Page 92 of Trigger

“Doubting my sanity,” I murmured, passing by him and trying not tostare at his bare chest that was just fucking massive.

“Can you do it somewhere else?” he grumbled as I lowered thefirst-aid kit onto the sofa.

“Gladly. Let me look at your leg, and I’ll be on my merry way.What’s wrong with it, by the way?”

“I hurt my thigh when I fell yesterday while chasing that pimpwith Jordan. There was barbed wire lying around on the ground.”

“I hope you didn’t wound anything else,” I mocked. “Imagine theloss for the female population. Male, too.”

He smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry, my dick is working just fine. Ican prove it to you if you want.”

My ears warmed, and I cursed myself for saying anything.

“Let me look at your leg,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You annoy me,but a partner without a leg is a liability. Take off your sweats.”

He laughed. “As much as I dreamed of you saying those words to me,I will have to respectfully decline.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Let me tend to your wound.”

“No!” he exclaimed, looking flustered. “I’m not taking off mysweats in front of you. I’ll… I’ll take care of it myself.”

He grabbed the first-aid kit and disappeared into the bathroom asI shook my head in disbelief.

“I never figured you for a shy one. Jeez.”

While he was in the bathroom, I used the opportunity to snooparound. I was sure he did the same while at my place, so I had no qualms aboutit until I opened the closet and winced at the sight of too many Hawaiianshirts inside. I perused the books on the shelf which were The Step-by-StepGuide to Gun Safety, The Big Book of Salads, and Poems by Neruda. Next to themstood a few issues of Trout & Salmon and The Family Handyman. My wackopartner was either a genius or a psychopath, and I knew he wasn’t a genius. Afterthat, I went through his drawers, cursing my curiosity when I found lube andcondoms in one of them.

“Curious about how it works?”

At the sound of a mocking baritone behind me, I closed the drawerwith more force than needed.

“I get the gist of it, thanks. And no, I don’t need the details.”

“And how do you get the gist of it?”

I shrugged. “General knowledge. The World Wide Web.”

I could hear him turning on the coffee machine before he asked me,“Coffee, partner?”

“Erm… Yeah, okay.”

I glanced at him, knowing it was time for me to say what I’drehearsed from the moment he left my car.

“Tye, I’m… I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier. I was pissedat Vic, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that, andI apologize. I didn’t mean a single word that I said.”

He glanced at me and said simply, “Okay.”

“Do you forgive me?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, regarding me coolly.

“Maybe. If you give me a kiss.”

I laughed because he was hilarious. “Yeah, that’s not going tohappen.”

“Now it’s two kisses instead of one and in the place of mychoosing.”

Was he joking? He didn’t look like it.

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