Page 38 of Sean's Sunshine
“No, not really,” Sean rasped, his chest constricting again. “Do you hear me? Do you think I’m up toreally?”
Andres grimaced. “Are you up topossibly? Becausepossiblycould be fun too.”
“Possibly is on the table,” Sean admitted. He swallowed and reached for his beer, feeling a little guilty. For all he was living with—and pining for—a porn star, Billy was awfully strict about what he could eat and drink while on the road to health.
“Is it?” Andres gave a smile. “I can’t wait until I tell Lucinda. She’ll be so thrilled. What does your mother think?”
Sean looked at him levelly. “That I’m being cared for by a nice engineering student whose rooming situation got too crowded.”
Andres blinked. “Oh,” he said. “Is it okay that she thinks that?” he asked carefully. “Do you need to tell her the whole truth?”
“Like when I told her I was doing my own laundry so I could help her out with chores?” Sean asked, eyebrows raised. “No. Telling my mother the whole truth is never necessary—and unlike Ellery’s mother, whom I understand has a sixth sense about these things, my mother is happy to go back to Turlock and bother my sisters and sister-in-law and generally make their lives miserable between her once-a-week visits. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“What is it?” Andres asked softly. “Do you like him?”
Sean gave him a narrow-eyed glance. “Yes, and during passing period, I’m going to go hang out at his locker.”
“Don’t be an ass,” Andres told him, rolling his eyes. “What’s the problem?”
Sean sighed and then regretted it. “I don’t care about being out at work,” he said flatly. Like Rivers, the snide remarks of the unenlightened had never really bothered him. “I dealt with it through the academy. I dealt with it as a rookie. It was awful, but mostly because so many cops have teeny tiny little brains and it made me ashamed of my profession, but I’m over it. What I’m worried about is what they’ll do tohim.I’ll put up with anything, Andres. But….” He swallowed. “I don’t care what he does to get through school. I mean, you know, I’d prefer it was wait tables and go into debt, but that’s not my call. What is my call is how much bullshit he’s going to see if he’s my plus-one at the policemen’s ball.”
Andres sucked in a breath. “I’ve never gone,” he said after a moment, “to the policemen’s ball. Lucinda’s not really excited about dressing up and going to see my work friends. If she dresses up, she wants to go see a play in San Francisco.”
Sean nodded, still catching his breath. That was fair. He and Andres got along great. He knew the officers he could trust—he’d learned a long time ago how to find allies. Maybe just don’t hang around anyone who wasn’t an ally.
Andres nodded with him and then took another drink of his beer. “The thing to remember,” he said after a moment, “is that anybody who recognizes your boy is going to have to admit where he’s seen him. If some dumb flatfoot starts screaming the F-word at Billy as he’s walking through the station to pick you up or something, ask the guy where he knows him from. That’ll shut him up right quick.”
Sean chuckled. “It will,” he said, nodding his head.
“And other than that? I like coming here for football games. You’ve got Rivers, you’ve got Henry, you’ve got your guy. Do I have straight people I hang with? Well, yeah—my brother and his engineering friends are all very hetero, but that doesn’t mean this little rainbow corner of the world doesn’t make me happy too. Don’t worry about him being at the mercy of the police,mijo,worry about him being a cop’s husband.”
Sean tried not to gasp. “I… I never really thought of that,” he admitted. God. The worst thing about dating Jesse had been not being able to keep in contact with him when they both worked extremely dangerous jobs. “I… I need to make him aware that, you know, it’s one of the hard things.”
Andres nodded. “See, that’s the hardest part to me. You… you weren’t even doing anything dangerous. I was minding a suspect, you were out to lunch with Cramer and company, getting information, and next thing I know, Rivers is calling to tell me you were in surgery. It was… it was scary, man. You and me, we’ve drawn our pieces a few times. We’ve even fired some shots. But there I was, worried about my partner, and it hit me that this was how Lucinda felt every day when I walked out the door. So yeah. Your guy may have a—” Andres rolled his eyes and grinned. “—colorfulpast, but I think if he can handle it, you can deal. But that other thing. That’s the one you’re going to have to be careful about, you think?”
Sean nodded. “I’ll keep it in mind,” he said soberly.
“You do that, partner,” Andres said, clinking his bottle with Sean’s and then finishing off the rest of his beer. He checked his phone and said, “So, uhm, Lucinda’s not expecting me for another two hours. You know there’s a game on tonight.”
Sean grinned. “You move the nachos to the coffee table, and I’ll hit the head.”
“Fair.”
When Billy got home, Andres was jumping up and down in front of the TV, cheering his team on, while Sean laughed softly from the recliner, too winded to even tell Billy who won.
ANDRES FINALLYleft, with much bro-hugging and back thumping, and Sean collapsed on the couch, not caring whether it was bad for him or not.
“Good time?” Billy asked, picking up the empty chip and salsa bowls.
“The best,” Sean murmured. “Don’t clean up. It’s fine. I can do it.”
Billy gave him an arch look and continued to clean up. “Did you eat anything besides chips?”
“No,” Sean said, yawning. “Chips and salsa is legit a food group. Ask any cop. Seriously, man, you’re my nurse, not my maid. I can—”
Billy stopped him with a kiss on the temple, which Sean just now realized was a secret weapon. “You’re tired, and I’m still all hyped from running around the restaurant. Itoffendsme to not bus a table. It’s fine.”
“Mmm….” He’d had two beers with his nightly pain meds, and he was riding the buzz. Dangerous to be this… unguarded. “You’re so pretty,” he said dreamily. “I could watch you move for hours.”