truck.
“Bad news, Chief.” Easton stared right at me. “The cat’s outta the bag. I’m at the cabin. Ran into Tomi and—” He stopped talking, and I figured Windsor was speaking on the other line. “I know. I ain’t gonna say nothin’. I swear it. Ain’t none of my business.” He pressed his lips into a firm line and nodded as Windsor kept talking. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Yeah. I’m real sorry. I’ll tell him.”
He hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket before checking to see if Percy had done what he was told.
“Windsor’s on his way over. He asked me to tell you to stay put and don’t go runnin’ off. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Ain’t nobody gonna find out from me.”
When I didn’t respond, Easton ducked his head and got into his truck. He said something to Percy I couldn’t hear, and they drove off down the dirt road away from the cabin.
My instinct was to flee. Windsor had read me like a book. All I wanted to do was pack my bags, head back to British Columbia, and not look back. Ever. Somewhere in the maelstrom was a tiny voice that kept asking me what I was running from and why I continued to hide. Was it habit? Was my reasoning the same as a thirty-seven-year-old man as it had been when I was eighteen?
My cold terror eclipsed my ability to reason with myself.
I went back inside the cabin and collapsed on the couch, slamming my laptop closed. I buried my face in my hands and did all I could to regulate my breathing and think logically. Everything was falling apart.
This was all a big mistake. I should have stayed in BC.
Fifteen minutes later, the front door slammed closed. I glanced up and was met with Windsor the cop, not Windsor the man I’d spent the last few weeks getting to know on an intimate level. Staring back at me was a blank expression that hid all his emotions and feelings.
Years on the force meant he’d perfected the look of indifference. Windsor had shut down. I couldn’t tell if he was royally pissed off, scared, worried, or on the verge of panic, like me. He stared for a long time, and I knew he was reading me and deciding how I felt and what to do about it.
“I need to go home,” I said after too long in a silent standoff.
“I knew you’d want to run.” The words were almost spat, and he tossed his Stetson aside and paced, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I saw this from a mile away. God-fucking-dammit.”
I jumped off the couch and paced too, needing to move but also needing to be at his level. “This was a mistake, Windsor. In a matter of one day, every person in Jasper will know the truth. You realize that, don’t you?”
Windsor cringed, mirrored concern reflecting on his face. He didn’t want that any more than I did.
“You know I’m right.”
“You’re not right. I hope like hell you’re not right. I really want to believe Easton wouldn’t do that to us. He’s a good guy. Of everyone I know, I think he would be sympathetic. He’s not gonna out us.”
“He knows you’re gay, Windsor. He knows what we’re doing up here. He’s not stupid, and no, he will probably respect our privacy, but it isn’t his secret, so how careful will he be? I bet he runs home and tells his husband who will tell god only knows who else. That person will tell their friends and so on. ‘But oh, it’s a secret, don’t tell anyone, okay?’ Then everyone in Jasper knows. That’s how shit works around here. Even if the two of them keep their mouths shut, what about the kid? He figured out I was Shay’s brother. What if he says something to someone about me being up here at the cabin? We’re both going to get outed at this rate. It will—”
“Stop!” Windsor’s sharp tone made me snap my mouth shut. It was a rare thing for his anger to take hold of him. He was always in control. “I don’t know what you want me to say or do, Tomi. I’m not pleased about this either. At least you can run back to BC. I’m stuck here, and every goddamn resident and their dog is all up in my personal space every damn day. I took a risk too. Not just