by Anna Martin
“It’s going to be a few more days. The doctor wants to keep an eye on how I’m healing after the surgery.”
Max stroked his thumb back and forth over Tyler’s hand. He still had a Band-Aid on it from when they took the IV out.
“I was thinking. And you can say no, by the way. But I was thinking, when you get to come home, I could move in for a couple of days. Help out with June and stuff.”
“Are you sure?”
Max nodded. “Yeah. I can make sure you have meals and help you clean and…. And I can take June to school and pick her up too, if you need me to. I might need to shuffle some appointments around, but that’s easy enough.”
“That would be amazing. Thank you.”
“It’s the least I could do. I was so scared yesterday, Tyler. I’d heard that there was something going on, but I thought you were at home, asleep, so I didn’t bother calling. Then your mom called and asked me to go pick up June, and I’m….” He took a deep breath. “Tyler, I’m not a grown-up.”
Tyler let out a startled laugh at that. The movement tugged at his stitches, and he worked hard to hide his wince.
“You definitely are a grown-up.”
“I’m not good at grown-up things,” Max confessed. “I can’t do my own taxes and I own my own business, for Christ’s sake. I forget birthdays and forget to pay bills, and I don’t know how to look after your child.”
“Max. It’s okay. We’ll get you a planner. I can help with your taxes. And you do an amazing job looking after my child.”
“I think that scares me even more.”
Tyler tugged him down for another kiss. “We’ll work it out,” he promised.
MAX, ANGELA, and Juniper all got kicked out by a nurse after lunch so Tyler could rest some more. He’d never admit it to them, but he really needed a nap. Or maybe to just go back to sleep. Surgery aside, he was running really low on sleep before the whole getting-shot thing happened.
When he woke up again, it was late afternoon and Ted Coleman was sitting in the chair next to Tyler’s bed, working on his tablet.
“Hey,” Tyler said.
Ted startled, then smiled at him. “Hey, Tyler. How are you doing?”
Tyler nodded. “Getting better.”
“Good.”
“Sorry, have you been waiting long?”
“Nope.” He turned off the tablet. “I’m grateful for the peace and quiet, truth be told.”
He leaned forward on his elbows, a familiar gesture. Tyler hated that his boss was seeing him in such a vulnerable position. It felt unnatural… too intimate.
“What happened?” Tyler asked.
Ted sighed. “No loss of life, which is always what we aim for. Only injury was yours. A few of the others were taken in for observation overnight. The rest will be referred to the counseling service if they want it.”
Tyler nodded. That was all standard procedure.
“We got done taking all the statements this afternoon. A couple of them had plenty to say.”
“The two boys. Teenagers.”
Ted raised an eyebrow at him. “What about them?”
“I don’t know their names. But one of them helped me after… after it happened. He’s a goddamn hero, Ted. I could have died if it weren’t for him. I don’t know his name, but….”
“Kyle. Kyle Beckford.”
“I want to say thank you to him.”
“You can do that,” Ted said, nodding.
“He didn’t know I was a cop.”
“Son.” Ted laughed. “He knew you were a cop.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. I spoke with him myself. He’s still a kid, and not one of many words. But he was scared yesterday, and he was damn pleased there was someone else taking charge.” Ted fixed him with a long stare. “They all had plenty to say about you, Tyler. You might think Kyle was a hero, but that’s the word they were all using for you.”
“Don’t—” Tyler started, then shook his head. “Don’t go getting any ideas. I was just doing my job.”
“Your job isn’t getting caught up in a hostage situation with an active shooter. You kept ten people alive, got two kids and their mother out early, and we took the suspect with no shots fired. I train my team to do a job, kid, never expecting we’re going to go into it.”
“It’s my job.”
“And you did it well.”
Ted slapped his knees and pushed to his feet. “You have two weeks off on full pay after you get out of the hospital. That’s not coming out of your vacation allowance either. Rest up and get better. Then you’ve got six weeks on desk duties to look forward to. You’re not cleared for active duty until your doctor says so.”
“Thanks, Sheriff.”
Ted clapped Tyler on his good shoulder. “Anytime, son.”
TYLER WAS in the hospital for a total of five days. Five miserable days, with his family coming in and out whenever they could get free for visiting hours, and Max taking over looking after June. It had been Max who convinced June that she should go back to school—just for the mornings, but that was a big step—Max who was convincing her to eat proper meals, Max who read her bedtime stories. Tyler wasn’t sure how he felt about it. On one hand, he was jealous. That was his job as June’s dad, and he felt immensely guilty that he wasn’t there to do it.
On the other hand, Max was his boyfriend and stepping up to do all the dad duties Tyler couldn’t do himself.
Tyler forced down the little shining point of hope. He’d figure out the rest of it when he got home.
After an endless morning of waiting for a doctor, Tyler was released into the care of Max and June with a white box of painkillers from the pharmacy and an appointment to follow up with the community nurse to get the dressings on his wound changed before the end of the week. Tyler wasn’t looking forward to that. Max had been at the meeting with the doctor who discharged Tyler, which was a good thing, because Tyler tuned out at the first mention of the word “pus.”
