Page 24 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

“Asshole.” Bobby didn’t sound put off; he sounded like he knew Tommy was giving him shit and was prepared to give it right back. “I guess I should’ve mentioned it last night, but I picked up a raging case of crabs a week or so ago. It’s probably all cleared up, but….”

“Now who’s the asshole?” Tommy slapped Bobby’s ass for that, laughing when he jumped.

The dishes were loaded and the counters wiped down. The kitchen wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.

“Guess you’re rubbing off on me.” Bobby was leaning against the counter, drying his hands on a dishtowel.

Tommy stepped closer, pulling the cloth from Bobby’s fingers as he pressed against him. “I know I’d like to be….”

He leaned in and was just about to kiss Bobby when the door to the kitchen swung open with a bang. He and Bobby both flinched at the noise, but they didn’t pull away from each other. Tommy had to remind himself he wasn’t doing anything wrong and there was no reason the kids shouldn’t see him stand close to Bobby or even kiss him. “Don’t slam the door like that,” he told Collin, who was dragging a bag of garbage through the kitchen.

“Sorry, Tommy.” Collin paused to look at them, his expression undecided for a minute, but then he shrugged and continued on out the back door and off to the trashcans outside.

Tommy watched him go before he turned his attention back to Bobby. “You sure you wanna hang out here all day?” He smiled and kissed Bobby quickly before they could be interrupted again.

Bobby relaxed against him, making a sound in the back of his throat that had Tommy’s pulse quickening. They both groaned and pulled back when they heard the back door open again. Collin trudged through and didn’t pay them any attention, but the moment was lost.

“I’m sure.” Bobby stepped away from the counter. “But I think I’m gonna run home for a quick shower and change and then be back.”

Not liking the way his stomach dropped at Bobby’s words, Tommy nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. You work tonight?”

“I’m off till Monday. This is my one guaranteed weekend a month.” Bobby looked hopeful as he asked, “What about you?”

Tommy was leaning against the stove, standing opposite Bobby. There wasn’t much space between them, but it was more than he liked. Now that he’d given himself permission to touch and kiss Bobby, it was all he wanted to do when they were in the same room together. “Nine till two.” He worked his lip between his teeth before adding, “I’m off tomorrow, though.”

Bobby stood up straighter at his words. Tommy could tell by the look on Bobby’s face he was formulating a plan. “Any chance you could just come back to my place after work tonight?” he asked, stepping closer to Tommy, putting his hands on Tommy’s waist.

He wanted to say yes. “For the night?”

Bobby tipped his face up and kissed Tommy’s jaw. “For as long as you can,” he whispered.

Another surge of desire raced through Tommy at the idea, but a night away from the house was a bad plan for too many reasons. “I don’t know. If Pop and Cheryl come home in the middle of the night, or if something goes wrong here and I’m not around….”

Sighing again, Bobby pulled back and caught Tommy’s eye. “How about we make sure Colleen has my numbers, and if your folks show up before you get off work, we abort the plan. But if they don’t show up and everything is okay around here, you drop by for a few hours after your shift?”

Tommy was grateful Bobby seemed to be suggesting an alternative, not pushing him. “All right, I think I can swing that.”

Bobby gave him another quick kiss for his answer. “Good. Now I’m gonna run home and get cleaned up.” He pulled back before anyone had a chance to walk in on them.

“Need a lift?”

He smiled at Tommy and said, “I’ll jog. Need to get a run in anyway.”

Tommy laughed at that. He only ran when he was being chased.

Tommy had managed to get the house in order, hook up with Kelly to make sure she got her cut of the money from his deal the night before, shave, shower, and start a load of laundry before Bobby got back. Not bad for a couple of hours. He was sitting on the front step smoking a cigarette when Bobby pulled up in front of the house.

Max and Zoe were playing in the yard, and Bobby stopped to greet them, picking Zoe up when she reached out to him. He carried her up the walkway.

“Looks like you’ve got a fangirl,” Tommy pointed out, laughing. He took one more drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from them, before he crushed it out and dropped it in the bucket of sand he kept out there for his butts.

“Maybe I should keep her.” Bobby pulled back to look at Zoe’s face. “I can put her in my pocket.” He kissed her hand when she tried to grab his nose and said in a playful voice, “You wanna help me catch bad guys all day, Zoe?” When Tommy shot him a look, Bobby corrected himself. “The actual bad guys. Not the guys just trying to get by.”

A few thoughts ran through Tommy’s head. He considered accusing Bobby of swooping again, and he tried to beat down the fear skittering through him at the little joke about Bobby keeping her. Instead he said, “Careful what you fill their heads with. Mike and Davey already got records. I doubt they’d make it past the background check if they decided to sign up.” Tommy stood up and walked down the last couple of steps to Max. He picked him up and kissed his cheek.

Bobby looked somewhere between hurt and worried before he spoke. “Juvenile records can be worked around or expunged,” he told Tommy as they headed into the house. “They just need to be careful as they get older,” he added, still sounding like a whole battalion of O’Shea cops was a possibility if they applied themselves. When Tommy stopped and stared at him, Bobby asked, “What?”

Tommy shook his head and laughed as he put Max down by the toy basket. “Nothing.”

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