Page 9 of More than Need

Riley leaned forward barely an inch, and Gideon’s lips parted in anticipation.Please, put me out of my misery, and give me this.

“Why are you pushing this?”

Gideon licked his lips, the tip of his tongue flicking against Riley’s. That tiny taste floored him, and heneededmore. “You started it,” he said breathlessly.Now finish it.

“How old are you?”

“Older than you.” By two years even if no one believed him when he said it, not until he showed ID.

“We’re not going further than this,” Riley said. His lips whispered across Gideon’s as if to prove his words a lie. “It’s already gone too far. I’m your boss, Gideon.”

“Is that why I call you ‘sir’?” Gideon gave in, hands reaching up to hold the open sides of Riley’s suit jacket.

“It’s why you drive me insane.”

Gideon exhaled shakily. “Is that the only reason?”

Riley had been the one to initiate it, and it didn’t matter if it had only lasted a second; it still counted as a kiss. The gate was open now, and even if Riley closed it, Gideon would always know that itcouldbe opened even if he didn’t understand why.

Riley put distance between them, and the acute loss sat heavy in Gideon’s gut. So fucking close.

“We’re not doing this,” Riley said firmly. He straightened his jacket, composing himself. He needed to do that because ofGideon.

Gideon went to step forward, determined not to let Riley put that wall back up.

“Sergeant Sinclair?”

Gideon jumped at the sudden intrusion, so lost in the two of them he hadn’t even noticed someone come into the room.

Constable Liam Nedrie stood in the entrance to the bullpen, one hand on the doorframe, looking curiously between them.

“Yes?” Riley asked. Gideon found it disconcerting how easily he slipped back into his mask.

“There’s a man at the front desk asking for you.”

“Me?”

This late? Rileyshouldhave been at home already. Why would anyone come looking for him now?

“Demanding, quite loudly. Ninety-nine percent sure he’s been drinking.”

Gideon’s brows drew in, confusion kicking in. “Did he say what he wanted?” Who came to a police station drunk?

“He said something about a woman named Sadie? Should we call a taxi to take him home or stick him in the drunk tank to sleep it off?”

Riley tensed, and Gideon automatically moved closer to him even if there wasn’t anything to physically shield him from. “Tell him I’m not available, and that he can sho—”

“Give us one second,” Gideon interrupted, putting a hand on Riley’s upper arm. “We’ll be right out.”

Nedrie shrugged. “Alright. I’ll keep him out front for you.”

“What are you doing?” Riley bit out once they were alone.

“What areyoudoing?” Did Riley think that if he didn’t say the word “sister” that the title didn’t exist, or that she would go away? That can of worms had been opened, and he couldn’t close it back up, just like their kiss. “Are you not even a little curious what he wants, and what it has to do with her?”

“No. I don’t have to care about her simply because we share the same blood. Her parents made their choice. I have nothing to say to her, or anyone associated with her. And especially if that person is drunk.”

While those were fair points, that hadn’t been where Gideon had been going with that. “I didn’t say that you had to. I just think that…” Gideon trailed off, trying to see it from Riley’s perspective. He’d never been faced with the kind of dilemma that Riley faced. His parents—retired and living their best life doting on their grandson—had raised him in a loving home. He’d lived next door to his best friend growing up and now worked alongside her every day—even if she spent half of it giving him shit. He’d married a beautiful, kind, and caring woman and made the best damn child in the universe with her. What Riley had lived with his whole life… Gideon couldn’t ever really understand. That didn’t mean that he would let Riley weather it alone.

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