Page 21 of Stay A Little Longer
Chapter Seven
What in the hell had he been thinking? Lance nearly jerked the handle off the door of his truck. He was an idiot. An idiot for not kicking Trent out of his trailer last night as soon as he saw him. An idiot for letting, no begging, for Trent to touch him, to make him come, to stay the night. A total fucking idiot for saying he wanted to see Trent again when the truth was, it didn’t matter what he wanted.
He couldn’t see Trent again. Couldn’t be seen with him. He couldn’t… He just… couldn’t.
The panic that had ripped through him when Trent said Lemon was on her way… Jesus, he couldn’t remember ever being so scared in his life. Terrified. Frozen in fear. Because all of his, just go with it, don’t think about it, forget about the consequences bullshit hit him right in the face with just how huge the consequences would be if someone found them together.
Lance shook off the ache that sprouted in his chest. It should have been the thought of all he’d lose if they were caught. If he was outed. His family would be appalled. His friends would distance themselves from him. All the women that hated and despised him would…well, they’d keep on keeping on but now they’d have the truth they always said he never gave them. But it wasn’t the thought of losing the life he’d built on a foundation of lies that made him ache.
It was the thought of never seeing Trent again. He was so fucking stupid. So. Fucking. Stupid.
Case in point, he’d lost his cell phone. He’d come outside half-dressed not even thinking. He hadn’t expected to come face to face with his boss but he should have. Because where Lemon went, Shane followed these days. Or rather, the possessive bastard cleared a path for her. And not even the sight of Shane standing in the doorway of the other trailer could keep his eyes from immediately finding Trent’s through the window. He’d felt the connection between them flare. Sizzle. And he’d had to force himself to look away. To break the connection that shouldn’t exist. Couldn’t exist.
Lance cursed the universe, fate, and himself as he dug through his truck, looking for the missing cell phone. Normally he wouldn’t have given two shits about the location of his phone. Especially if he wasn’t working. But he’d promised his little sister, Lulu, that he’d take her shooting on his day off and after the morning he’d had so far, he thought putting some holes in a target was a damn good idea. It might help take the edge off.
“Hey, Nichols. What’s up?”
His entire body tensed at the sound of Shane’s voice behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to confirm that, yep, his boss was standing just on the other side of the door now. Lance took a deep breath, let it out, and tried not to grit his teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was make small talk, even if he liked the guy.
Shane Lowry was a straight shooter. He didn’t bullshit or pretend to be anything he wasn’t. He was a great cop, a good man and a fantastic father from what Lance had seen. In a lot of ways, he looked up to Shane. He’d been a mentor when Lance joined the force and he’d always treated Lance the same way he treated all the other guys at the station.
He didn’t give him shit for never going to happy hour or make snide comments about the notches on Lance’s bedpost. Shane never asked the kind of questions that Lance didn’t want to answer and that above all made him force a smile and ungrit his teeth to greet the guy.
“Hey Lowry.” He tipped his chin, “Lost my damn phone. What are you doing around these parts?”
Shane leaned against the side of the truck, “You looked between the seat and the console? That’s where mine always falls.”
Lance had just been about to shove his hand down there so he leaned over and skimmed his fingers through the seam. At first he thought he was going to come up empty but then the very tip of his finger brushed something. He snorted as he wedged himself deeper into the truck and managed to get a grip on the thing, pulling it out with a grunt.
“Nice.” He nodded to Shane as he dusted it off, “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“So…” Lance shut the door of the truck so they were face-to-face, nothing between them, and asked his question again. The one that Shane had ignored. The one Lance already knew the answer to, but shouldn’t. He played dumb, like the idiot he was, “What brings you out here on your day off?”
Shane’s eyes darted back to the trailer as he scratched his head, “Your new neighbor.”
“New neighbor?”
“You didn’t notice someone was staying fifty feet from your door?”
Lance shrugged. What was he supposed to say? No, he hadn’t, but he had noticed someone in his bed. Had invited him to stay. Had come all over the both of them while they tangled their tongues and… Shit, if he wasn’t careful those memories were going to make this conversation really awkward. It wasn’t as if his sweatpants would hide the semi already growing at just the thought of Trent.
“Lemon has a friend in town from Nashville and he’s gonna be staying at Seth’s place for a while.”
Lance ignored the way his pulse jumped, “A while?”
“Sounds like it.” Shane rubbed his chin, “He’s looking to lay low and Fate’s a good place to do that. I was uh… I was kinda hoping you might keep an eye on him for me while he’s here. Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble, that nobody bothers him.”
Lance didn’t like the idea of anyone bothering Trent. Not one bit. So he started to jump at the chance. Then he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to be the kind of guy that played nice. He was supposed to be a smartass so he sneered instead.
“You want me to play bodyguard for one of Lemon’s fancy friends? Am I getting overtime for this new job?”
Shane snorted, “More like babysitter and no. You’re not. Just call it a favor to a friend.”
Lance swallowed hard when his heart picked up the pace again. A reason to look in on Trent. To see him again. Because he really was staying. At least for a while. But that would only make things harder. Literally. His dick was already plumping up at the idea of spending more time with Trent Thorne.
“Who’s this friend?”