Gross.
Just getting to Max’s truck, into it, then home and onto the sofa felt like a Herculean task. Tyler wasn’t even aware he needed that much energy to do things, and he was suddenly immensely relieved he had Max to help him.
It wasn’t the way Tyler had wanted Max to move in with him, but for now, he’d take what he could get.
“I’m not making dinner tonight,” Max announced. “So place your order for takeout, because we’re getting it delivered.”
“Pizza!” June yelled.
“That’s vote one for pizza. Tyler?”
“Pizza with broccoli on it.”
“Daddy,” June laughed. “No broccoli.”
“Pizza with broccoli and mushrooms?”
“Max!”
Just hearing her laugh like this was enough for Tyler. June had looked wrung-out when Max had brought her to the hospital. He hated seeing her like that.
“Broccoli, mushrooms, and pineapple,” Max said decisively.
“You’ve gone too far,” Tyler told him immediately. “Pineapple does not belong on pizza.”
“Fine,” Max said with an exaggerated sigh. “Juniper, what would you like on your pizza?”
“Sausage,” she said decisively. “And cheese.”
“I’m sure we can do that,” Max laughed. “Anything to add, Tyler?”
“That works for me.”
Any food he could eat one-handed was going to be good by him for the foreseeable future. While Max went into the kitchen to place the order, June came over and joined Tyler on the couch.
“How you doing, June Bug?”
“Okay,” she said.
“How do you feel about doing all day at school tomorrow?”
She pulled a face at him. “Do I have to?”
“No,” he said simply. “But I think it would be good if you did. This is your last week of school before you get out for the summer, remember? And Monday is story day. I know you love story day.”
She nodded, considering
it. “Can you take me in?”
“Of course I can, kiddo.” Tyler thought it was probably a good idea for him to go in and update June’s class teacher on what had happened, even if he had to ask his dad or Max to do the actual driving to get them there. June was a fairly sensible girl, so he thought she’d probably be fine during the school day. There was always the chance someone would say something that upset her, though, so it was better that he went in and set the record straight to begin with.
“Okay. And can I wear my Elsa dress?”
Tyler laughed. “Nice try. You can wear your Elsa T-shirt if you like.”
June sighed, like she was making the biggest concession of her life. “Okay.”
“Good girl,” he murmured and kissed her on the head.
“Daddy, is Max your husband?”
Tyler took a deep breath. He’d learned a while back not to contradict his daughter. It didn’t help. “What makes you think that?”
“Because he lives here now,” she said. “He sometimes sleeps in your bed, and when you look at him, you look all happy. And sometimes you kiss him when you think I’m not there.”
She was a menace.
“Husband is the word you use when someone’s married,” Tyler said, deciding that was a good place to start. “Me and Max aren’t married.”
“Oh.” June seemed to deflate.
“But we are dating,” he said. And tried not to squirm. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“Oh!”
“What do you think that means?”
June took the question very seriously. “I think that means that you like each other and you get to kiss each other and hold hands.”
“Right. What do you think about me having a boyfriend, not a girlfriend?”
She frowned at him. “I don’t understand.”
Tyler laughed and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. That was a silly question.”
“You are very silly, Daddy.”
“What do you think about Max staying with us at the moment?”
“I like it. He makes good food.”
“He orders pizza is what you mean.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “And spaghetti. He makes good spaghetti.”
“I’m pleased. Any more questions?”
“When will the pizza be here?”
Tyler laughed. “Soon, baby. I promise.”
She didn’t mention husbands again at all, which Tyler was immensely relieved about. He had a feeling Max wouldn’t be able to talk about it quite as calmly, and Tyler didn’t want to freak him out. Kids were curious and used the wrong words for stuff all the time. It didn’t mean anything.
Even if Tyler wanted it to mean something.
After dinner, Max helped them get upstairs so Tyler could help June get ready for bed, then left them alone so Tyler could take care of June’s bedtime story. When he was done and June was almost asleep, Tyler went to his own bedroom, already exhausted.
He was slightly surprised to see Max lounging on the bed. Surprised, and pleased.
“I didn’t want to make any assumptions on where you wanted me to sleep,” Max said, looking awkward. “Your couch isn’t that uncomfortable.”
“I want you to sleep in my bed.”
“Are you sure? Really sure? Because June’s here this time, and I don’t want it to be weird for her. And if we’re going to do this, we should probably tell her what’s going on. She has a right to know.”
Tyler nodded. “I agree. Though apparently she’s already figured some stuff out for herself.”
“Shit.”
“She’s fairly astute, Max. Can we discuss that in the morning, though? Because I’m tired, and I want to go to bed, and I’m really hoping you’re going to want to cuddle tonight, because I need it.”
“I think I probably need it too.”
“Good.”
They just stared at each other for a moment, and then Tyler grinned.
“Go on and get changed,” Max said, shaking his head. “I’ll turn everything off downstairs and lock up.”
