Page 71 of Kiss Me Honey Hone

Aaron’s jealousy roared louder, though. Hot and venomous. Because he couldn’t get the images out of his head. Vivid and vile. Kenny fucking Jack. In that room, in this house. Against the bedroom wall, over the kitchen counter, sprawled across the sofa. The images clawed at his mind, each one a serrated edge, tearing at his fragile sense of control. He wanted to rip out Jack’sthroat. It didn’t matter how irrational, how utterly feral the thought was. It was there, rising and twisting inside him, threatening to spill over. So he clenched his fists at his sides, forcing himself to stay still. Not to allow his emotions to show. Not to Jack, not here.

“Don’t do anything to make this worse.”

But the burn stayed regardless. Coiling deep, waiting.

“I appreciate you coming to warn me,” Kenny said. “If you want an official statement, I can make my way to the station whenever you need. I just need to sort a few things out, then I’m yours.”

“Wait.” Aaron held up a hand. “You’re not here for me? Why isheon the shit list?”

Jack’s gaze snapped to Aaron before swinging back to Kenny. “So, you didn’t tell him about your little vigilante escapade, then?”

Kenny didn’t answer, eyes fixed downward, silent.

So Jack returned to Aaron. “He stormed into theGazetteoffices yesterday, dragged your boyfriend—sorry,fellow student—through the place, locked him in the accessibility toilet, and threatened him.”

Aaron’s brows shot up, glancing over to Kenny. But Kenny remained steady and unrepentant.Fucking legend.

“He also threatened Carly Reynolds. Now she’s dead, office files ransacked.”

“Fuck.” Aaron let the implication of that settle before turning back to Kenny with a sharp grin. “Imagine if you didn’t have an alibi.”

Appreciative of the mockery, Kenny curved his lips, but nothing else. Cool, unshaken. And Aaron, for all his simmering tension, couldn’t help but admire it.

“The fact his alibi isyou,” Jack flapped a hand at Aaron, “does not bode well.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Jesus, Kenny. Why is it always coming back tohim?”

“It’s not his fault,” Kenny said, firm and composed. “He didn’t ask for any of this.”

“He could be anywhere else. Beingsomeoneelse. And not my fucking problem. But you wouldn’t let him go.”

Aaron cocked his head. “I’m starting to believe you don’t like me very much, detective.”

Jack didn’t so much as glance Aaron’s way, focusing entirely on Kenny. And Aaron caught the drop in Jack’s eyes, restrained yet undeniable. A sliver of weakness, of reluctance, as if he hated being here,hatedhaving to do this to someone who’d once mattered to him. It clawed at Aaron’s insides, jealousy tightening around his chest like a vice. It wasn’t logical considering how he’d woken up mere moments ago in Kenny’s bed and seduced him to a lustful orgasm. But it also wasn’t fair. Because Jack had been Kenny’s first. Probably done exactly as they had, and the simmering rage made him want to push Jack away. To stake his claim.

Kenny washis.

“Kenny.” Jack’s voice was rough with frustration. “I could lose my career for being here right now.”

“I know.” Kenny unfurled his arms, posture calm but with a show of sincerity, unapologetically vulnerable and yet entirely controlled. The exchange burned through Aaron, fanning his irrational jealousy even further. He wanted to tear the detective apart, to shred that lingering connection between him and Kenny until there was nothing left. “I didn’t ask you to protect me.”

“As if I wouldn’t,” Jack shot back.

“Then that’s on you. Don’t shift the blame. I’ll come in voluntarily, give my statement. Then I’ll help you look over the evidence.”

Aaron clenched his jaw as he watched them, the dynamic between them crackling with a history he wasn’t part of, didn’t understand. He didn’t want to. It wasunbearable. Being on theoutside was an insistent reminder that Kenny had belonged to someone else before him.

But Kenny’s gaze shifted, landing on Aaron, and his tight but brief smile told him he wasn’t an afterthought. Thathemattered, too. It wasn’t enough to chase away the jealousy entirely, but it was enough to keep him tethered, just barely, and not do something utterly insane.

For now.

“You can’t do that,” Jack snapped, pushing away from the counter, his frustration a sharp edge in the room.

“Why not?”

“Once again, you’re compromised.”

“But it was fine before?”

“When you had no connection to the case, yes. But now? Fuck, Kenny, we should’ve declared—” Jack raked a hand through his hair, anger spilling over, though it seemed as much at himself as at Kenny. “We should’ve declared our history before. If the prosecution catches wind of this, you know what happens. The case collapses. We were lucky last time. But luck runs out. And now I’m here—” He gestured sharply to himself, voice rising, “—telling you something you shouldn’t even knowbecauseof that history.”

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