ll see you later.”
“Okay. See ya.”
They turned in their paperwork, then headed out to their truck to go home. The ride home was silent and tense, Jayme could tell Tripp was still livid over what Mallory said. No doubt it had hurt him too.
They got home, and Tripp went right upstairs. Jayme followed and walked into their bedroom where Tripp was stripping out of his work clothes. Jayme was down to his pants when Tripp, who had changed into gym shorts and a T-shirt; made his way for the door.
He caught his arm. “Hey, wait a second. Come here.” He gave Tripp’s arm a tug.
Tripp let Jayme pull him, so that he was standing in front of him.
Tripp sighed heavily. “What?”
“Babe, you can’t let her get to you like this,” he said softly, and reached up to cup Tripp’s face.
Usually it was Tripp trying to calm him down when it came to Mallory. Tripp was really worked up about this, and he felt the need to fix it.
Tripp’s jaw worked back and forth, his honey eyes hard and unyielding. “I’m going to the gym.”
He brushed his thumb back and forth over Tripp’s cheek. “Okay. In a minute. Talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. She hurt you again, and I’m fucking furious about it.”
“She hurt you too.”
“Her words stung, yeah, but that’s not what I’m pissed about. I heard and saw your reaction to what she said, and it fucking kills me. I can’t stand to see you hurt because of her.”
“I’m okay. Like you said, it stung. But I’m not dwelling on it.”
“I’m glad. Doesn’t make me any less pissed though.”
He smiled. “Does this make you less pissed?” He leaned in and kissed Tripp tenderly on the lips.
“Not really, no.”
“How about this?”
Jayme leaned in again, this time fusing their mouths together for a more heated kiss.
When he pulled away and looked at, Tripp shrugged; but he could see his eyes had softened, and there was a hint of a smile on his handsome face. He grabbed Tripp’s face with both hands and brought him in for a more languid kiss; one that included tongue and nipping. Tripp moaned, and slid his arms around Jayme’s waist.
One thing led to another, and Tripp ended up skipping the gym for a different kind of workout.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tripp
“THANKS FOR coming in today, boys. I know it’s your day off,” Chief Reeves said.
Tripp and Jayme sat in the chairs in front of his desk, wondering why their boss called them in on their day off.
“I’m sure you heard about the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston yesterday?”
“Sure, it’s all over the news,” Jayme said.
“Well, we’re setting up a team of officers to go down and help with search and rescue. I want you two to be part of it. You’ll stay for a few days to provide some support for local law enforcement.”
“Absolutely. When do we leave?” Tripp asked.
“In two hours. Go home, pack a bag and whatever else you need; then come back here.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison and stood.
They went home, packed a bag with clothes and another bag with gear they might need; then headed back to the station. They waited for the other officers who were going to arrive. Brendan, Will, Matt, and Phil were also part of their team.
There were eight of them all together, so they piled into two Chevy Suburban’s with all their gear, and some that was provided for them; and started their three-and-a-half-hour trek to Galveston, Texas.
The department put them up in a hotel, just outside of the city where a lot of other officers from around the state that came to help were staying. Each set of partners got a room. They got their keys from the front desk and brought their bags up to their rooms; before heading into Galveston, and checking in with the local police chief, Andre Harding.
As they drove into the city, Tripp couldn’t get over the devastation he was seeing. Houses were in pieces, there was debris everywhere; making it hard to drive down the street. A lot of areas were underwater.
“Thank you, Guys, for coming. We’re stretched to our limits,” Chief Harding said. “My guys can only do so much. They’re exhausted.”
