a coward, but you’re fucking scary, Ace.”
“I only bite a little,” Felix murmured.
“I knew I’d only have one shot to do it right, so I asked Jed to contact your editor for the Crime Prevention Month crossover. I’d heard about the other successful mergers and thought it made a perfect ice breaker.”
“Except the Rotary Club president usurped you by inviting us both to address the club.” Felix quirked a brow. “Or was that also your doing?”
Jude chuckled. “I was just as surprised as you were.”
“I hate surprises, but I guess not all of them are bad,” Felix admitted, although it pained him.
Jude’s cell phone rang, and he checked the caller ID. “Speak of the devil,” he said before answering it. “Hey, Jed. What’s up?” Jude straightened in his chair as he listened to his station manager. “Yeah, I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” He disconnected the call and set his phone down. “I have to go back to the news station. There was a train derailment at the port. Jed said there’s a large fire and potential chemical spill. He has a reporter heading out to the scene, but he wants me on set to do the breaking news alerts.”
They both rose at the same time. Jude retrieved his shirt from the floor and shrugged into it.
“You can’t go back to the station wearing that. What will people think?”
“I have extra shirts in my office,” Jude said.
“What about the people you encounter on the way to your office. You’re just going to parade through the building half-naked?”
Jude put his hands on Felix’s hips and drew him near. “Jealous?”
Felix refused to admit it. He stepped out of Jude’s arms and headed toward his bedroom. “You can borrow one of my shirts,” he called over his shoulder. “It might be a little small, but it will at least cover all the marks I left on your body.”
“Bummer,” Jude said.
Felix opened his T-shirt drawer and picked up the first one he saw. He returned it, then rifled through the folded shirts until he found the one he was looking for. It was old, faded from many years of use, and held a special meaning to both of them.
When he returned to the dining room, he caught Jude waggling his fingers at Pete. It looked more taunting than friendly.
“Your peacock is trying to call me out.”
Felix looked over in time to catch Pete peck the glass door again. “I think you’re right.” Felix handed the shirt to Jude and waited with his heart in his throat while he unfolded it.
Jude’s head snapped up after he recognized the faded crest from his private high school. “You kept it all these years?”
Felix nodded.
Jude ran his fingers over the thin, navy blue fabric. Jude’s smirk spread into a full smile, showcasing those adorable dimples. “Looks like someone has worn and washed it about a hundred times since they stole it from me.”
More like a thousand. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Jude’s laughter was muffled as he pulled the shirt over his head. It was about three sizes too small and clung to every inch of his muscled torso and his biceps.
“I’m not sure that’s any better,” Felix said.
“It’ll have to do for now. I’ll return my shirt to you later,” Jude said. He eyed the angry birds at the back door. “Mind if I go out the front door? I’m kind of partial to keeping my cock and balls.”
Felix was a big fan of them too. He walked with Jude to the front door. They stopped on the front porch, and Jude pulled Felix to him for a long goodbye kiss.
Then Jude walked away, leaving Felix’s lips tingling and his emotions reeling. He’d almost made it to his car when Pete and Pearl came shrieking around the side of the house.
“Get him, Pete,” Felix yelled.
Jude sprinted to the safety of his car, then flipped Felix off before driving away.
Felix whistled, and the birds followed him to the back yard. He plopped down into the chaise, then stared at the trees surrounding his property until his eyes lost focus and the colorful landscape became an impressionist painting. Pete and Pearl made their way home at twilight as the fireflies lit up the woods surrounding his house like tiny fairies dancing on the wind.
A question played through his head like a broken record, but the hunt for answers had changed. He’d stopped asking why and started wondering what if?
A few days later, someone lightly tapped on the frame of