Swish (10 page)

More than that, Thomas hadn't stopped thinking about him since skiing on Saturday. When he'd gone to sleep Saturday night, he'd thought about sleeping in Alex's arms.

He was utterly hooked again.

“Just stupid reasons, I guess,” Thomas admitted. “I don't know, you all seemed so certain when you chose people to date.”

“Nah, it's not really easy from start to finish. It's a lot of scary figuring shit out,” Jackson told him. “Whether you'll work together, whether you're both willing to work to stay together... There's so much to think about. The early stages are the worst.”

“Yeah? Then why did you stick with it?”

Jackson's expression grew tender. He was a lot softer-hearted than most people realized, and he was shitty at hiding it behind a strong, silent mask. Seeing it happen – the switch in his entire mood when he thought about Chase – always made Thomas smile. “I just looked at him one day, once I realized he liked me as much as I liked him. And I... knew,” Jackson admitted with a quiet laugh. “You know, can't stop thinking about him, want to protect him and be around him all the time, just...
want
to make it work, no matter what life throws at us. Or what barriers we each put up at first. You know, you want to push through all that.”

Thomas felt like there was a lump in his throat. He hadn't expected
that
detailed an answer.

“Do you think this person would be the type to stick around and make it work? You need someone as stable as you are,” Jackson told him.

Thomas half-smiled. It was odd, but he instantly knew the answer: yes. Alex was ready for more, and he was waiting for Thomas to say yes. Every sign pointed to it. Alex kept hinting that he would be okay if Thomas
didn't
want to get involved, and that he was interested in having a boyfriend, and that he liked spending time around Thomas again.

Until now, he'd instinctively thought it was the other way around. He'd just assumed he would always be pursuing, not pursued. What if it was
him
throwing up those barriers Jackson had just mentioned? Shit, what if he'd been doing that for years?

“Oh,” Thomas murmured quietly. “Yeah, I... I think so.”

“Then tell them and see what they say. They might just be waiting for you. You're an awesome guy,” Jackson told him. “Let someone see that.”

Thomas swiped an arm across his eyes and nodded.
If only you knew who it was. Oh, that's gonna be an interesting meeting. I'll put it off as long as I can.
“Thanks, man,” Thomas nodded.

Jackson gave him a moment's genuine smile and reached out to punch his shoulder lightly, then yanked him in for a one-armed hug. “Now you've got my sweat on you.”

“Gross!” Thomas laughed, shoving Jackson away and punching him harder, right in the chest. “God. Don't know why I offer to help you.”

“I didn't know you were offering to help. Pick up those pieces,” Jackson grinned. “I'll make something for you out of them sometime.”

Little metal art pieces were already appearing in all three of their homes, especially as Jackson's work slowed down over the winter. Thomas wouldn't turn down another. He grumbled and shook his head as he gathered pieces.

Yeah, Jackson was pretty damn good at advice.

He had to call Alex... soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Lexy was... devastated.

“I know it's not easy hearing this,” Alex told her gently. “Or seeing it. I don't want to make you sit through it right now. Nothing – well, the last video, but almost nothing – is
incredibly
graphic, but it will be emotional for you.”

“It's okay,” Lexy whispered. “I'll believe you. What do they show?”

“All the other videos are what I already told you about.” Alex pushed the DVD across the table to her, along with a small stack of written reports from the most important stakeouts. “The last one is from the ski trip I told you I was watching.”

“And?”

“He and Anna... did... rendezvous in the cabin.”

“Oh, god,” Lexy whispered, pressing her fingers to her lips for a moment. “Do you think they're...?”

“What?” Alex frowned, but he spoke gently. She couldn't be pushed right now.

“Romantically involved?”

“It's impossible for an outsider to say, but... repeated meetings?” Alex shook his head. “That's not in the boundary of your relationship according to what you told me.”

“I know, I know, but... I love him.”

Alex went serious, a chill running down his spine. He reached out, letting her decide if she met him halfway. She did; her hands nestled in his larger ones. “Lexy, I mean this: if he's cheating over and over with different women, it's no different than over and over with the same woman. And this guy's doing
both
. You love
him
, but that'll never be enough.
He
has to decide to love
you
. If you two had decided to be non-monogamous? That would be totally different. But you didn't. You married him thinking you were the only one.”

She was crying now, but quietly. It wasn't anything Alex hadn't seen a hundred times, but every time, it made his heart hurt.

This time, though, it didn't drive another nail into the coffin of relationships. Just
bad
relationships.

“I'll leave you with this until you call me again. This is far more than enough evidence for your divorce case, if you choose to take it that way. And this is completely personal advice, frankly, but... it's rare to find a man acting as badly as he is.”

