Warren stayed for another few rounds, keeping the chat casual before giving Reece a quick nod and a fist bumped, then meandering towards the treadmills. He stepped up onto the one beside Freddie. Matched his pace. Didn’t crowd.
Freddie noticed him within a few strides, and he flipped out an earbud to offer a nod. “New PE teacher, right?”
Warren upped the gradient, eased into a jog. “Yeah. Warren. Or Mr Bailey if you need the official.”
“Alfie says you’re alright,” Freddie said, breath catching with exertion. “Apparently, you’ve got him enjoying football again. That’s not nothing.”
“Alfie? Your stepson?”
Freddie let out a short laugh. “Not officially. But for ease, yeah. I’m with his dad.” He glanced sideways. “How come you’re not using the school gym?”
“You think I want to work out in a place crawling with parents and over-friendly PTA types?”
Freddie chuckled. “Fair point.”
Warren kept pace, matching Freddie stride for stride. He wasn’t trying to outrun him or show off but let the rhythm settle between them. Freddie was a solid runner. Had to be, working front-line policing. In another context, Warren might’ve said something. Given a hint that he was police too. Traded war stories. Freddie would’ve had to call himSarge.
But this wasn’t that time.
So he ran. Waited.
Then went straight for the jugular.
“Heard you and Jude Ellison used to be a thing.”
Freddie shot him a glance. “For about five minutes.”
Warren nodded like that tracked. “What’s he like outside the classroom?”
That made Freddie pause.
He tapped the treadmill screen, brought the speed down to a walk, then stepped off entirely. He flipped his towel over his shoulders, sweat gleaming from his brow, then dried his face, eyes lingering on Warren a second too long for him to feel the weight of it.
“Why’re you asking?”
It was instinct. That subtle shift in tone. The tilt of the head, the narrowing of focus. A copper’s radar kicking in. Warren had seen it a hundred times. Used it himself. It was the look of someone scanning for motive without needing a reason yet. Warren didn’t break stride, though. Didn’t look over. He ran. Because the first rule of UC work was ironclad: No one local gets the truth. Not the fire crews. Not the community coppers. Not even the ones who looked trustworthy on paper and made his gut saymaybe.Because it only took one slip. One badly timed word. One whisper in the wrong pub. One burner phone with his name on it tucked into someone else’s pocket. And in a place like Worthbridge, where grief hung in old reports and the Radley name still echoed down alleyways and courthouse steps, slips could get him burned. Or buried.
So Warren thought fast.
He glanced across the gym floor where Reece was lifting, eyes on his form in the mirror. Until a blond bloke snuck up behind him, wrapped him in a backwards hug and licked his neck. That had to be the paramedic. Their relationship wasn’t subtle. No interest in hiding how gone they were for each other. Especially when Reece laughed, let the weights thud to the floor, and turned to scoop the bloke clean off his feet.
Warren watched. Took in the moment. Used it.
Still looking that way, he said, “I like him.”
Freddie’s posture shifted. Curiosity gave way to guardedness. Copper instinct replaced by something quieter. Personal.
“He’s a good bloke,” Freddie said, voice calm but edged. “Deserves someone who sees that and isn’t just looking for a quick fuck.”
Warren kept running, letting the silence hang for an open door.
Freddie folded his towel in half. “He doesn’t do casual. Doesn’t fall into bed because someone flashes a look and a nice smile. He’s cautious. And that comes from somewhere.” He glanced at Warren. “Wherever that reason is—it’s his. Not yours to dig into. Not through his friends. Not through me.”
Warren kept running.
Freddie held his stare. “If you’re after a quick fuck, go to the Lighthouse. Plenty there who’ll climb you like a tree. You want something real? Then Jude’s one of the good ones. So take your time. Earn it. But if this is some fishing expedition, or a game, walk away. I mean it.” He grabbed his water bottle. “Because I’m police. And more than that? I look out for the people I care about. And I don’t let them get fucked over. Not anymore.”
A beat.
