Page 2 of Slow Ride

Yes, you guys are partners at work, but you’re so much more than that here.You’re my best friends, my lovers, my whole world.And I want you to be as happy as I am every day that I get to spend with you.You need to be as honest as you’ve forced me to be about who I am and what I like.I think you owe that to yourselves.

Hopefully that would be all it took to nudge them together.It would be so sexy to watch them make out with each other and to fuck the way she knew they wanted to deep down.

Jordan would probably cave first.He’d wrap his hand around the back of Johnny’s neck and draw the man to him before devouring his lips in a frantic kiss.Eventually, they’d break apart panting, and Jordan would order Johnny to undress while he ripped his own clothes off.Soon he’d have Johnny bent over the nearest piece of furniture while he—

A knock at the door startled her from her daydream.She cleared her throat and fanned her face a few times as she stood and straightened her jeans and ripped T-shirt.The knocking became a banging that kind of pissed her off.Who the fuck could be out there at this time of the evening?The mailman had delivered her supplies hours ago.

Whoever was out there had nothing more important to tell her than how to be saved by their god or the cost of their cookies.Mmm…cookies.If she couldn’t have sex, she might as well have dessert.

Wren strode for the entryway of her modest one-bedroom apartment.It wasn’t much, but it was hers.No,theirs.The guys had moved in a few days before they left on their assignment.It didn’t make sense to pay rent for two places when theirs would only sit empty.

Besides, they’d been spending all their nights in her bed anyway.It had been another of many steps in the right direction as far as she was concerned.A smile stretched across her face at that thought.Wren was still grinning when she whipped open the door.

Instead of a cute kid peddling snacks, she was met with two very serious men in uniform.Their mouths were set in grim slashes that had nothing in common with her rapidly fading smile.“Are you Ms.Wren Asbery?”

She nodded.

They say life can change in an instant.

Wren’s shattered between one heartbeat and the next, when she learned that Johnny was never coming home.

She didn’t hear the exact words.Not through the buzzing that had started in her brain, but she felt them.Direct impacts to her chest, every one.As surely as the bullets they told her Johnny had taken earlier that day.

How could he be gone?How could she have not felt it the second his spirit left the world?

He’d died, and she hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye.

It was already over.Done.

The officers stayed long enough to make sure she understood and that she survived the initial shock.Then she was on her own.And would be from there on out.The more minutes passed, the more it hurt.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”The officer or whoever the person was, she couldn’t remember, nodded then turned to go.

“Wait…” she called out until he looked back over his shoulder with pity in his gaze.“What about Jordan?Is he okay?When is he coming home?”

“Jordan?”

“Special Agent Jordan Mikalski.Johnny’s partner.”She stood as straight as she could, her fists clenched, braced for the worst news possible—that she’d lost both of the men she loved at once.

“Oh.Our records said…” The guy trailed off as he glanced at his partner, who shrugged.

“I love them both.”Fuck anyone who had anything to say about that.Especially right then.

“Agent Mikalski sustained minor physical injuries.He’s being debriefed.I would expect he’ll be home within the next twelve to twenty-four hours.”

Wren deflated, air rushing from her lungs in a whoosh.

Immediately, she felt guilty for her relief.Johnny had sacrificed everything for her, for Jordan, and for a better world.But at least she hadn’t lost them both.She never could have survived that.

“Thank you,” she muttered, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she clutched the door and stepped backward into the shadows.She hoped the officers wouldn’t see the tears pouring down her cheeks faster and faster as the terrible news they’d told her began to sink in.

“Do you want us to call someone to be with you?”the agent asked.

“Just Jordan.I need him.And…I think he’s going to need me.”Wren hated it that her voice cracked when she rasped, “Please.”

“I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as possible, Ms.Asbery.”

Wren nodded, then shut the door, spinning around to lean her shoulders on it.There was no other way she could stay upright.Her lower back slammed into the fiberglass as her knees buckled and she slid down to the floor, sobbing.

Agony only continued to grow as hour after hour passed, turning into days, and still there was no sign of her other lover.

Dread sprouted from the dark nothingness of her grief.

Just because Jordan was alive didn’t mean she hadn’t lost him in this tragedy, too.

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