Page 46 of Touch of Innocence
Slowly, carefully, Sam sidled forward and to the side, just one step at a time, like he wanted nothing more than to get away from this standoff between the cops and the criminal. No sudden movements. Nothing to alarm the crazed asshole with the gun pressed to the temple of the man that Sam loved.
A man who looked at Sam the whole time he was moving. A man who was tensing, Sam could see the bunching of his muscles. Their eyes locked, some sort of communication which had nothing to do with words passing between them, until Sam was close enough.
Then Gunner moved, not just a little, but his powerful body shoved forward against the prison of Chad’s arm. The finger on the gun tightened, but it didn’t matter, because Sam was lunging forward, grabbing the criminal’s wrist and pointing it away from Gunner. It went off and hit nothing more dangerous than the side of the bar. Wood went flying, sharp shards of it, but no blood.
The cops were quick on the uptake. Sam had to give them that. Not even ten seconds had passed before they were on Chad, and on the other man, the greasy one, who was standing there with an expression of ludicrous shock that would have been funny under almost any other circumstances.
While one cop read the criminal his rights, Gunner walked over to the other, holding out a business card. Sam recognized the name on it instantly, the fed who had come to Sam’s house and started this whole thing.
“I think you’ll want to contact him,” Gunner spoke so firmly like he was completely unaffected by everything that had happened. But his arm was around Sam’s waist, and only Sam would be able to feel just how much he was shaking under his calm demeanor. Anyone looking at Gunner would think he took down notorious criminals all the time—like it was no big deal for him to have a gun held to his head.
But Gunner let Sam know otherwise. He let himself show his fear, and he didn’t try to hide it from him. Even after everything that they’d been through together, Gunner still trusted him this much, and Sam knew that he didn’t deserve it, but he almost could hope that he hadn’t actually completely fucked everything up beyond the point of all return.
Meanwhile, Chad was being put in chains, glowering around at everyone and everything. Sam winced when that burning gaze turned on him. If he ever got out of jail, he would be coming after not only Gunner but now Sam, too. Wonderful.
And yet, could he have done anything else? What other choice did he have? Sam had trusted the police, and the justice system, his whole life, and he really didn’t have any reason to stop. Though he had to admit that he was a little bit terrified, but somehow, with Gunner’s strong arm around his waist, it was a little bit better.
“Is this pretty asshole who you replaced me with?” the prisoner snarled, any attractiveness gone from his face as he practically spat the words like venom. “You know you can’t ever replace me, and when I get out, I’ll kill him while you watch.”
“I’d watch what you say,” one of the cops suggested, the words mild, but his tone of voice as sharp and pointed as a dagger. “People generally frown upon criminals who also threaten to kill people right in front of officers of the law.”
That shut the bastard up, and Sam turned to Gunner, looking into his big, round, beautiful hazel eyes, admiring the slight crinkles at the sides of them, the long, full sweep of the lashes. Gunner was looking at him, too, and for a moment, things were awkward between them, a silence hanging like a sword between them. Or like a bundle of swords, and neither of them knowing how to approach it without the risk of being cut or even stabbed.
“Sam …”
“Gunner …”
They spoke at the same time, and then they both paused, before laughing once more. The tension between them dissolved away into nothing, and though it seemed far too good to be true, at that moment it felt to Sam like all of the hurt, all of the fear, all of the secrets, dissolved away into nothing.
It was like it had been before, when they lay in bed, cradled in each other’s arms, simply talking. Or even just lying there, basking in each other’s warmth. Sam thought that, against all the odds, maybe this thing between them could work out to really be something.
Gunner pulled him gently close, his eyes asking permission, and Sam barely hesitated. There were cops in the room, and the few patrons too drunk to exercise the better part of valor, not to mention Gunner’s ex-boyfriend. Sam should have been terrified to let himself do this, but somehow, he wasn’t. There was no more fear, none at all.
So he moved closer as Gunner’s arms requested, and his eyes slipped shut, eyelids blocking out the sight of everyone who was watching, everyone who could be watching.
It didn’t matter. Not at all, and that was the most curiously liberating thing. It was just about Sam, and Gunner, and what they felt for each other. They were in a public place, but Sam let his lips brush sweetly over Gunner’s, let his body be pulled flush against him, right in front of anyone who cared to watch.
“I love you, Gunner,” Sam finally spoke the words which had been haunting him for so long, and for a moment, he thought that Gunner would just smile at him. But it wasn’t that long before Gunner spoke.
“I love you, too, Sam,” he admitted, and then they were kissing again, and everything, somehow, would be okay. Sam knew it with everything in him. The details of that weren’t important right at the moment, only the love was.
