“I’m not kicking them in the balls.”
“Then call me.I’ll do it for you.”
She smacked a fist against his arm, returning his smile.“Go home, Jamie.You owe me.”
“I always do.Love you, Leah.”
“Love you, too, big brother.”
Jamie left, trying not to feel guilty at the sheer relief he felt at putting his family and their myriad problems and demands behind him for one more day.
03
RUN YOU DOWN TO THE DARK
Kyle woke from a deep sleep into instant awareness between one breath and the next, already reaching for the tactical handgun he kept in the nightstand on his side of the bed.He didn’t know what had woken him up at 2337, but instincts honed in war as a Strike Force sniper had saved his life too many times to count over the years.Ignoring them wasn’t something he’d ever do.
Sliding soundlessly out of bed, he left the bedroom on quiet, bare feet.Halfway to the kitchen, he spotted the suitcase in the living room and sighed softly.He was supposed to spend these next two days alone, but apparently, that wasn’t happening.Setting the handgun on the dining room table as he passed it, Kyle padded into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Jamie from behind.
“You’re supposed to be in Manhattan.You left less than eight hours ago,” Kyle said softly against the taller man’s back.
Jamie finished pouring the whiskey into the glass on the counter and set the bottle of Macallan aside.“I wasn’t in the mood to argue with my father.Staying would have only made things worse.”
Kyle could feel the tension in his lover’s body and let him go.Jamie turned to put his back against the counter and swallowed down half the glass of whiskey without flinching.Kyle took the glass from him, taking a sip.The liquid burned going down, but he liked that.It was nice being able to drink alcohol at home instead of paying exorbitant prices for it at a bar by himself.Not that he’d been at a bar alone lately since he had Jamie to come home to now.
Kyle set the glass on the counter and leaned into Jamie’s personal space.Jamie’s hands came to rest on his hip, fingers dipping underneath the pair of sleeping pants Kyle had gone to bed in.The temperature in the condo was a balmy 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so Kyle hadn’t bothered with a shirt.He probably wouldn’t have bothered with clothes at all if he’d known Jamie was coming back early.
“That bad?”Kyle asked as he looped his arms around Jamie’s neck.
Jamie blew out a heavy breath.“I was late to dinner.I think I had six pieces of sushi before we started arguing and I decided to leave.”
“Should have maybe grabbed some food, then, not the whiskey.”
“I ate on the flight over.”
Kyle wrinkled his nose.“Ugh.Airline food.Civilian airline food at that.”
“Military field rations aren’t any better.”
“True.”
Jamie leaned down to press his forehead against Kyle’s, sighing heavily.“My parents want to parade me around in front of the media for my father’s campaign and don’t seem to understand the definition of classified information.”
“It’s been what?Six weeks since he announced his candidacy?I’m actually kind of surprised he didn’t try to blackmail the director into making sure you were free when he set the date.”
“I would have found an excuse to not be there.”
“That’s kind of the problem, but I get it.Family can be the worst sometimes.”He curled his fingers around Jamie’s silk tie and ran his thumb over the smooth material.Jamie always looked good in a suit, especially this one, but Kyle would rather see it on their bedroom floor.“What do you need right now?”
Jamie moved to kiss him, easy and sweet, despite the angry grip of his hands on Kyle’s hips.Kyle leaned into his touch, rising onto the tips of his toes to kiss Jamie back, chasing the taste of whiskey in his mouth.
“Nothing.I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Jamie murmured against his lips.
“I’d rather you wake me up than brood your way through a bottle of alcohol.”Kyle sank back down on his heels and smoothed his hands over Jamie’s shoulder, giving his tie a little tug.“Let’s go to bed.”
Kyle took Jamie by the hand and led him back to their bedroom.The luxury penthouse condo they shared belonged to Jamie, a gift from his parents in an attempt to bribe him to leave the MDF years ago.They let him keep it even though he refused to retire from active duty.Kyle technically shared an apartment with his brother in DC, in a less well-to-do neighborhood, to keep up the appearance that he and Jamie weren’t together.In reality, Kyle had moved in soon after he’d officially joined Alpha Team last summer, neither of them willing to give up the connection they’d formed the first night they met.
They both had used up far too many second chances in their lives.Letting each other go would have been the right thing to do at the time—Jamie was his superior officer, and that was a mess of regulations they were actively breaking on a daily basis—but they both knew how fleeting life could be.When Jamie had asked him to stay, Kyle didn’t have it in him to say no.
