“Hey, are you in there?” Corbin asked, touching his partner’s arm to get his attention.
Alex glanced over.
“Yeah, sorry. I was thinking. What did you say?” he asked, curiously.
Corbin repeated himself.
“Did you get the hotel reservation email? I didn’t, and we’re going to have to sleep somewhere tonight. I know protocol says to check in at some point when we arrive on a case.”
Alex pulled out his phone, and scrolled through. That’s when he found the confirmation.
“Yeah, it went to my personal email, not my business one. Check yours.”
Corbin did.
“Oh, there it is. It looks like we’re sharing a room due to a lack of hotels inHolladay.”
Alex shrugged.
That was fine with him.
As long as it was a decent hotel, they’d be good. Plus, the more time he spent with Corbin, the deeper those ties to him became. Honestly, he loved being around him.
“Once upon a time, before Elizabeth was the boss, Gabe boned us all good. We got the shittiest roach coaches. He derived great pleasure in screwing his agents over under the guise it was‘budgetary restraints’,” he said, laughing. “Sharing a room in a nice hotel is a luxury. You’ll never hear me complain about it.”
Well, that was good to know.
Truthfully, Corbin liked his partner.
He was easygoing, even though he was a little off. There was a sadness in him.
Oh, he never said shit about it, but he could see it at the oddest times in his eyes. There would be moments he’d look up, and see the man watching him.
That’s when he saw it. Like it was haunting Alex.
Corbin knew because he’d been there and done that forYEARSafter Will had been killed.
He’d bet that Alex lost someone he loved, and there were scars remaining.
“I guess dinner is handled, too,” Corbin admitted. “Dinner with the boss. Thank God I’m dressed up for that date,” he joked.
Alex laughed.
“Well, if anything, you tend to look nice not dressed up,” he offered. “I swear you look too nice, and that’s why the ladies are always hitting on you when we go bowling or to the movies.”
He laughed.
Oh, well, he’d learned to dress up when he’d been married to Will. The man picked out his things for him. To this day, he missed finding random shirts and sweaters in his closet. His old ‘dress up’ habits died hard.
“I just hope that you don’t snore,” Alex joked.
Corbin laughed.
“Me? I don’t. I’m a silent sleeper. You’ll not even hear me,” he stated. “I’m a gentleman in my sleep,” he joked.
Alex didn’t care, really.
It was nice to be on a case, and able to spend some time with someone he valued as his partner. They had built a bond in a short period of time, and he couldn’t imagine not being his partner. Corbin made him forget about Noah, and he knew how big of a thing that truly was.
