Climbing out of the car behind Tierney, Dalton was surprised to look up and see light-pink streaks of cloud were appearing in the sky. It was so similar to the evening he’d waited outside Club Monaco before the concert and this whole thing with Robert had started (even if he hadn’t realized it at the time). He’d met Tierney that day too. Was that really just a little over a month ago?
When Tierney took his hand and asked, “You all right?” Dalton was pulled back into the present day. Over Tierney’s shoulder, he could see the detective was almost at the door of Murray’s.
“Yeah.” When Tierney continued to frown at him, eyes flickering around his face, Dalton kissed him quickly. “I was just thinking about all the stuff that’s happened in the last month.”
That seemed to satisfy him. He tugged on Dalton’s hand and they went to join Johnson, sitting next to each other and across from him at the table the officer had commandeered, in a totally different section than any Dalton had sat in before.
Weird how the police commandeered stuff, but other people claimed things.
Dalton liked Detective Johnson. He’d heard enough from his brothers to know not all detectives (or cops) were nice people, but Johnson clearly fell into the “nice” category. Or maybe it was because he was on Dalton’s side. At any rate, as they had coffee, the detective made the interview seem more like a chat among friends.
“Bobinski was talking about cutting a deal with the DA before he even got in the ambulance,” he said.
“Bobinski?” Dalton asked.
Johnson nodded while sipping his coffee, then said, “Your pal Robert’s last name.”
“His name is Robert Bobinski? I wonder if anyone ever calls him Bob?” Tierney was half-laughing as he said it, and Dalton got caught up in watching him. His eyes were sparkling greenish, and those little lines that fanned out from them were so sexy. The mark of a man who’d lived some. He squeezed Tierney’s hand under the table, smiling when Tierney looked at him questioningly.
Johnson obviously didn’t realize they were having a moment, and he interrupted it. “I still couldn’t get an answer out of him about how he worked out you were Sam.”
“You’d think a guy’d remember whose ass he kicked,” Tierney said with a snort.
Dalton shook his head. “He didn’t think I was Sam, he thought I was Ian’s boyfriend.” And that was another thing . . . “I think he was actually kind of scolding me for being with Tierney. Like he cared that I might be cheating on Ian?”
Tierney started muttering impolite things, but Johnson laughed, then shrugged. “I gotta go pick up the brother later and get his side. He’s the one who made the original mistake, I’m thinking.”
“That’s what Robert said.” Dalton wrinkled up his thinking nose. “I don’t know how they knew Ian.”
Tierney did, though. “Ian’s cousin Jurgen is a state trooper stationed in Whitetail Rock.”
“That’s the town Miller’s from,” the detective explained, which was thoughtful because Dalton didn’t know Whitetail Rock from a hole in the ground.
After that, they got down to business, and Dalton told Johnson everything that had happened, then answered his questions. Again, it didn’t seem to take forever. Suddenly, the detective was standing, shaking their hands and saying he’d call if he needed anything more. “Or if I have information,” he added before walking off.
Leaving Dalton and Tierney alone.
“Is this later enough?” Tierney asked him, turning in his seat to face Dalton. When Dalton turned toward him also, Tierney captured one of his knees between his own. “To talk, I mean?”
It was incredibly tempting to say, “Let’s not and pretend we did.” Except that wasn’t even an option, not really. “We probably should, huh?”
Tierney held Dalton’s hand palm up in his and traced the long lines on it. “Yeah.”
Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Dalton simply let Tierney tickle his skin and basked in the man’s warmth and presence. “I love you.” He’d always been a bit of a coward with Tierney, scared to direct anything that happened between them, or admit too much, but the words came out easily now. He was saying them before he knew he wanted to. But he definitely did want to.
Tierney swallowed, lifting his chin to meet Dalton’s eyes. “I love you too. I told you yesterday and all—”
“I remember.”
“—but that seems like it doesn’t really count.”
Dalton shook his head, then leaned forward and kissed Tierney, soft and sweet. “This counts.”
“Totally counts.” Tierney’s fingers found their way into Dalton’s hair and he returned Dalton’s kiss, but his was a long, reassuring one. He didn’t let go after it was over, either; instead he brought his forehead to rest against Dalton’s. “I know it always seems like I, um, need you—”
“Tierney—”
“Just let me say this.” Tierney pulled away, gazing into Dalton’s eyes. “I need you, but I want you too. This isn’t me reaching for the most reliable crutch I can find.”
“I know.” He nodded to prove it. “I want you too. Very much.”
“Thank God.” Tierney huffed out a relieved breath. “I know I’m a risk, but I’ll never do what I did to you yesterday again. I let myself—” Shaking his head, he glanced at the ceiling, licking his lip before going on. “You know, I took my life back under my own control when Grandfather died. I mean, I wish I’d done it before he died, but regardless, I did it, and I’m not fucking letting someone else have that kind of influence over me again. I was using my old coping strategies—”
Dalton’s finger over Tierney’s lips shut him up. “I think we both believed it easily because it felt inevitable. A lot of people recommend you don’t do this after rehab, so I think we both expected someone to tell you no.”
“I guess.” He ran his thumb along the center of Dalton’s palm a few times, watching while he did it. “Breaking up doesn’t feel like that to you now? Inevitable?”
“Being with you feels inevitable.” He didn’t even care how sappy that sounded. “I got up this morning, and it started to sink in that I’d expected it, and I gave you up without a fight. I didn’t even ask you what she said.”