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Ashes (Men of Hidden Creek Book 1) by HJ Welch (24)

23

Remi

Remi felt like he was floating in this strange in-between place outside of reality. Like a dream he didn’t want to wake up from yet. He and Kris had spent all day together on Friday after their talk. Yes, there had been more fooling around (dear lord Kris gave an incredible blow job) but there had been snuggling and talking and watching dumb game shows together. It had been awesome.

“Come on, who is she?” Channing said. Remi hadn’t even noticed him come into the common area. But when he slapped Remi’s arm with the magazine in his hand, it got his attention quick enough.

Remi frowned as Channing sat down at the dining table beside him, a grin on his face. “What?” he asked, genuinely confused. All Remi had been doing was a crossword puzzle.

Channing pointed at his face. “That look is the look of a sexually satisfied man,” said Channing, loudly enough for the rest of the watch to hear. Remi’s gut immediately twisted. “So, come on, spill. Who is she?”

“There’s no girl,” he said.

It gave him a head rush to even skirt that close to the truth. But he wasn’t about to confess to everyone just yet. He still had no idea how he was going to talk to his mom about any of this, let alone his dad or sisters.

Alondra dropped into the chair opposite him and wagged the spoon from the yogurt she was eating at him. “There is something,” she agreed with a wry smile. “Have you met someone you hope to start sleeping with? You got that glowy look.”

Remi rolled his eyes as his phone started vibrating in his pocket. “There is no glow, y’all are crazy.”

Except, call it good or bad timing, it was Kris’s number ringing him.

“OH!” Channing bellowed, clapping and pointing in triumph. “That’s it! That’s the face! What’s she look like? Let us see.”

Remi quickly hugged his phone to his chest to hide the caller ID as he hastily stood up. He was in no way ashamed of Kris. The timing just wasn’t right yet. “Y’all are nosy perverts,” he grumbled as he stalked off toward the front entrance. “Hey, baby,” he said when he was finally able to answer the call in private. “How’s it going?”

“Um,” said Kris.

Remi immediately stopped walking. Even from that one syllable, he could tell something was off. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Well,” said Kris, drawing out the sound. “I’m standing outside your fire station.”

Remi’s emotions swung from concern to flattered to concern again. “Is everything okay with the house?” he asked. “Or are you just here for a visit?”

Kris chuckled, lightening the mood a little. “As much as I would love to surprise you at work, baby,” he said playfully, “I do respect your boundaries and the fact you’re not out yet. And no, everything’s fine with the house. Although I had to shoo that cat away again. Do you think she’s a stray?”

Remi sighed. It had occurred to him. Although he knew cats sometimes just took themselves on vacation. If they found a house that would feed them, why go home? His mom had always warned him not to leave anything out for a cat he didn’t know in case he was keeping the kitty from going back to its rightful owners.

Of course, he hadn’t listened this time. But the little black cat was hardly bigger than a kitten and obviously hungry. And now she kept breaking into his house to stare at Kris’s fish and bat at the tank. Even with the new top on, Remi was worried she might do what cats naturally do and eat Kris’s beloved pet despite their best efforts.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding to himself. “Maybe next time she pops up, we can take her to the vet and see if she’s microchipped.”

“Cool, yeah, good idea,” Kris said. His voice was tight with anxiety.

Remi bit his lip and looked around. He was in the front hallway that led out in front of the bays. “So, I’m guessing you didn’t come all the way out here to tell me about the cat,” he said. “Where are you? I’ll come meet you.”

“Out by the front where the trucks come out,” Kris said with a sigh. “No, you’re right. I, uh, well, that guy Epstein called me back. He told me to come here as soon as possible. That it was to do with the fire at the bar. Have you heard anything about it?”

Remi frowned and began making his way out to the front of the station. “No,” he said, trying not to let his apprehension bleed through in his voice. “Maybe they just want to talk to you again about what happened at the end of your shift? Or getting your things back from your apartment? Hang on. I’m nearly at you.”

They paused the conversation while Remi walked past the engines outside. Kris was waiting there in a slightly more conservative outfit than Remi had become used to. He was in jeans, flip-flops and a T-shirt, with no accessories aside from the sunglasses that Remi had loaned him. Or given him, as he’d already decided.

It made Remi sad to see Kris dressed down to deal with certain kinds of people. It also upset him he couldn’t hug or kiss him hello. Well, that was up to him, wasn’t it? The quicker he came out to his family, the quicker he would be able to declare to the world that he and Kris were together.

Were boyfriends.

What a crazy thought. He loved it.

Instead he hung up the phone and gave Kris a light tap on the arm. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Kris said back. He slid his phone into his jeans, then both his hands into the pockets, rolling on the balls of his feet. “So, I’m supposed to go to a Captain Bishop’s office?”

“I’ll take you,” said Remi with a nod. He realized they would need to walk through the common area, but he immediately quashed any hesitations he had. The more his buddies were used to seeing Kris around, the less of a shock it would be to them when they announced they were a couple.

That made Remi realize something, however. “Hang on,” he said as they began to wander back inside the station. “There were a couple of other people who came into the station during our last shift. I wondered if they were, well, uh…” He glanced at Kris who raised his eyebrows at him. “Well, I thought they might have looked gay.”

Kris burst out laughing. “Oh, honey,” he said, lightly slapping Remi’s arm. “You can say that. It’s not a crime.”

“Oh,” said Remi in relief, feeling a little foolish. “Well, maybe they also work – or worked – at Bottom’s Up? Maybe they’re just talking to everyone.”

Kris blinked, then grinned at Remi. Remi could see the tension melt away from him. “Yeah, maybe,” he said, nodding. He bumped arms with Remi. The touch of skin on skin was enough to give Remi goose bumps. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably just routine.”

Heads turned as they walked past the rest of Remi’s coworkers in the common room, but no one said anything. They just smiled and nodded and carried on with whatever they were doing. All except Travis, of course, who followed their progress across the room with a slight frown on his face. Remi did his best not to look at him.

When they reached Bishop’s office, Remi glanced up and down the corridor. There was absolutely no one around. So he threw caution to the wind and quickly leaned down to peck a kiss on Kris’s cheek.

“Good luck,” he said as he straightened up just as hastily. “I’ll, um, hover around here for when you come out. Unless we get a call. Then I won’t be here. I’ll, uh-”

Kris giggled and squeezed Remi’s arm for just a second. “Baby, it’s fine,” he said with a cute smile. “Like you said, it’s probably nothing. If you’re here when I leave, I’ll say hi. If not, I’ll see you at home.”

Home.

God, Remi loved hearing him say that. It sounded right.

“Okay,” he said. “Catch you later.”

Kris winked and knocked on the door, leaving Remi behind as he went inside.