When Mitch pulled away, he lowered his head, digging his fingers in his eyes underneath his glasses. After a second or two, he finally said, “You saw it through for me, and between you and Skinner, y’all kept me involved and gave me purpose in the case.”
Kreed nodded and silence settled between them again. “I’ve gotta go. Aaron’s alone. I figured I’d take Montgomery up on his offer.”
“Cool. They’re ready to extend their appreciation too,” Mitch said, kicking at something unknown on the pavement. “You’ve been a little weird. Is there something goin’ on with you?”
“The kid and I started something. I don’t know where it’s going, but if it’s a problem, we can stay at a hotel,” Kreed stated, just laying it out there. Mitch deserved the high coming his way from closing this case. Kreed didn’t want to be the downer, but he also didn’t want to wait to explore what might or might not be between him and Aaron.
“So one room, then. I’ll tell Montgomery. Aaron, huh? You know, all this time, I really thought Stuart was straight.” Mitch chuckled before he turned and left Kreed standing alone. He grinned as he watched his buddy walk away. Kreed sighed deeply, so glad that had gone as well as it had. His heart was lighter than it had been in a while. He pulled the keys from his pocket as he headed toward his truck. Aaron would be waiting for him.
Chapter 26
Two days later, Kreed backed out of the Michaels-Montgomery driveway with a scheduled fourteen days off. Aaron sat in the passenger seat with his phone in hand, texting, his thumbs moving faster than Kreed had ever seen anyone before as he worked the small keyboard on the screen. That alone highlighted the generation gap between them. Kreed wasn’t a texter, and when forced, he punched at the screen with his forefinger, much like he did with a computer keyboard. That was just never his thing.
Although Kreed was almost completely free for the next fourteen days—only being available if something with the case came up—Aaron apparently had work. If he’d heard it once, he’d heard it a hundred times—smart boy was far behind in whatever his job required.
It had taken quite a bit of talking to get Aaron to agree to come to Hawaii once Jace had offered up his place for a little extended R and R. In the end, Kreed conceded on all points in order to get Aaron alone for an obstacle-free vacation. He had a shit load of the kid’s traveling computer gear bundled up and shipped out so he could complete his work from the island. Kreed had even promised he wouldn’t interfere when Aaron sat down to do his job.
The whole Aaron-slash-work situation needled at him. Kreed only now realized the kid might not be as into him as before, and he didn’t know exactly how to get them back there or what had happened to make the change.
Jace and Colt stood on the front porch, waving them off. Both Mitch and Cody were downtown, helping Masters put the final touches on the case that had exploded over the last forty-eight hours. Twenty-five arrests had already been made, most of them being people with knowledge of the church’s activities.
With all the focus on this case, Kreed was certain they’d have those few apprehended in no time. This particular hate ring was far reaching—bigger than anyone had thought—and Mitch was being hailed as a hero for sticking with the case when no one else would.
“They’re nice,” Aaron said, never lifting his head. Kreed reached for his sunglasses on the visor and slid them on as he drove down the street. “Offering up their place in Hawaii was pretty unexpected.”
“Yeah, you sure you want to go?” Kreed finally asked, braking as he came to a stop sign. He kept his voice neutral, trying to hide the disappointment those words caused. He should probably give the kid an out before they were stuck on an island together with him hearing the dreaded words, “It’s not you, it’s me.”
The bigger problem? Part of him just wanted to take whatever time Aaron offered. The irritating other part wanted him to dig deeper and find out what had caused Aaron’s hesitation.
“Yeah, why?” Aaron responded, his head still bent toward the phone.
“You’ve just been weird. We don’t have to do this,” Kreed interjected, navigating another turn onto a busy street.
“Why? Is that what you want?” Aaron stopped texting, lifting his head as he turned toward him. Kreed cut his eyes over to Aaron then focused back on the road.
“No, not at all. I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t want this,” Kreed said.
“Me either. I just need to make sure I have time to do my thing. I committed way before all of this.” Aaron explained his mystery business deal again for the third or fourth time over the last two days. As the silence settled between them, Aaron didn’t look back down at his phone. Instead, he tucked the device in his back pocket, eyes trained in his direction. Kreed reached down to take his hand, threading their fingers together. The one thing they had never really been was awkward, but the last twenty-four hours may have tested that theory.
“I thought we were on the same page about seeing what this is between us.”
“We were,” Aaron said a little defensively, but gave Kreed the reassurance of gripping his hand tighter. That was really all he needed to get his heart right again. “We are, I mean. You just got distant.”
“No, not really. I was just giving you the space you needed to work,” Kreed said, alternating his focus between Aaron and the road. “I get funky when I’m filling out all that paperwork. I hate that shit, but you were in all those meetings with me then coming back to Jace’s place and working all night. I didn’t want to smother you. I was trying to give you room.”