Lexy nodded slowly, pulling her hands back to grab tissues and compose herself. She sat up a little straighter. “Would you be there in court to present this?”

“If you need it, yes. If it goes that far. Most of the time it won't. When you show him the evidence, if you need me there for safety...”

“My friends will be there,” she promised. “I'll be okay.” She rose to her feet, gathering everything to tuck into her handbag. “I can't thank you enough. I'll pay your bill tonight when you send me the invoice.”

“Okay,” Alex murmured and rose to his feet. “Seriously, if you need my help with anything about this, call me. I don't want to see him win this one again.”

“It's the last time,” Lexy promised. Her voice was low, but determined. Alex had gotten through.

***

Despite worrying that he was going to be waiting weeks for his next call, Alex found himself almost annoyed by how many he was getting as soon as he turned on the TV.

He gave himself a reality check a second later. More business was what he wanted and needed. He'd leave the TV running all day if it made more people call.

But of course, when one call came in, he was guaranteed to get three. Just as Alex finished taking down the details of his next case, there was another call.

He hesitated, but he grumpily picked up the phone again.

“I don't know if you remember, but you asked me to give you a call if a MacLeod checked in coming from Ontario.”

Alex sat bolt upright, muting the TV. “Yes, I did.” Technically it was a violation of privacy laws to disclose the identities of guests in his motel, but George owed him a few favors. Also, George knew Alex wouldn't have asked him if he hadn't been serious.

“There's a fellow here by the name of Mark MacLeod from Ontario.”

A chill ran down Alex's spine. He walked over to his wardrobe and yanked it open to grab work clothes. Professional enough not to attract attention, but clothes he didn't mind being ruined in a fight. “With a capital L?”

“Yeah. That was unusual enough, and I think you wanted to hear about a Mark...”

“I do. Thanks very much, George. I really appreciate this.”

George answered, “You're welcome. Just don't get me into any trouble.”

“Of course I won't. Thanks,” Alex told him again, hanging up. He yanked off his sweatpants and hoodie, changing into his work clothes. He hesitated, his hand hovering over his private investigator ID. The province required that investigators carry it on the job, but he didn't necessarily want this being part of his work.

He swallowed hard and left it behind, grabbing his jacket and shoes. He almost tripped over himself in his haste to get out the door with his phone, wallet, and keys.

The bastard. How
dare
he?

The drive down to George's motel down on the river was quick. Alex took it about five over the speed limit – just slow enough that no cops would bother pulling him over. He really wanted to floor it, though.

He just hoped Mark was waiting before he went out for food, maybe resting up from the drive.

It didn't take Alex long to work out which motel room Mark was staying in. He parked around the side of the building in the guest spots, then found the car with the Ontario plates and obnoxious cross stickers. He strode to the door and knocked hard.

When the door opened, he almost recoiled from how familiar this man looked.

He was almost the picture of Jerry, Chase's ugly-ass uncle who had come to try to kick the gay out of him in August. Alex would never stop feeling bad that it had been
him
that outed Chase's new identity and town after Chase had come here to flee his shitty family.

The least he could do was keep this new town safe for Chase.

“What are you doing here?” he snapped, pushing open the door further before Mark stopped him. “I think we need to talk.”

“Jerry told me there might be a...
man
or two... in Charlie's life, keeping him isolated.”

“Keeping him protected from assholes like you. You can get the fuck out of town. He doesn't want to talk to you,” Alex told him flatly. Chase had driven Jerry out of town and told Alex to keep him out. He assumed that applied to other family members.

Even Chase's father.

***

“You have no right to tell me that he doesn't want to see me.”

They'd gone in circles for a few minutes: Alex insisting flatly that Chase wanted him to stay away and threatening him as much as he could without technically breaking any laws; Mark insisting that he deserved to talk to his son because he was sad and missing his soul's salvation or some shit like that.

“Fine,” Alex snapped. He was getting awfully sick of Chase's dad. “I'll go ask him, but I already know what his answer will be. When I come tell you it, will you fuck off?”

“That language isn't necessary. I want to speak with him.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Alex jerked his chin towards Mark. “You stay here. I'll be back soon.”

He
hated
feeling like he was boxed in by his job. If he got a single assault charge, he'd lose his license. Anything that showed he was unstable or trying to bully his way around the job. The TV impression of P.I.s was a hell of a lot more sexy than the reality.

