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Aidan chuckled. “Yeah, they never really stuck me anywhere and kept me there like a lot of guys on deployment. They kind ofthrew me around where they needed me, which shook things up a bit.”

Sean frowned. “Even if they put us all over the place to work, we almost always had the same base to go back to.”

Aidan leaned forward, eyes on the fire. “Never really appealed to me, honestly. I always liked the idea of roaming around, not being stuck in one place for too long, you know?”

“I’d be lying if I said I did,” Sean admitted.

Aidan chuckled, cocking his head toward Sean. “Fair enough. Anyone I ever told that to always gave me the most confused look. I don’t understand it myself, but I’ve always been like that.”

“But not now,” Sean said.

There had been a notable gap in Aidan’s file, namely the part about why he’d suddenly been taken from such erratic placement to being thrown onto a team. By all accounts, despite a few remarks made about Aidan’s mouth, there should have been no reason for his reassignment.

Aidan’s mouth twisted into a mockery of a smile. “Nope.”

“Not going to say why?”

“Not my choice.”

“Is that why you gave me so much shit before?”

Aidan turned to look at him, snorting. “Maybe. And maybe because you can be an asshole.”

It should have pissed him off, it would have before, but Sean found he couldn’t muster any anger at Aidan’s jab. He had no idea how it had happened, but whatever they’d done in that shadowy alley a few dozen feet from the city's crowds had taken the wind from his stubborn, angry sails.

“Yeah, tell me something I don't know,” Sean grunted.

Aidan nodded. “Okay. Well, an asshole is something you don’t have to be.”

It wasn’t said in anger or frustration, and as Sean looked up, he was amazed to find Aidan completely serious. It was almostthe same earnest expression he’d seen on the man’s face when he’d sworn up and down he would never use what happened between them against Sean. The very same expression that had made Sean believe him then, and he supposed, he would have to believe him now.

How much of their problem before had been Sean simply fighting the inevitable?

AIDAN

Watching Sean mull over their conversation was fascinating. When he wasn’t too busy being angry and glaring as though it were the only expression he knew, he tended to wear his emotions on his sleeves. Aidan could see him struggling with confusion and what looked like guilt, and he hadn’t missed the flash of what he would have sworn was hunger.

Aidan cleared his throat. “So, you think we can be good?”

He would take just about anything at this point if he were honest. Anything other than what they had been. There’d been too much anger, too much venom, and spite. Looking back, Aidan was surprised it hadn’t driven a wedge between not just them but the entire team as well. As it was, they’d managed not to ruin everything and inexplicably found something they had in common.

Though maybe not what either of them had been expecting.

Sean chuckled, nodding his head. “Truth is, Aidan, I can’t be pissed at you anymore.”

“Because we’ve worked through our issues in a healthy manner that would make any therapist proud, or because we uh…” Aidan trailed off.

And there it was again, a flash of guilt and lust, all mingling into one. “I don’t think we could call that a healthy thing.”

“But fun,” Aidan said, now watching Sean’s face intensely.

Sean glanced sidelong at him. “Aidan.”

“Incredibly fun even.”

Sean narrowed his eyes. “Is this you trying to poke the bear again?”

“Not really into bears. This might shock you, but I actually like men in uniform more.”