“Okay.”
Tyler still snagged Max for a kiss before he went, though.
When he’d been discharged from the hospital, Tyler had been given a sling to keep his arm in a steady position and not jostle his shoulder too much. It ached, a deep pain that throbbed through the whole right side of his torso. Thank God he was left-handed, or else the desk duties Sheriff Coleman had assigned him would be a nightmare.
Tyler was still trying to work the buttons on his shirt undone when Max came upstairs.
“Sorry,” he said immediately, rushing over to help Tyler. “I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s fine,” Tyler interrupted. “I’m going to have to figure at least some of this out for myself sooner or later.”
Max finished with the buttons and helped Tyler slowly work the shirt off. The bandages were thick, covering an area far bigger than the wound. Tyler hadn’t looked when they were changing the dressings, but he’d heard the nurse comment on the amount of bruising that covered his skin.
Max leaned in and kissed the tattoo on Tyler’s chest.
“I suppose we should thank that asshole for missing this,” Max said.
“Yeah. Not a scratch on it.”
“You want a shirt to sleep in?”
Tyler shook his head. “There’s some basketball shorts in the middle drawer. Just those will be fine.”
Max helped him get changed, then helped him get toothpaste on his toothbrush, and got a washcloth damp so Tyler could wash his own face. At least he didn’t need Max’s help to pee. Small mercies.
When Tyler got back from the bathroom, Max had finished arranging a handful of the couch cushions underneath Tyler’s pillows to give him the best possible support while he slept.
“We can move them around until you’re comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Tyler murmured.
“Go ahead and get in bed. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Tyler did as he was told. He turned on the TV, something he did rarely, and found a channel that was showing back-to-back episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Tyler was pretty sure he’d seen all the episodes before, so it was perfect for falling asleep to. Plus it was still early; he was sure Max wouldn’t want to go to sleep yet.
“How are you doing?” Max asked when he got back from the bathroom.
“Okay. Come here.”
Max crawled into bed and shuffled over until his arm was touching Tyler’s.
“Thanks for staying,” Tyler said.
Max leaned over to kiss him. “Thanks for letting me.”
That was enough, for tonight.
Chapter Twenty-One
MAX SETTLED into life at Tyler’s house far easier than he expected. He didn’t give it too much thought, but things were undoubtedly both cozy and domestic. Two words he’d never associated with himself.
Tyler didn’t sleep too well, still uncomfortable and finding it difficult to stay asleep once he got there. So Max left him in bed in the mornings, snoring away, and got June ready for school.
Hoo boy, was that a battle he had not prepared himself for. Juniper was as grouchy in the mornings as her father, and definitely did not want to do any of the essential activities that got them out of the house and on their way to Sweetwater Elementary. Like getting dressed. Or eating breakfast. Or brushing her teeth. Or putting her shoes on.
What was it with this kid and putting her shoes on?
The whole thing was a pain, but Max didn’t hate it.
He learned how to make grape jelly with cucumber sandwiches, which sounded gross, and when he made one for himself to test that theory, learned the hard way that it was indeed disgusting. It served him right.
He learned how to offer June gentle bribes that didn’t come back to bite him in the ass. He learned that there was a protocol to dropping a kid off at school, and wasn’t that just a peach. Apparently parking the truck and walking her over was absolutely not required. He just did a
drive-by, throw-her-out-type deal.
Who knew?
“Honey, I’m home,” Max called when he got back to the house. He dumped the keys to the truck on the dresser in the hallway and kicked off his sneakers. Tyler was usually awake by the time he got home from the school run.
“I’m up here.”
Max grinned to himself as he jogged back up the stairs. There had been no hints of sexy times at all since Tyler got injured, though the long, hot-and-heavy make-out sessions were starting to make Max feel like a horny teenager. He was very much looking forward to Tyler being “cleared for active duties” again.
When Max arrived in the bedroom, Tyler was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing his shorts and nothing else, his head dropped down to his chest.
“You okay?” Max asked. He crouched down in front of Tyler, bracing his hands on Tyler’s knees.
“Yeah. Just fed up.”
Max reached up to nudge his chin gently. Tyler had grown out some stubble. Max liked it a lot.
“Want to do something today?”
“Like what?”
Max shrugged. “Something easy. We could go to the mall. Or go and catch a movie.”
“Actually, that sounds really good.”
“If we go to the lunchtime showing, then we’ll be done in time to get June from school. She’ll probably love that, if you can come with me to get her.”
“Max?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this.”
“For what?” Max asked, hauling himself to his feet again and taking Tyler’s elbow to help him get up.
“You know what. All of this.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Max. You put your whole life on hold to take care of me and June.”
“All right. When you’re feeling better, I’ll let you suck my dick to say thank you. How does that sound?”
Tyler chuckled. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”
He stopped Max from moving away by wrapping his hand around Max’s hip.
“Hey,” Max said. He was sure he was grinning like a fool.
“I’m going to ask you something, and you should absolutely say no if you don’t want to.”
