Page 99 of Zero Divergence
Sawyer reached over and laced their fingers together. “But you didn’t.”
Chuckling, Royce whispered, “I almost did.”
Sawyer squeezed his fingers. “But you didn’t.”
“I deserve a reward for my restraint,” Royce said.
“Yes, you do.”
Royce yawned big enough that his jaws popped. “My poor car.”
“Insurance will repair the damage,” Sawyer said.
“Yeah, but I think I’m going to sell the Camaro or trade her in.”
“What? Why?” Sawyer asked. It was the first time Royce had ever mentioned wanting to get rid of the car.
“She’s not a good fit for the next phase in my life,” Royce said. “I’m going to need something…bigger.”
Sawyer smiled. He was pretty sure he knew what Royce meant, but his boyfriend could barely hold his head up, so it wasn’t the right time to have the discussion. A man could hope though, right?
Sensing Royce was injured, Bones was affectionate even though they were late getting home.
“Are you hungry?” Sawyer asked.
“I could eat,” Royce said. “I don’t feel nauseous or anything.” By some miracle, he didn’t have a concussion after suffering multiple blows to the head. “I want to shower first.”
“Then I’ll start dinner unless you need help in the shower.”
“Need help? I can manage, but I always want your company.”
“You go ahead and start the shower. I’ll preheat the oven for pizza and meet you in there.”
Sawyer smiled when Bones followed behind Royce like a little mother hen, which meant he’d plant his furry ass on the bathroom counter and observe them in the shower like the little perv he was. Sawyer turned on the oven and headed to the shower.
When he reached their bedroom, Royce was stretched across their bed still wearing the scrubs they’d given him at the hospital. Bones was lying on his chest, giving Sawyer hisdon’t fuck with melook.
Meow.
Sawyer threw up his hands in surrender. “You win this round, Bones.”
“Paperwork, paperwork, and more fucking paperwork,” Royce grumbled as he hit enter to send the final report to Mendoza.
“I think that’s the first chapter in the book titledThe Things They Don’t Tell You at the Academy,” Sawyer quipped. He was kicked back in his chair with his boots propped on his desk. The asshole had finished his report an hour ago. He’d encouraged Sawyer to go home or find something fun to do while he finished up, but he’d chosen to stay. Royce understood why, and if the situation were reversed, he wouldn’t want Sawyer out of his sight either.
Recalling what his brother had said when he’d shown up at the ER last night, Royce said, “Do you think Jace is right?”
“About what?” Sawyer asked. “He’s said a lot of things in the short time I’ve known him.”
“Maybe we should find a different line of work. I mean, we’ve been shot, set on fire, and abducted by a psychopath in the past few months. It does seem excessive, even to Hollywood action-movie standards.”
“Please,” Sawyer scoffed. “I saw all of those things during the first act in a cop movie once. We’re doing just fine. For the record,” he said, lowering his boots to the ground and straightening in his chair, “I’ve only been set on fire. The other two mishaps are all yours.” Sawyer studied his expression for a second. “Why? Are you giving it serious consideration?”
When he’d woken up disoriented in the middle of the night feeling like he was still running from a madman through the woods, Royce had briefly considered Jace’s comments. “Maybe we should become private investigators and put Rocky Jacobs out of business. I insist we use the word dicks in our agency name.”
Sawyer tipped his head to the side and pursed his lips as if he were really considering it. They both knew he wasn’t, just as they knew the suggestion wasn’t sincere. “Hmmm. There’d be many long stakeouts to catch cheating spouses.”
“Hand jobs to help the time pass faster,” Royce countered, waggling his brows. The bullpen was empty since it was Sunday, and Mendoza had shut his office door.