Page 49 of More than Need

She fell silent, and Gideon waited. She didn’t say anything, staring at her soup like it held answers to questions she hadn’t asked.

“Ange?”

“I’m waiting for the punch line because I can’t fathom how even you could be that stupid.”

“It was—” No. It hadn’t been an accident. He couldn’t say that, even to make it sound better. They’d both gone into it with eyes wide open. Eagerly. At least on Gideon’s part. It had come out of nowhere, sure, but he’d been a willing participant from the very start. “I was comforting him, and it just…”

“If you say ‘it just happened,’ I am going to get up and punch you in the face. Maybe that will knock some sense into you. You can’tjust happen to fuck your boss.” She put her empty mug on the coffee table and leaned back, her head dropping against thearm of the couch. “How couldhebe so irresponsible? He’s in a position of power, and he should never have let—”

Gideon’s lips thinned. “No oneletme do anything. It was a choice I made of my own free will. None of this makes him less,” he said sharply. None of it had anything to do with professionalism, and it certainly didn’t put Riley’s leadership skills into question. Gideon would have followed him into fire before, and that hadn’t changed. None of this had anything to do with their professional lives, and it didn’t change how they did their jobs. Riley would never let their relationship—whatever they labelled it—change how he conducted himself at work, or how he treated Gideon.

Ange froze and then slowly raised her head to stare incredulously at him. “Please tell me you aren’t developing feelings for him. That’s evenworse. You can see how that’s worse, right?”

“I’m not—” He couldn’t finish the sentence. Maybe he couldn’t use the word love, considering they’d had one night together and one kind-of-definitely a date, but that didn’t mean feelings were off the table. Gideon had never been able to separate sex and feelings. He’d married his first girlfriend, for fuck’s sake. He’d known the risk when he’d started it, but he also knew that none of them were in this lightly.

“I can’t believe you’ve gotten yourself into this mess. Why would you do this to yourself? You have a passably handsome face, and if you’d wanted to dive back into the dating pool, you could have had your pick of any single, eligible hottie in the city. I could have introduced you to some people. Hell,Luciawould have introduced you to some people.”

He knew they would have if he’d asked. Maybe Lucia was getting right back on the horse, but Gideon had needed more time to lick his wounds, to find his balance after the last tumultuous twelve months. His entire life had changed tosomething unrecognisable, and he still hadn’t managed to make it all make sense. He’d tripped unexpectedly into this situation with Riley and Dawson, and while he didn’t regret it, he certainly hadn’t gone outlookingfor it.

“Why Riley?”

“Have you seen him?” Gideon joked. He didn’t really have an answer for her. The switch had been flipped the moment he’d pulled Riley into his arms, and he hadn’t been able to let go. It had started something amazing, and Gideon wanted to follow the path and see where it led. He’d always been too curious for his own good. This curiosity at least promised something worth it.

“You’re better than that, Gid. A pretty face isn’t enough to make you risk so much. You could lose your job. He could lose his. Have either of you thought about that?”

“We’re being careful.” Were they? They’d already been caught by the lawyer. Whenever Riley got near, his brain turned off, and the need to touch consumed him. The desire to see those blue eyes melt and that mouth open with all the filthy things that Gideon had no idea Riley had been hiding eclipsed all else.

Ange groaned and flung her head back again, her eyes scrunching shut. “I can’t tell if the nausea is you or the sickness.”

“Err on the side of caution and assume both.” Always both.

“You have to stop. Like, right now. You can’t keep doing it.”

Gideon knew he couldn’t. Hell, it should have stopped after the first kiss. “I can’t,” he said truthfully. Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever. He had no idea what his life would look like in another twelve months.

“Gideon.”

“Ange.”

She pushed him with her foot. “What happens when this ends badly?”

“We’re all adults; we deal with it then.” He couldn’t spend all his time worrying about “what ifs” and how itmightend. He’d rather enjoy it and take what he could from it while he had it.

“Why did you tell me? I could have happily lived in ignorance of the fact you know what our boss’s dick tastes like.” Her head lifted, eyes wide. “What hissexvoice is like.”

“It’s hot.” Underwear-melting hot.

Ange grimaced. “No, nope. We’re not taking that avenue of conversation any further. Why did you tell me if you’re trying to be all discreet and shit? Ugh, are you gonna ask me to be an accomplice in hiding your office sex?”

“You’re my partner and my best friend,” Gideon said, ignoring that comment. A locked door and a gag, and Gideon could handle hiding the office sex just fine himself. “I needed someone to know.” He and Ange had been friends since they’d lived down the road from each other as kids, and he trusted her more than anyone else in the world. Even more than his own parents.

Ange softened. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Yeah.”

She sighed. “You know that I’ll always support your dumb decisions. But I reserve the right to give you shit for them.”

“Of course.” He wouldn’t have it any other way.

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