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“No!”
Jem’s grin got bigger.
In spite of himself, an answering smile broke out on Tean’s face. The wildness of it, the hint of ferocity, everything whetted by adrenaline. He was startled to hear himself laugh. When he got control of himself, he tried for a severe, “You’re insane.”
“I love you,” Jem said. “And we’re going to figure this out.”
Tean settled back into his seat and spent the rest of the drive trying to figure out why he was still smiling.
When they parked, he said, “I love you too.”
“I know,” Jem said.
“Thank you.”
He had one finger through the keyring, and when he spun the keys, they chimed and slapped into his palm. “Stick with me, kid.” Then he got out of the car.
“I’m older than you,” Tean said.
Jem shut the door. It sounded like he was laughing.
Tean wondered, as he went after his husband, if there were any statistics on men dying of heart attacks because of their significant others, with no comorbidities. Maybe medical science could use him as the first.
As they crossed the Santaland lobby, a blonde in a sundress was trying to force a child to stay on one of the plastic reindeer while she took a picture. “No, sweetie, stay on Rudolph. Stay on Rudolph. Ride the reindeer. No, no, no, sweetie, stay—”
“You know that headband you got at Christmas,” Jem said, “the one with the reindeer antlers?”
“I didn’t buy it. You bought it. And you made Scipio wear it, and he hated it.”
“He loved it. He got a million pets at the park because of it. Anyway, did you bring it with you?”
“Why in the world would I have brought it with me?”
“I had an idea for a game we can play tonight. It’s called ride—”
“No,” Tean said.
Jem smirked and opened his mouth.
“No,” Tean said again.
“Right,” Jem said, and something about how his smile spread made heat curl in Tean’s belly. “That one is seasonal; we’ll save it for the holidays.”
Medical science, Tean thought. There had to be a study somewhere.
Although the smirk had faded, Jem still looked very satisfied with himself as he wagged his phone at Tean. “Auggie says we’re meeting in one of the multipurpose rooms. Ready to get yelled at?”
Tean made a face as they started down the hallway.
“Hey,” Jem said, the playfulness stripping away from his voice. “Watch what you say in there.”
“What?”
“They’re both cops.”
“Ok.”
“So, be careful.”
