by Andria Large
“Because she’s a manipulative bitch? I think she still wants Jayme and is trying to keep him around. And Brendan’s a dumbass for staying with her.”
“If he thinks the baby might be his, that might be why he’s sticking with her.” Will shrugged.
Tripp shook his head and scrubbed a hand over his mouth. This was not good.
“Let me take you home. Sorry lunch was a bust.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got some leftovers at home I can eat.”
He took Will home, then headed for his house. Jayme’s truck was parked in the driveway. He took a deep breath and walked in the front door. He had to tell Jayme about what Will said, and the possibility that the baby might not be his.
“Jayme?” he called as he shut the front door.
“Upstairs.”
He walked up the stairs and stood in the doorway to Jayme’s room. Jayme was sitting on the end of his bed, freshly showered; with his hands clasped in his lap. He was now in gym shorts and a t-shirt.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked and sat down next to him.
Jayme shrugged. “I just got betrayed by someone I thought was my best friend.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Why does this keep happening to me? First my wife, then Brendan, are you fucking next?”
“What?! No. Never, Jayme. I would never betray your trust like that.”
Jayme dropped his head into his hands. “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
He draped his arm across Jayme’s shoulders. “I know you are, it’s okay.”
They sat there in silence for a few minutes. He warred with himself over bringing up what he and Will talked about. He didn’t want to hurt Jayme any more, but he couldn’t not tell him either.
“I was talking to Will after you left. He seems to think that they’ve been together for longer than just two months.”
“Which would mean she was cheating on me with him.”
“Yeah...”
Jayme shook his head. “Her I can believe may have been cheating on me. But him. Would he really do that to me?”
“I don’t think you should put it past him. He’s obviously not as good of a friend as you thought.”
Jayme made an aggravated noise and shot to his feet. He paced in front of Tripp with his hands on his hips.
“I think you also might want to demand a paternity test, Jayme,” he said quietly.
Jayme stopped and turned to stare at him. “You really think she’d lie about that? I mean, why? Why when she’s with Brendan would she say that the baby is mine?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe she wants you back, and thinks by having your baby you’d give her another chance?”
“I don’t even want a fucking baby!” Jayme shouted, throwing his arms up. “I’ve only been doing all this shit with her because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t want a kid that’s mine to grow up without a father. Even if I didn’t want them in the first place.”
“I know, Jayme. I just don’t want to see you get hurt anymore than you already have.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” Jayme sighed, shaking his head.
“I think you need to make sure that baby is yours.”
Jayme nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
He got up and went to Jayme, pulling him into a hug. Jayme sighed again and wrapped his arms around Tripp.
~~~
Tripp
“Hey, what’s with the hand?” he said, motioning toward Jayme’s hand; which was trembling as he held his cup of coffee.
Jayme sighed and put his coffee in the cup holder, then wrung his hands together. “It started this morning. I think the stress from the whole Mallory and Brendan thing is getting to me.” He rubbed his hands on the tops of his thighs, as if that would help.
Tripp nodded. “Did you call Mallory?”
“Not yet. I feel like such an asshole asking for a paternity test.”
“But dude, you have to. Unless you want to just pretend the kid is yours.”
“Maybe I can wait and see if he or she looks like me?”
Tripp rolled his eyes. “No. What if it comes out looking like Mallory?”
Jayme pursed his lips. “True. Dammit. Why’s this gotta be so difficult?”
“Because that’s life?”
“What if she refuses?”
“Then you take her to court.”
Jayme groaned, and dropped his head back to his seat. They were in their work truck, almost done with their shift. It was awkward at the shift meeting that morning. Brendan tried to talk to Jayme, but Jayme ignored him, and everyone noticed. Tripp felt for him, he really did; but Jayme needed to man up and get this paternity thing straightened out. He would bet anything that Mallory was lying. What he didn’t understand was why?
As if reading his thoughts, Jayme asked, “Why though? Why lie about me being the father? What would be the reason?”
“I don’t know, man. She’s a manipulator. I’m sure she has a reason, and thinks she’s totally justified.”
“I feel like I have no idea who I married. I don’t know this person that she’s turning out to be.”
“Then she hid her true self really damn well.”
Jayme nodded. “Yes, she did.”
The tone of Jayme’s voice made him glance over at his partner. He looked upset, and rightfully so. He hated that Jayme had to deal with this kind of crap. He hated seeing his lover in turmoil without any way to help him.
Their radio crackled to life, and they got a call about a domestic with a possible hostage situation. It called for all units in the area to respond. Jayme flipped the lights and headed toward the address that they were given. Once they got close, they turned off the lights and followed the other units onto the property. Jayme angled the truck so that when they got out, they could use their doors as cover.
The house was a rancher, with the front door at the center of the house. The place looked run down with shingles missing from the roof, and trash and junk all over the front yard.
They got into position behind their open truck doors with the windows down, pulled their weapons; and provided cover for the other officers there. There was one officer, the negotiator, who had a bullhorn. He was trying to get the man to come to the door. Tripp’s blood pressure spiked when the front door slowly opened, and a shirtless man stepped out with a gun in his hand. He started screaming about his whore wife, and no good children. Then he swore they’d never take him alive.