Alex breathed heavily as he climbed into the car, taking a moment to ground himself and calm. He imagined the anger sinking out of him and through the bottom of the car into the ground. Then, he rolled his shoulders and started up the car. He knew a few quick tricks for getting himself mentally focused enough to safely drive after a tension-filled interaction. There were also other tricks like how to escape aggressive dogs, but it had been a while since he'd had to do that.

The drive to the neighborhood where the three brothers lived was quick since Fredericton was pretty small. It was fast enough that Alex hadn't even fully formed what he wanted to say to the brothers. He just hoped he could see Chase without any of the others catching sight of him. They didn't have time to sort out the snarls of their relationships just now.

He did a few extra loops just to make damn sure he wasn't being followed. When he was certain it was safe, he pulled up in front of the trio of houses and parked on the curb.

Of course, the moment he stepped out into the snowbank, his feet sank through the crunchy icy layer on top into softer snow. Good thing he wore sturdy boots this time of year, though he grimaced anyway.

Wait. He smelled... burgers. In the winter air, the scent of a barbecue was pretty unmistakable. He couldn't really see any of the other neighbors being the type to barbecue in the winter. It also struck him as exactly the sort of thing these brothers would do.

Yeah, all of their cars were home, and the backyard lights were on. It was definitely them barbecuing, which probably meant they were all together.

“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. But he didn't have a choice: he had to warn Chase and get his father out of town. He straightened up his shoulders, struggling out of the snowbank onto the sidewalk.

Once he had his dignity again, Alex strode quickly up the walkway to Thomas's house first. If he was there, it would definitely be the best reception. Thomas could sneak off and grab Chase so as to avoid alarming the others.

After he rang the bell, there was no answer.

“That would be too easy.”

Which of them was less likely to punch him: Jackson or Cam? No, more importantly, where were they more likely to be? He cast his mind back to the barbecue, then remembered seeing the less-weathered part of the porch where the grill normally sat. That was on Jackson's deck.

He strode up to Jackson's house to knock next, and sure enough, he heard voices a moment later.

Alex straightened up when the door opened, resisting the urge to wince. It was Cam, who would definitely recognize him.

Cam hesitated for a moment, his eyes narrowing in recognition and a quick search of his memory.

Alex nodded. “Hello. We've met before, but I need to talk to Chase now.”

He glanced over Cam's shoulder to the quiet living room and... there was Thomas, frozen and gazing at him like a deer in the headlights.

Cam frowned suspiciously. “Chase? Why? You're... You're that guy from the park, aren't you? The hockey court? Who looked for me?”

He
could
use his relationship with Thomas to get inside, but... that would be a dick move. He just smiled and nodded slightly. “I apologize for that. I know you're probably pissed off, but I wouldn't be here if I didn't need to talk to Chase.”

Jackson was walking up now, scowling. “This is the guy who looked you up?” he asked Cam. The two of them blocked the doorway while Noah and Thomas stayed in the background. He couldn't see Chase yet. “You're not the same detective who tracked down Chase?”

Well, this isn't going well.
Alex nodded again. “And I've done all I can to make up for that. That's why I'm here now.”

Cam looked at Jackson, deferring to his judgment.

Jackson paused, then nodded once. “Come on in.”

The atmosphere was far from friendly as Alex stepped into the second Riley brother's house. He'd never been into Cam's, but hopefully he wouldn't have to see it anytime soon if this was any indication of his reception.

Alex resisted the urge to catch Thomas's eyes. He didn't want Thomas to intervene and out himself, after all. He could handle an ice-cold reception from Cam or a hot-tempered guy like Jackson relatively easily. And Noah was watching him with a fair amount of resentment, but he didn't pose a huge threat either. Thomas just had to stay quiet and nobody would have to know.

His heart squeezed as he wondered how long Thomas would stay silent, or if this would be the finishing straw. Maybe Thomas saw how hard it would be for him to integrate into the family. He could pick pretty much any guy he wanted and they'd be quicker to accept him.

“So... where's Chase?”

Jackson eyed him again, then nodded upstairs. “Just up there. He'll be down in a minute.”

Alex folded his hands behind his back and stood straight, offering a polite smile. This wasn't how he'd pictured his first meeting with the family of his lover, but... needs must.

“Is he in danger?” That was Jackson, his annoyance fading into concern for his boyfriend.

Alex drew a breath and let it out, then nodded. “Only a bit. I can deal with it. I just need permission.”

Jackson licked his lips, clearly screwing up his pride, then gestured at the couch. “Come on, have a seat.”

Though he'd almost prefer to be standing, Alex smiled and accepted the invitation, sinking onto the couch. He tried to prepare for the questions he knew were coming.

All he focused on, though, was Thomas sitting on the other end of the couch.