Page 231 of Cross & Crown

“I know. But you love everything about your job.”

Nick bit his lip and dropped his eyes. His finger traced

the pink scar on Kelly’s chest, where a bullet meant for Nick’s head had stopped just below Kelly’s heart instead.

“It’s not going to work,” Nick finally said with a sigh.

The air left Kelly’s lung so fast he had to gasp to reclaim

it. His body tingled, and a shiver ran through him before he

could manage a sad smile. He ran his fingers through Nick’s

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hair. “Are you breaking up with me, babe? ’Cause that’s what

this feels like.”

Nick quickly met his eyes. “I’m quitting,” he declared.

“I’ll wrap up this case, then give them my resignation.”

Kelly held his breath, his heart pounding out his relief

like Morse code. He was uncertain of whether he wanted

to encourage Nick to do it this time, or talk him out of it

again. Then the melancholy feeling of that phone call settled

into his chest, the same feeling he’d always suffered back in

the day when he’d said good-bye to Nick on leave, the same

hollow sense of something missing when he’d watched Nick

escort a woman out of a bar, the same ache he woke up with

when he was in bed alone in Colorado and knew Nick was so

many miles away in Boston. The same feeling that had rushed

through his body when he’d thought Nick might be choosing

his badge over Kelly.

He didn’t want to feel that every time Nick got a call and

had to leave him behind.

He nodded, his entire body heavy with the decision. He’d

talked Nick out of quitting before because he knew Nick

loved his job, and he’d been curious to see if it would work,

iftheywould work, with their lives continuing on the way they had been. They’d tried it, and it didn’t work. It was the

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