Page 40 of More than Need

“Maybe you don’t suck that much at apologies.” Not if he kept doing that. The physical aspect of their communication didn’t need any work.

“No?”

Dawson tilted his head, breath hitching when Riley slid a hand under his T-shirt. “N-no.”

“You and I aren’t friends,” Riley said, kissing his way up Dawson’s neck. “I don’t want to talk about her, and if you really are here for something other than trying to convince me that I’m doing the wrong thing by turning her away, then you’ll respect that.” Riley cupped his dick and massaged. “You’re physically appealing to me, and if you want to do this again, I won’t say no.”

Never mind. That was the worst apology in the history of apologies. So why did Dawson turn around and kiss him? Why did he wrap arms around his neck and greedily take what measly scraps Riley offered?

Because he was screwed. That’s why.

Chapter 7

Gideon wanted a donut.Or something salty. Salty sweet. Popcorn. Something to munch on while he read through his interview notes. He absently tapped on the desk and used a blue pen to write his super-helpful notes in the margins. He used a red pen for actual changes to the notes, and the pink one for things he wanted to follow up with and further questions to ask. He’d had a lot of fun putting a requisition in for them—Riley’s face when he’d opened the packet of thirty of them had been worth every second of the painstaking paperwork that he’d filled out to explain why he had to have them.

Multiple colours on a page soothed him. He figured it had to do with his experience with colouring as both a child and an adult. An activity that brought him joy. It also helped him settle his thoughts and organise them with a system that made sense.

He absently responded to Ange’s messages, every so often reminding her she needed to be sleeping and not sending him weird videos from Instagram. If she didn’t get better soon,he would go mad, and he’d only been without her for half a workday.

Ange:Did you know that daytime TV is legitimately crazy? Also, how many times can one person get kidnapped? She needs a tracker inserted in her arm likeThe Hunger Games.

Gideon:You have Netflix. Stop watchingDays of Our Lives.

Ange:I can’t get it to work, because it keeps saying that my password is wrong, and I cannot move from the couch right now. I think I’m really dying.

Gideon:Go to a hospital.

Ange:You go to a hospital.

Gideon snorted. He sent her a GIF with an ambulance and then another one with Jiminy Cricket telling her to go to sleep.

“Gideon,” Riley barked behind him.

Gideon jumped, and his holder of pens and pencils went over the edge again. He needed to put them somewhere else. Would he? Probably not. “Yes?” He ignored the mess and twisted in his seat to look where Riley stood in the doorway.

Fuck, he looked good. He’d taken his jacket off at some point and had the sleeves rolled to his elbows, the thick silver watch on his wrist the centrepiece of the whole look. Tie perfectly straight and not one hair out of place. Gideon already looked like he’d been dragged through a bush. He usually had Ange around to straighten his clothes and keep him in some semblance of order.

“Did you not hear your phone?”

His phone? The receiver had “four missed calls” blinking on the screen. Huh. How had that happened? The other two pairs of detectives he worked with were out and about.

He picked it up and pressed it to his ear.

“What are you doing?” Riley asked, exasperated.

Gideon pressed a few buttons and found the settings. Mute. What the…? How? Not a setting that could be accidentally set, and Gideon certainly hadn’t done it.

Grady.

That fucker. Gideon fixed it and then weaved through the room to get to the grumpy grump’s desk. He’d pay for that. Gideon would figure out something truly diabolical.

“I won’t be an accomplice to this,” Riley said, voice right behind him now.

“Then look away.” Gideon grinned, glancing over his shoulder at him. His breath caught in his throat at the whiff of that expensive cologne, warm and sexy with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. It made Gideon want to lick him, see if he tasted as good.

Spoiler alert: hedidtaste that good. While no one looked, maybe he could have a quick nibble to be sure that he hadn’t imagined it.

Riley splayed a hand over his chest, curling around his tie, effectively halting his advance. “Not here.”

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