As she climbed the porch steps, the little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She turned and stared up and down the street. All quiet, as usual. She brushed her hand over her
neck and told the anxious skeptic inside her to back off the panic switch. Everything was perfectly fine.
…
“Jesus, I’m fucked up. Why’d you let me get so fucking fucked up, motherfucker?” He threw a punch at Beau’s shoulder but missed. The shifting beams of headlights from passing cars threw him off.
Beau lifted one hand from the steering wheel and punched him the arm—and didn’t miss. “Hands off the driver.”
“Ow.” Hunter slapped his palm over his burning bicep and winced. “You used your knuckle, bitch. That’s going to leave a mark.”
“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t nail you in your big, numb skull.” He returned his gaze to the road. “I’m not taking the blame for your piss-poor judgment. Next time Reyes and Simmons issue a shot challenge, opt out.”
“No next time.” The very thought made him want to hurl.
“If it’s any consolation, when I poured Simmons out onto his doorstep, his wife leveled him with a stink-eye that withered my balls. He won’t be off his leash again anytime soon.”
“Good.” Hunter leaned his head against the seat and closed his eyes, then opened them right away when his head spun. “Shit.”
“Madison’s not going to shoot the stink-eye my way when I drag your sorry ass in, is she?”
Hunter hadn’t told many people about his roommate situation, but spending back-to-back twelve-hour days in close quarters with a partner left few secrets. He’d been an invisible—and occasionally not-so-invisible—participant in Beau’s recent relationship drama with his fiancée Savannah, through a bullshit engagement that had turned real long before his partner had cared to admit, and an unplanned pregnancy that had forced Beau to face up to his feelings. Likewise, when it came to Hunter’s personal life, Beau knew the score. Mostly.
Hunter squinted at the dashboard clock. Twelve thirty in the morning. She would probably be awake, finishing up Joy’s midnight feeding. “I doubt it. She’s crap-her-pants happy after her doctor’s appointment today.” Shit. He heard the scowl in his voice. Chances were good Beau had heard it, too.
“She’s done with maternity leave?”
“Yep.”
“And that’s good, right?”
“Sure.” He stared out the passenger window.
“She’ll save up a couple paychecks and find a place to live. You get your house back.”
“That’s the plan, I guess.”
“And it’s not like she’s moving to another state. You’ll still see each other, but you’ll have the freedom to get together because you want to, not because you’re all stuck under the same roof.”
“Right.” Except it didn’t feel like freedom, it felt like something important slipping out of his grasp.
With absolutely no warning, Beau punched him in the arm again, hard enough to bounce his forehead against the window. “Ouch.” He touched his abused skull and glared at Beau. “What the fuck, man?”
“Snap out of it. You don’t need complications in your life, remember? Especially not now.”
He shifted around until he faced his partner. “It’s not just me. Madison has wants, too, and regaining her self-respect sits at the top of her list. An essensi…essensul… Dammit, an important part of that involves getting out on her own and providing for herself and Joy. I understand how she feels. I know what it’s like to look in the mirror and see a screwup, and I get how big a deal it is to rebuild self-respect.”
Beau turned into Hunter’s driveway and cut the engine. “Sounds like you two are on the same page. Suck it up and stop moping like a limp dick. Don’t make me punch you again.”
“You’re not driving anymore. You punch me again, I’m punching back.”
“You couldn’t hit the side of a barn right now.”
He knuckle-punched Beau in the thigh to prove him wrong and had the satisfaction of seeing his partner grit his teeth.
“Son of a… All right, back off. We’re even.”
“We are nowhere close to even.”