Page 78 of More than Need

“—and now you’re having sex with her best friend? Is that some sort of revenge?”

“And if it was?” Riley wasn’t above skirting the law if it meant achieving justice or giving people what they deserved. He found the societal norms flexible suggestions. He drew the line at sleeping with someone for ulterior motives. His morals were made of rubber, but they still only stretched so far. He didn’t involve himself in that kind of shitty behaviour.

Kellan cut up the lime into six perfect triangular slices. “Does this person deserve to be in the middle of that?” he asked.

“No.” Dawson might be prickly, opinionated, and fiercely protective of his friends, but none of those personality traits meant he deserved to be some pawn in a sick game. “And I’m not. He came to the station drunk after I made her leave”—he emphasised that because “kicked her to the curb” sounded so much worse than it had been; he’d practically been a saint compared to how he could have reacted to the way she’d thrown that revelation at him—“and he came at me about it.”

Kellan’s face hardened. “Physically?”

“Not unless you count him throwing up in the bushes outside the precinct.” He hadn’t seen it, but he could use his imagination; there were only so many ways it could have gone down.

“Wow, how could you not have taken him straight to bed? He sounds incredibly sexy. I’m getting a little turned on.”

“The sarcasm isn’t needed.” Dawson’s sexiness factor had nothing to do with any of that.

“Is it just sex or…?”

“No. I’d have stopped after one night if that were the case.” It had been… quite a few more nights than that. Enough that sleeping in bed without them felt a little strange.

Kellan scratched his beard, studying Riley. “There’s no way you can develop and maintain a relationship with him when hisbest friendis your sister, and you want nothing to do with her. What happens if you get serious, move in together, buy a house, get two point five dogs, and have children?”

“How do you get half a dog?” Riley asked. And who got to decide which half? Where did the other half go? Riley blinked at his empty glass. How many had he had so far?

He slid it back across the bar for Kellan to refill. Not enough.

“There’s more,” Riley said hesitantly. There was always more.

“Do I need another drink for it?”

“Probably.” Definitely.

Kellan contemplated his glass and then said, “No. Just tell me.”

“You’ve met Gideon.”

“Clark? Yeah, he’s one of your—oh my God. You’re sleeping withbothof them? I didn’t know you were this hard up.”

“Just pour the drinks,” Riley said flatly.

Kellan exhaled, though it sounded more like a huffed laugh. “Separately or together?”

“Together.”

“Did you just wake up one day and choose violence?” Kellan leaned forward. “Riley, if someone at the precinct finds out that you’re sleeping with one of your detectives, you’ll lose your job. Is that really worth it?”

Riley wished he could say no, but he knew that he’d risk a hell of a lot more to get a chance with Gideon. He’d spent years wanting him, knowing that the man haunting his dreams would always be out of reach.

Kellan poured two more glasses of vodka and downed his before filling it again. “We’re both gonna regret this in the morning,” he said ruefully.

Riley tapped the side of his glass against Kellan’s and took a large gulp. “Tomorrow’s problem.”

Kellan’s face turned serious. “Riley, whatever you decide, none of it changes that we’re your family. That you’re our brother, and we’d kill for you. Lucas likely has already. It was probably an accident, but that’s still murder.”

“I’m disappointed that he didn’t ask us to hide the body.”

“He’s married to Tyler; I think he has that covered.”

Riley couldn’t even argue with that. If Lucas came home with a body and asked Tyler to help, the guy wouldn’t even blink.

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