Tripp held his breath. This guy was either going to kill himself or make them kill him. The negotiator tried his best to get the man to calm down, but he was having none of it. The man lifted the gun and shot off a couple rounds at them before they all opened fire on him. He jerked with each bullet that hit him. He was on the ground within seconds, full of bullet holes.
As a group of officers raced up to take care of him, Tripp glanced to his left to check on Jayme; but he was gone. His stomach rolled violently. He quickly holstered his weapon and ran around the back of the truck. He froze when he came around the bed and saw Jayme lying on the ground, the left side of his head drenched in blood. Springing into action, he ran to Jayme’s side; skidding to a halt on his knees.
“OFFICER DOWN!” he screamed, then grabbed the radio from his shoulder and called for an ambulance.
There was probably already one on the way, but he wasn’t taking any chances. A couple other officers ran over, including Brendan and Will.
“Holy shit! Jayme!” Brendan exclaimed.
“Where’s he hit?” Will asked.
“Head. I can’t tell if it’s just a graze, or if it went in. Someone get me something to stop the bleeding!” he yelled.
“Is he breathing?” Brendan asked.
He checked that and his pulse. “He’s breathing and has a steady pulse.”
He struggled to keep his emotions in check, especially when the blood was starting to pool on the ground under Jayme’s head. Good God, wha
t if he dies? He never got the chance to tell Jayme that he loved him. He loved him so much.
A wad of gauze pads were thrust into his hand. He immediately pressed it against Jayme’s blood soaked head.
“Where’s the fucking ambulance?” he growled.
“They’re coming,” Will replied.
He glanced toward the house where they were doing CPR on the other guy. “Is he dead?”
“Yeah, ain’t no way he’s coming back from that,” Brendan murmured. “He had six officers shooting at him.”
His lip lifted in a sneer. “Good.”
While two officers did CPR on the man, two others went into the house to see if anyone else was inside. Just as they brought out a lady and two young children from the back of the house, he heard the siren for the ambulance. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Jayme’s slack face. He had to be okay. He refused to think otherwise. As soon as Jayme was awake, he was going to tell him how he felt. There was no way he was going to go any longer, without letting Jayme know that his feelings had changed. If Jayme didn’t feel the same way, then he’d deal with it. It might hurt like a motherfucker, but at least Jayme would know where he stood.
Two ambulances rolled up. One for the dead man, and the other for Jayme. The paramedics wrapped up Jayme’s head, then got him on a stretcher and into the ambulance within minutes of them arriving. He wanted to go with his partner, but they needed him on scene to help contain it. As soon as he was cleared, he’d head to the hospital to see Jayme. No one knew they were...sleeping together. Mallory apparently never told anyone about seeing them in the club together. He wished he could say they were dating, but Jayme hadn’t wanted that. Well, that shit was about to change. He wanted more and either Jayme did too, or they’d have to end what they have.
~~~
Jayme
Jayme groaned. His head felt like it weighed a million pounds. What the hell happened? Where was he? He cracked one eye open, then did the other. His vision was blurry as he tried to look around.
“Oh hey, look guys, he’s awake.” Came his brother, Ian’s, voice from his left.
“Oh, honey, thank God,” his mother whispered from his right, just before she kissed his temple.
He reached up and rubbed his eyes with his left hand. That’s when he felt a tug from something attached to his hand. He blinked a couple times to clear his vision, then looked at his hand to see an IV line in it. He was in the hospital? For what? He looked around to see his family surrounding his bed, all with worried looks on their faces. He lifted his hand and touched his head, which was throbbing. There was a bandage around it. What the fuck?
“What happened?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“You got shot in the head,” Seamus blurted.
Mitch smacked his arm. “Seamus, really?” Mitch admonished, then turned to him. He placed his hand on his forearm, and gave it a squeeze. “You weren’t shot in the head. It grazed the side of your head, sweetie. Gave you a nice gash that they had to staple closed.”
“Shot?” he choked in shock. Then the panic set in. Tripp. Where was Tripp? Did he get shot too? Was he okay? Was he injured? Or worse? “Tripp! Where’s Tripp?!”
“Tripp hasn’t been by yet. He called to check on you though. Said he’d be here as soon as he could get away,” Ian said.
“Is he okay?”
“Sounded okay when I talked to him,” Ian answered with a nod.
He blew out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart. He was terrified for a second that Tripp was dead while he was lying there in a hospital bed, alive. Made him want to throw up. He didn’t want to live without Tripp. If he was being honest, he had to say he was falling for him.
There was a knock on the door fifteen minutes later. It opened slowly, and Tripp peeked his head in. When he realized Jayme was awake, he shoved the door open so hard that it hit the wall. Tripp started for him, the door shutting on its own momentum. The tortured expression on the other man’s face made his breath catch.
Tripp was on him a moment later, cupping his face and kissing the ever-living hell out of him. He flailed for a second before grabbing onto Tripp’s elbows. Tripp poured everything he was feeling into the kiss, the fear, the relief, and another emotion that felt a lot like love. Jayme felt it all, and he welcomed it.
