“San Antonio PD’s got some news that Eastfield might show up, but it’s just a memorial. I didn’t think they came to things like that,” Cody said, picking his route from the airport.
“I hate those fuckers. Damn, they piss me off. Is anything forming a counter-protest?” Mitch asked, looking his way, very concerned.
“I don’t know. It was gossip some of the guys were talking about,” Cody answered, cutting his eyes back and forth between the road and Mitch.
“Do they know Kreed’s gay?” Mitch asked, fully facing him now.
“Kreed’s gay?” That got Cody’s attention, because he hadn’t known.
“If you didn’t know, that’s probably a good sign,” Mitch replied, pulling his phone from his jacket pocket.
“Kreed’s gay?” Cody asked again. He felt a pang of jealousy squeeze his heart even as he said the name.
“Yeah. It’s why we teamed up together. We’ve been doing this a long time. It’s just now that people are so accepting. When I first started in all this, I wouldn’t have made it without him. He’s always had my back. I’ve had his,” Mitch responded, working his phone.
“Do you fuck him?” Cody asked bluntly. He was shocked by his own crude use of words and the possessiveness coursing through him. But damn, how was this the first time he’d heard about this? And absolutely this was not the time to be having this conversation.
Oh shit. I’m an idiot. He’d been saying he would hold Mitch’s spot, but Mitch had never given him that guarantee back.
“No. Of course not.” Mitch’s gaze jerked to his as he waited for the call to connect. Just as he was getting ready to say more, his attention diverted to the phone a second before he whispered, “Hang on,” and held up a finger to give him a minute. “Hi, Mrs. Sinacola, this is Mitch Knox. How are you doing?” Cody drove, not listening to Mitch. Having no idea where he was going, he headed toward San Antonio, taking Mitch to see the family, but with each passing mile, the pit in his stomach grew. He gripped his steering wheel a little tighter than normal. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? He’d never questioned Kreed sharing a room with him that first night he was in town. He also got the feeling Kreed wasn’t into this relationship between them. Just the little things Mitch had said, and now he completely got why. Fuck!
“Hey, cowboy? Earth to Cody.” Mitch’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. Cody glanced over at Mitch who now had his sunglasses pushed up on his head, and the devious grin was back, showing off those gorgeous dimples. Maybe it was more of a smirk, but the dimples were there, drawing him in, and damn, if dread didn’t fill him. Mitch meant something to him, and he didn’t like that Kreed Sinacola was gay.
“Where am I taking you?” Cody asked, not sharing his thoughts out loud.
“What were you thinking so hard about?” Mitch countered.
Cody didn’t answer. He couldn’t. The timing was wrong, and he needed space. Maybe distance was more the word.
“Are you jealous?” Mitch turned in his seat, facing him.
“Of course not.” At least that was what he wanted Mitch to think.
There was silence between them.
“I don’t have sex with Kreed Sinacola. We decided against that a long time ago. We needed to have each other’s backs, look out for the other one. He’s a couple of years older than me. He came from a military background. He knew the deal way before I did.”
Cody glanced over at Mitch, gauged his face. He looked like he was being honest and straight-forward. He couldn’t stare at Mitch long because he had to split his time between the road and the man. Cody finally just picked the road to concentrate on. “You never had sex with him?”
“I didn’t say that. I have, we did in the beginning a few times. But that stopped a long time ago. We made that decision. It’s done. I have no desire to ever go back there again. He’s my work partner, we’re fluid in the field together. Nothing else. I promise,” Mitch assured him.
Cody let out the sigh he was holding, keeping his eyes on the road. “I assumed you’d be holding my spot since you were asking me to hold yours.”
Mitch took Cody’s hand back in his, made a show of linking their fingers together again. “It’s a safe assumption. Look, I’m not gonna hide the fact I’m kind of looking for more with you than someone to fuck. Watching Colt Michaels and Jace Montgomery and knowing their story made me realize that if it could happen for them, then it could happen to anyone. I was open to the idea, but I honestly didn’t think I’d find anyone. Then there you were, sitting quietly in a corner, almost unseen. My world’s been pretty rocked since then. Meeting you knocked me flat on my ass, Cody. I’m not gonna lie about that to you.”
Cody gripped Mitch’s hand tighter.
“So it’s a safe assumption?” Cody asked, not looking over at Mitch.
“Oh yeah,” Mitch answered and raised their joined hands for a kiss.
“I’m driving in the general direction of San Antonio. I’m not real sure of your plans. This is the way I should be going, right?” Cody asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, let me pull up their address on my phone.”
Cody’s stomach wasn’t roiling like it had before, he might even be back to the happy medium he’d been at when this conversation started, but he still needed to be careful. He hadn’t figured Mitch for the settling down type. No way would he have ever gone there. Besides, their distance was enough to make this whole thing between them too hard. This was good for now, but he needed to keep his head straight. This was going to end. The complications were stacked against them. No matter how much he wished it weren’t true, six months from now, Mitch Knox would be a memory.
~~~
Mitch watched as Cody navigated the big truck down the older neighborhood street, dodging the parked cars and children playing outside. He’d officially spent almost the whole entire month of October in DC. Riding down this street reminded him it was close to Halloween. He had to look down at his phone to see it was actually October thirtieth.