“Leave it alone, Mere,” Ex said. He’d clasped his hands in front of him on the table, biting back the urge to pick at his cuticles. Instead, he stared up at the television while Meridian stared at him.
Meridian exhaled a long breath, his tight muscles relaxing only slightly. He turned his head away from where the woman had disappeared and focused those penetrating midnight eyes on him. Ex was getting ready to say something else but his words got stuck as his eyes dropped to Meridian’s chest when he reached inside of his jacket pocket and took out the pack of Black Russian cigarettes. Ex watched the gold filter disappear between Meridian’s full lips and he found he couldn’t look away. His mind went back to that goddamn video and he felt his dick pulse in his pants. He couldn’t un-see the way the detectives had kissed each other hungrily in that parking lot. The way the lieutenants had fought for dominance when their mouths and bodies had connected. It was live and in color, trying to replay itself over and over in his mind. He wondered if he and—
“Here you are. Two roast beef specials. The gravy’s homemade. I make it myself; it was my grandmother’s recipe,” the waitress said, catching him off guard.
Ex found he was damn near panting as he’d thought about those forbidden things and how it made him throb below his belt. Meridian was watching him, his cigarette unlit and frozen in front of his mouth. Ex licked his lips and boldly challenged his partner instead of hiding.
“Um. There’s no smoking in here,” she mumbled, then glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen. She pointed to a side door. “There’s benches out there.”
“It’s also thirty-two degrees out there. Maybe you’ll make an exception this once since there’s no one else in here,” Ex said without thought, not knowing why he felt the need to fix that minor nothing for Meridian.
His partner only pulled out those cigarettes when he was strung tight. Ex removed a folded wad of cash from his back pocket and flipped over two crisp hundred dollar bills and slid them into her palm. He didn’t have the gift to charm a person like Meridian did but Ex found that money always got him the results he wanted as well.
Her eyes went wide and she hurriedly took the money and tucked it deep in her glittery apron. “Sure. Just don’t put the butts on the plates.”
“Of course not.” Ex nodded.
Neither of them spoke while they ate. Ex never felt the need to fill their long moments of silence with idle words, and his partner wasn’t a big talker. Besides, Ex could enjoy Meridian by him simply being there. His presence was just that powerful.
“So, what’s next?” Meridian asked after he’d pushed his empty plate to the side.
Ex drank some of his water, the coolness feeling good to his parched throat, but he wished he had something stronger. He reclined in his seat, mimicking Meridian’s posture and trying to appear casual.
“First and foremost, we go to Virginia and get our supplies. My contact there is ready for us, we should be in and out,” Ex explained. “Only thing is the train ride will take a couple days, not putting us back here until late Tuesday night. Of course, flying would be faster but we can better stay under the radar if we avoid TSA. Amtrak will be easiest to transport our cargo as well.”
“Works for me. He knows what we need?”
“Yes. As soon as we get back we can start to have some conversations around town. We’ll backtrack over the task force’s recent arrests and see what we can find. I also wanna keep an eye on that deputy district attorney. Something seems off there to me,” Ex said.
“Agreed.” Meridian put his cigarette into his mouth and finally lit it. He blew the aromatic smoke away from Ex but he still caught the robust scent of cloves.
Ex thought the smoking habit was atrocious, but he found he liked it when Meridian did it. The addiction made him seem less programmed. It was something his partner did when he was battling on the inside, and it was also something he only showed Ex.
Meridian’s eyes were half covered by his long black eye lashes, appearing as if he was enjoying what he was doing. He had one arm braced on the back of the seat and Ex could see the shiny Italian silk lining of Meridian’s jacket and the butt of his chrome Wesson Valor resting against his rib cage.
His partner was a man who preferred nice things. His clothes were designed and tailored for him. His weapons of the best quality. And while he didn’t obsess over flashy material things, it was the small luxuries Meridian allowed himself that had the ability to flip Ex’s switch. He adjusted himself discreetly underneath the table after another long exhale of that goddamn, sleek black cigarette. Meridian let a billow of white smoke gather in his mouth before he blew it right in Ex’s face. It was insane that Meridian made it appear so damn sensuous. Ex sat almost mesmerized until the sound of a dish crashing to the floor had his hand flying towards his weapon.