Tripp pulled back slowly, leaving him with a few lingering kisses to the lips. Then he pressed their foreheads together.
“Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again,” Tripp rasped.
Jayme snorted, and kissed Tripp on the lips one more time. “Not like I planned on getting shot.”
Tripp pulled in a deep breath and blew it out. “I was so scared. I couldn’t tell where all the blood was coming from. I thought I lost you.”
He pulled Tripp into a hug. Tripp tucked his face into Jayme’s neck. “It’s okay. I’m okay,” he murmured.
Tripp nodded against his neck. They hugged for a moment longer, before Tripp straightened up and looked around the room. His eyes widened slightly, and his clean-shaven face flushed pink. Jayme fought not to smile, but he looked damn cute.
“Oh, shit. I didn’t realize y’all were here,” Tripp said, his embarrassment clear in his tone.
“Of course not. You only had eyes for Jayme,” Jana replied with a knowing grin.
“Jayme, how long has this been going on?” his mother asked, motioning between him and Tripp.
“We’ve been seeing each other for about a month and a half,” he replied.
“And when where you going to tell me?” she squawked.
“Soon?” He winced.
His mother rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. She then looked at Seamus and Mitch, and Ian and Jana. “Did y’all know?” They nodded. She then turned to her husband. “You better not have known.” She warned.
He held his hands up and shook his head. “I had no idea.”
“Can I...can I get a minute with Jayme...alone?” Tripp asked hesitantly.
“You sure can,” Mitch chirped.
“But--” Jayme’s mom protested, but Mitch shushed her and shooed everyone out of the room.
He watched Tripp as he paced along the side of the bed. Tripp was still in his uniform and looked sexy as fuck. He appeared apprehensive but determined. He thought he knew what it was about, and he was ready.
“Listen, I hate to do this while you’re in a hospital bed after being shot, but I just...it’s eating at me,” Tripp said, then turned to lock eyes with Jayme. “I can’t do this with you anymore. You told me to tell you if my feelings ever changed, and I can no longer do the casual fucking around. Well, I’m letting you know that this isn’t working for me. Not after what just happened. I’m sorry if I ruined things between us, but I can’t hide it anymore.”
He rolled his lips in and nodded. “I figured as much. Especially after the way you just kissed me.”
“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you wanted.”
He frowned. “Don’t apologize for caring about me.”
He watched as Tripp steeled himself. “I know it’s not what you want--“
“You don’t know what I want.”
Tripp’s expression turned confused. “But you said--“
“Fuck what I said, Tripp. Do you really think I don’t feel the same way about you? Didn’t you feel anything when I kissed you? Or all the other times I’ve kissed you? I haven’t been hiding it very well.”
“Yeah...I did. I just figured you’d deny it, because you were determined not to have another relationship.”
“I’m not denying it. I want a relationship with you. I want to call you my boyfriend and do all the things a couple should do.”
A dazzling smile split across Tripp’s handsome face, deepening those dimples of his. “Really?”
He held out his hand and waited for Tripp to walk over and take it. “Yes, really. I’m sorry for making you think otherwise.”
“We sho
uld probably keep this quiet at work though. They might try to split us up if they know we’re a couple.”
“You’re probably right.” He nodded.
Tripp leaned down and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Me too.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jayme
JAYME WAS glad to be home. He walked in the front door, followed by Tripp. They kept him overnight for observation but deemed him fit to leave the next afternoon. He was bandage free, but still had a line of staples running in a six-inch line across the side of his head; starting just over his left ear.
He set his stuff down by the stairs, then turned to Tripp and wrapped his arms loosely around his waist. Tripp draped his arms around Jayme’s neck, and cocked his head slightly in question.
“Can I help you?” Tripp asked with a small smile playing across his lips.
“Yeah, you can fucking do me,” he replied, punctuating his words by pulling Tripp up against him.
“My, my, aren’t we demanding.”
Jayme hummed, and leaned in to kiss and nip at Tripp’s neck; just under his ear. Tripp’s breath caught. He tilted his head to give Jayme better access.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Tripp rasped.
“Oh, I’m sure.” He rolled his hips against where they were pressed together, rubbing his erection against Tripp’s. “I’m thinking maybe I can give bottoming a go.”
Tripp jerked his head back to look at him, his honey colored eyes concerned. “Are you sure?”
Jayme nodded, and gave a small shrug. “You seem to enjoy it, so yeah, why not?”
“As long as you’re feeling okay.”
“I feel fine. Come on, I know you want to.” He let Tripp go and started up the stairs.
“Fuck yeah, I do.” Following him upstairs and into Tripp's bedroom.
Jayme looked over from where he was standing at the foot of Tripp’s bed, to find his partner standing in the doorway; his eyes hooded, and his full lips parted. Damn, he looked sexy. Keeping his gaze on Tripp, he began to strip. First, he slowly pulled his T-shirt carefully over his head, and tossed it away. He then kicked off his sneakers, and finally; he slid off his sweatpants and underwear at an annoying, slow pace.
