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This time Christopher lowered one of his and pressed it on top. Anthony drove. Doing his best to concentrate on the road and not the fingers touching his, after a few minutes he confessed, “I thought I’d blown it.”
“Why?”
“Teasing you in front of the team.” The infamous sexting comment during their last case. “I’ve regretted it every day since. I don’t blame you for refusing to speak to me. It’s grounds for harassment. It’s—”
“Hush,”Christopher urged and squeezed his hand.“I thought you regretted it for a different reason. I thought you were worried you’d given me the idea you were interested when you weren’t.”
And because Anthony couldn’t quite believe their conversation, he threw caution to the winds. “I’ve been attracted to you since the day we met, but as your boss—”
“Which you aren’t.”
“A technical definition,” Anthony agreed. “But it still made me worry you might feel pressured into dating me.”
“When I wanted nothing more,”Christopher admitted.
Anthony smiled so hard he thought his face might crack. Their hands remained joined until they drew up outside an end townhouse and gazed at the mixture of fire trucks, EMT vehicles, and cops all milling about. “It’s a circus. Those kids must be scared out of their minds.” Then all of a sudden it wasn’t about him anymore, and he got out of the car and showed his ID to anyone who challenged him, and some that didn’t even bother. Christopher had to hurry to keep up.
They found Evan perched on a garden bench, huddled under a blanket next to an EMT, sipping from a bottle of water. Anthony immediately introduced them both while Christopher hurried to be next to Evan. Evan turned to Christopher and started crying silently. He looked like he was at the end of his rope. A sergeant strode over accompanied by a social worker who immediately checked Anthony’s ID and confirmed they had permission for Evan to go with him.
“No stuff,” Evan croaked.
“Because it’s unsafe for you to go back inside,” the sergeant explained. “But I promise all belongings will be secured and you can get them if not tomorrow then the day after.”
Anthony nodded. He knew they couldn’t let kids go tramping about when water could have easily gotten into the electrical systems, and that was just for starters. “I have spare shorts and tee-shirts for tonight. We can always go to the store tomorrow.”
Evan looked at Anthony for probably the first time, then back at Christopher. He started signing with his hands. Anthony knew Christopher was teaching him sign language. Anthony needed to learn.
“He resorts to this when he’s upset and can’t vocalize the words fast enough,”Christopher explained.“He’s always spelled out in his head what he tries to say so I can hear him. I was going to explain when he got to Pete’s what I can do. I trust him, but it’s a big responsibility to keep my secret.”
Christopher signed then, but spoke the words in Anthony’s head so he knew what Christopher was saying.“This is Anthony Gregory. Talon and Finn’s boss, and a friend of Pete’s. He also happens to be a registered foster parent but he doesn’t have any other children living with him at the moment. You can stay with him as long as you need to.”Christopher shoulder bumped Evan.“I trust him. He’s a good guy.”
Evan signed something else.
“He wants to know if I will be there.”Christopher carefully wrote the question out on the little pad Evan generally kept in his pocket so Evan could see Christopher asking the question.
“Absolutely,” Anthony said. “I know it will be approved for communication and I have another spare room.”
Christopher’s eyes met his and for a wild moment Anthony imagined him in a different bed, but tonight at the very least and for some weeks, Evan was the priority. Evan nodded, even sending him a shy smile.
When they got home, Anthony showed both his guests their rooms and where the spare sheets were, handed out spare shorts, sweats, and tee-shirts, and busied himself making a huge mound of buttered toast and hot tea.
“Sorry,” he apologized as they both came into the kitchen. “We can go to the store tomorrow for supplies, but I drink so much coffee at work I don’t have it at home. I’m out of hot chocolate as well. I have cold milk I can heat up, or water obviously.”
“Thank you,” Evan whispered and sat, wrapping his hands around his tea, seeming content to sip at it. He even ate three slices of toast. Christopher kept gazing at him and smiling, and then including Anthony in whatever they signed, using a pad because they couldn’t let Evan know at the moment what Christopher could do.
Anthony got up from the table and opened a cupboard, taking out a small box. He passed it to Evan. “I don’t think you have a phone. It has a minimal charge but the cord’s in there.” He drew his own out and copied the number from the instructions and sent a text confirming his. Christopher did the same. “That means you can get hold of either of us during the night.” He hesitated. “I hope you sleep okay but if there’s anything you need, don’t be afraid to ask. I can set up a TV in there tomorrow, and if you can’t sleep, I’m happy for you to come downstairs either to make yourself some food, a drink, or to watch TV.” He gazed at Evan. “Just do me a favor and if you feel panicky or worried, please shout out. Nothing you feel tonight is wrong, and don’t worry that anything you say will upset me, including if you decide you’re not happy and you need to be somewhere else.”
Evan sent him another shy smile and whispered his thanks. Anthony hoped he’d said the right thing.
The next morning Anthony woke early and arranged for a grocery delivery, paying premium for a quick delivery, and had already stored most of it away and was prepping for their breakfast before eight. He actually loved cooking, but cooking for one took the shine off it a little, so he threw himself into making a breakfast with all the works.
“How many people are you planning on feeding?”
Anthony looked up when he heard Christopher’s voice in his head and grinned. “I love cooking. Don’t get to do it enough. Anything you don’t like?”
Christopher paused, then shut the door behind him and walked toward Anthony. Anthony froze. It would be a shame if he died of a heart attack before he got a chance to respond to the look in Christopher’s eyes. Slowly, he watched as Christopher stopped in front of him, then reached up. When their lips touched, Anthony was convinced he’d died and gone to heaven. But he didn’t even get a chance to react before Christopher drew back as the door opened and Evan came in.
Breakfast was a success. Anthony remembered to text Gael as Talon’s deputy team leader to say he wasn’t available today unless there was an emergency. He chuckled at the immediate concerned response from Gael asking if he was okay, and reassured him without giving him specifics.
