Page 18 of A Quiet Man

Tomas hadn't, not really, but he'd told the truth. He was grateful Cody had accepted it so easily. Now Cody changed the subject, and what could have been a disastrous conversation turned into a friendly, casual chat not fraught with undercurrents or sexual banter. It was a relief to Tomas. Fewer hazards to navigate. The fox shifter was naturally friendly, a little silly, with a slightly flirty manner even when he wasn't flirting. He was enjoyable to hang out with, without all the subtext and hints to wrangle with.

Cody already seemed to have a handle on the way the precinct worked and most of the major personalities there. Tomas felt a little guilty about laughing at some of his too spot-on remarks. Fortunately, Cody didn't even hint disparagingly about Riley; that, he couldn't have stood for. Tomas knew his partner could be shy, indecisive, nervous, and neurotic, but those vulnerabilities just made Tomas more protective of him.

After they'd both had their fill of food, Cody looked at Tomas affectionately. "Thanks. This was fun."

"It was your idea — and, yeah, it was." Tomas smiled back just as warmly, relieved, content, and happy, feeling as if he was finding a friend.

#

Later that day, hetexted Auden. He spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find the right words, balancing friendly and casual. He asked Auden if he'd like to meet up for coffee or something to eat sometime soon, if he wasn't busy and it wasn't too much like a busman's holiday.

Then he settled down to read one of his new library books. It was oddly hard to concentrate. He checked his phone several times and made sure the notification alerts were turned on high. He almost jumped out his skin when the phone pinged with a text arrival. He scrambled to answer it, and his heart sank when he saw it was only his mother, texting to remind him again of supper and asking how he was doing. Since they'd be seeing each other tonight anyway, there was no need to text now, but they still spent the next twenty minutes or so catching up.

Even steering away from the topics of Justin, not to mention Auden, they had a lot to talk about. It was funny that he had more to say to his mother than he had when they lived in the same household. For the most part, he liked her a lot better now, too. She seemed more like a human being, even a friend, than the strict parent she'd been. One of the perks of growing up was being treated like an adult even when he didn't always feel perfectly grown up.

That evening, seeing his family was wonderful, as usual. He liked being the cool uncle to his easily impressed nieces. All it took was making funny faces and lifting them in the air with a "Whee!" sound. He also liked how taking care of the girls for a while got him into his sister-in-law's good books.

He enjoyed catching up with Dad and Grandpa and talking cop stuff and hopes and dreams for their sports teams. It was good to hear from them what was going on in the old neighborhood; they were both shocking gossips. It was great goofing around with his brother like they were both still in school, kids who'd never had any real rivalries or big falling outs, despite being very different people.

He was also glad to help out his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. He was a good cook, and he knew it, but he didn't cook here; they wouldn't have allowed it. However, it was rewarding to be considered dependable for pitching in, carrying things back and forth, or handling cleanup duty. The food was wonderful, as usual; he was never going to outgrow being spoiled by his family's cooking.

Overall, it was a wonderful visit, and he was only a tiny bit distracted by checking his phone a lot for a text.

Diego saw him at it, raised a brow meaningfully, but thankfully didn't draw attention to it. His brother had always been better at reading him than nearly anyone else, sometimes to his embarrassment.

When he finally did get a text, his heart was in his throat.It'll just be Riley.Don't expect anything, he told himself.

It was Auden.

Hi Tomas, sorry for the delay, I was working. Yes, I'd love to meet up again! I don't have a shift tomorrow if that's not too soon?? Great to hear from you + thanks again for the lift.

A moment later another text joined it:P.S. I had to look up busman's holiday.No!Not too much like that!! A row of five smiley face emojis completed the text.

Tomas was grinning so hard, he had trouble hiding it. He felt excited, relieved, and warm clear through. Seeing Auden again tomorrow was definitely not too soon for him. He got a couple of curious looks from his family, but nobody quizzed him or made comments. He tucked the phone away and concentrated on his family, but he felt brighter inside.

He didn't have to work tomorrow unless he and Riley got called in, so pretty much whenever would be okay for him. After he left the get-together, he and Auden texted off and on for a while, trying to settle on a place to eat. Tomas made sure to mention that it would be his treat, but at the same time, he didn't want to go too fancy and set things up for what he didn't mean to set them up for.

Eventually they settled on a mall date where they'd wander around and talk, maybe do a little shopping, and eat whatever sounded good in the food court. Since he'd done this often enough with Riley, it seemed pretty low-key and relaxing to Tomas. There would be no pressure with a mall date — if itwasa date — and no heavy expectations of wining and dining or sex. At least, he hoped not.

He was almost too excited to sleep that night, despite telling himself he was ten kinds of a fool. What were the actual chances of finding someone he had chemistry with, who also wanted the same things he did out of a relationship? Or even mostly compatible things? Probably not high.

Still, he couldn't help feeling hopeful, and that was a very nice way to feel. Maybe he was setting himself up for a fall, but he kept reminding himself that sometimes good things did happen; sometimes things worked out. He'd never have guessed in a million years that someday he'd have a wonderful wolf partner like Riley. So, why not shoot for the moon in a relationship area as well? Who knew? Sometimes, dreams did come true.

#

The next day, as hewas getting ready for his maybe-it's-a-date, his peace was disturbed by a call from Justin — not a text, which would have been polite, but an actual phone call.How rude. He had half a mind to ignore it, but he knew very well that they had to make peace, or Riley and the kids would be the ones who really got hurt.

He knew Justin was calling to apologize, because Justin always apologized when he'd been an asshole. It just didn't change his selfish, jealous personality. Biting his tongue, Tomas let the phone ring several times, then answered. He listened to Justin with half an ear as he studied one shirt in the mirror, then held up another, squinting, trying to decide if he'd look better in it — better in a very casual way, though, not as if he was dressing up nicely, or had even thought about it. He definitely didn't want to come across as trying too hard.

Justin said, "I always seem to be apologizing to you, but you deserve it — to be treated better, that is. I was rude, and I know it. I told myself I was being perfectly reasonable, but I know what I said and did was hurtful. I could have handled my insecurities a dozen other ways, but I didn't. For that, I'm truly sorry."

He was good at making apologies; Tomas had to give him that. But then he'd had lots of opportunities to practice, because he kept on pissing people off. Maybe it would be easier if Tomas could get pissed off at Justin instead of feeling hurt by his rough words. It would be easier if he could just hate him. Maybe if Tomas hadn't seen how good Justin was for Riley, he would have.

He sighed. He needed to cut this short, or he'd end up late. "Look, Justin, we're never going to really like each other. Why don't we just accept that?"

"But I do like you," Justin said, sounding startled into giving an honest answer instead of his studied speech of apology, which, however much he meant it, he'd definitely practiced in the mirror.

"What? No, you don't."You're an asshole to me every chance you get.What are you talking about?