Page 60 of The Fire

“Yeah, man. I just need to finish up in the other room and I’ll see myself out.”

“Yell if you need me.”

“Will do.”

I walked to the door, but Parker stood there watching me approach, and didn’t move out of the way until our chests were nearly brushing. I lifted an eyebrow and looked down at him.

“Problem?”

Parker shook his head and blushed just a little as he backed into the hall. “Not at all. Just… admiring the view.”

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I turned toward the kitchen without saying anything. I could practically sense Parker’s hurt and confusion as he walked along at my side.

I mean, I knew how Iwantedto respond. How I’d respond if all of this were real, or even if we were still alone. But it felt like the last couple of days had been spent in an alternate universe—our own personal Narnia—where, thanks to the snow and my stupid bullshit rule, the real world and our very real past hadn’t intruded in any significant way.

But the snow was officially over. The rest of the town had electricity again, and we would—Iwould—too, once we—I, goddammit—got the all-clear from the electrician who’d be coming over later. It was time to get back to reality.

As Parker had so helpfully reminded me, my dad had been an alcoholic—a pretty raging one at the end, but for a long time before that, he’d been more or less functional—and I remembered that he’d quit drinking once when I was maybe ten, just to show my mom he could. For months and months, he hadn’t had a single beer, not a sip of Jim Beam, and he hadn’t attended a single meeting or counseling session. He’d managed to convince my mom andhimselfthat he could handle his shit, that it wasn’t a real problem.

It had takenonedrink, just one, celebrating his newfound control, and he’d gone right back to his old ways… except ten times as messed up as he’d been before. The next time he’d gotten clean, it had been exponentially harder and it had only lasted weeks.

And yeah, Parker wasn’t alcohol… but I was my father’s son, with all those same predilections to addiction. And now that I’d had Parker in my world again—his taste in my mouth, his scent in my nose, his laughter in my ear—letting him go was gonna be even harder, but that didn’t mean I could keep him.

I stepped into the kitchen and found Silas wearing his outdoor gear, complete with a beanie pulled down over his forehead. He was leaning against the sink with his arms folded over his chest, watching some tall, lanky guy I’d never seen before stuff his face with leftover chicken wings.

Myleftover chicken wings.

I turned to Parker, who shrugged, and then to Silas, who rolled his eyes.

“This is Marlon,” Silas said. “He’s from over in Camden. Mitch is looking to hire another officer, so Marlon’s with us on a trial basis.” His tone made it clear he had doubts that the trial would end well.

Marlon, who seemed oblivious to the subtext, gave me a cheerful wave.

“And Marlon’s eating our chicken wings, why?” I asked Parker in a low voice.

“Because he said he was hungry.” Parker pushed past me and watched Marlon devour wings at an astonishing speed. “It’s gratifying to feed someone who so obviously appreciates good food. Speaking of… Marlon, since you’re here, which wings would you say were better? The ones with the dark glaze or the lighter ones?”

“Hey!” I set my hands on my hips. “I thought the rules were thatwewould judge.”

“Yeah, yeah. Officially.” Parker waved a hand. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t solicit an unbiased opinion. And Marlon looks like a man who knows good chicken, doesn’t he?”

Actually, Marlon looked like he hadn’t had a good meal in years, but whatever.

“If it’ll help you sleep at night, Parkie,” I agreed.

Parker narrowed his eyes, and my fingers clenched as I reminded myself that grabbing him and kissing the outrage off his face would help nothing.

“Well, since you’re asking…” Marlon began in a surprisingly high voice.

“Yes! Be honest. Jamie has a thick skin,” Parker encouraged. “He can take it.”

“I’ve gotta say the darker ones are better.” Marlon licked his lips. “Nice and sweet.”

Parker pursed his lips and immediately removed the container of wings from the counter. He wrapped the foil back around them and set them in the fridge, then shut the door firmly.

“Clearly, I was wrong,” he said, all pissy and adorable. “Marlon knowsnothing.”

Marlon looked crestfallen. “But I—”