Page 43 of Kane's Awakening
Chapter Thirteen
Kane
I’d been back and forth all day over my decision to send Ryker that damn flower, but when his text came through, all of that dithering stopped. I’d made him happy, and that made it all worth it. I didn’t respond to his text, but I didn’t think he expected me to.
Yeah, it shocked me when I found myself in the flower shop that morning, picking out the rose and writing out the card to him. I was an asshole for reaching out to him, especially after I’d been such a dick the last time we’d talked at my house, but Ryker was just special. It didn’t matter whether I wanted to date him or not.
He deserved something special on a day I suspected made his inner romantic swoon.
I couldn’t be what he needed, but I could try to make him smile until the man whocouldcame around. The whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’saying really was true when it concerned my thoughts toward Ryker.
“Matthews, you’re with me this evening,” Harry said as he walked into the station. “And your ass is riding shotgun because I’m driving.”
He was maybe two inches shorter than me and had reddish-brown hair and green eyes. He wasn’t that much older, but he sure as hell acted like he was my fucking superior. Not that I could say much on the topic of arrogance: I was like the poster boy for the word.
I usually worked day shift, but on occasion, they switched our schedules around and I’d work nights for about a week before going back to normal. When I worked nights, I was either with Harry or a chick named Danielle.
“Yeah, whatever,” I answered before checking my belt and making sure I had everything. One time, I’d forgotten to grab my handcuffs, and when I had to arrest a guy later that day, I’d looked like a damn fool in front of my FTO and had to borrow his. “You ready to head out? Or are ya gonna play with your dick first?”
“Fuck you, man,” Harry spouted off before shoving my shoulder.
I smirked, knowing we were just clowning around. It’s what we did. Even if he was a jackass with a greater-than-thou attitude, we got along pretty well.
A few weeks before, we’d gotten a call that a man had been seen walking around some of the stores on the main strip at night, going up to people’s cars in parking lots and checking the locks. The caller had said they’d even seen the man carrying what looked to be a crowbar. So, Harry and I had gone to check it out.
When we’d arrived at the last known location of the dude, we’d seen some guy walking around—well more like stumbling—and he’d reeked of alcohol and pot. We’d had the right to suspect he was up to something, so we’d tried to frisk him and the dude had punched Harry in the face.
I’d totally believed it had been karma knocking the redheaded fucker down a peg. After I’d handcuffed the dude and put his ass in the cruiser, I’d laughed it off with Harry, too—who hadn’t found it nearly as funny as me.
While I waited on Harry to finish whatever the hell he was doing, I sat on the corner of my desk. Craig looked back at me from his desk up front and made a vulgar gesture, which I reciprocated before hopping back down and approaching him.
“What, no hot date tonight?” I asked, standing beside him and crossing my arms.
“Jeff wanted to do something, but I had to work. Obviously,” he answered, rolling his brown eyes. “I hate night shift. There are better things I could be doing at this hour… like getting laid.”
I grinned. “You could always surprise him when you get off, by gettinghimoff.”
An older officer walked by and looked at us. “Can you two at leasttryto be professional? This is a police station, not a damn bar.”
“Sorry, sir,” Craig said before looking back at his computer and pretending to read a document until the officer left.
“Kiss ass,” I whispered.
“Shut your slut face.”
Once Harry was ready, we left and got into his cruiser. Still being somewhat of a rookie, I only got a few moments of freedom before being shackled back to someone else’s leg as a ride along. All they really allowed me to do on my own was traffic stops.
John had told me the last time I rode with him that he thought I was ready for more, which was great.
For the most part, night shifts were slow and not much ever happened. It was a lot of us just driving around, listening to the scanner, and waiting for a call. There were the occasional emergencies, like domestic disturbances, drunk and disorderly calls—which usually coincided with the disturbances—or bar fights. But mostly it was just traffic violations we’d see and stop, which meant a lot of talking to pass the time and not much action.
“Something goin’ on between you and Barten?” Harry asked after we’d been in the car a few minutes.
I turned to him, surprised. “Craig? Dude, no. We’re just friends.” After thinking on it a second, I asked, “How’d you know I’m gay?”
I didn’t hide the fact, but I never went around announcing it either, and I hadn’t talked about my hookups at work, unless I was talking to Craig.
Harry glanced at me before looking at the road. “Thompson said he tried to set you up with his sexy as fuck cousin, and when she called you up, you turned her down. Just a hunch, I guess. The only reason to turn down a hot piece of ass like that would be that you’re in a relationship… or you’re gay. So, I just connected the dots.”
