Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

“I’m good, Mrs. Torres. Really.”

“Anna, sweetheart. Snow?”

“Yes?” He smirked and handed Rowe his glass.

“You can bring Sergeant to dinner this weekend if you’d like. He’s so little and sweet.”

“Like hell he is. And especially not when you put him into the cat carrier. He starts squealing and hurling his body against the bars and every time, I expect him to start mutating into that creature from The Thing.”

Rowe wondered if Snow realized how carefully and slowly he was pronouncing each word. An obvious drunken maneuver that never fooled anyone—least of all his sharp mother-in-law. And yeah, technically, she wasn’t that, but for all intents and purposes, the title fit better than anything else. Her laughter sounded warm through the phone.

“You and Jude enjoy your weekend off. Sounds like it’s off to an interesting start. Bye Rowe!” She hung up.

“She’s all up in your business, isn’t she?”

“I thought she’d be, but she really isn’t. Once we stopped house hunting, she backed off. We do the family night dinner there, which is actually nice. Woman cooks as well as Ian. I…care about her.”

Rowe made a sound of disgust. “You are just soooo completely and utterly housebroken, Doc.”

“As I said before, shut the fuck up.”

Two hours later, they had nearly finished the bottle of tequila and Rowe couldn’t remember why they were both lying on the colorful living room rug. He also couldn’t remember why he’d been so upset. Oh yeah. “I got mad at Noah for doing my laundry and folding my socks wrong.”

“Dumbass.”

Nodding, he crossed his legs at the ankle and eyed his feet. “These were my last clean pair, too.” Shame washed over him despite the heavy tequila barrier. “Socks were just an excuse, you know.”

“Yeah, I do. Rowe, if anyone would be happy that you’re with Noah, it would be Mel. She’d only want you to keep living life to the fullest. That was her and you know it.” He rolled his head on the rug, his mouth turned down. “So what’s really going on here?”

Rowe didn’t, couldn’t, answer. Even through his spinning mind, that terror from earlier lurked, black and hungry. “I care about him…so much. I could love him, Snow. Really love him like I loved my wife.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered, “Scares the shit out of me.”

Snow was silent long moments. “I thought it was something like that. We’re all scared of giving our hearts, Rowe. Sometimes, we have no choice. Sometimes a person comes along who completes you in a way you can’t imagine being able to breathe without them. We have to take that chance then. We have to revel in the good times. Cherish them. Being in love makes you feel so damn alive.”

Rowe stared at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“I have no fucking idea.” He stroked his hand over the cat’s tiny head. “Rowe, I was crazy about Mel and miss her, too. Even trying to understand the pain you’ve been dealing with breaks my heart, but you didn’t die with her.”

“I know. I just can’t go through something like this again.” Rowe stared at the ceiling again.

“You know what I really miss right this moment? That I can’t talk about how hot you and Noah must be together with her.”

A fond smile twisted his lips. “Oh, she would have loved Noah. And if he was bisexual too, maybe we could have worked something out. But he’s not.” Bisexual. Rowe was most definitely ready to accept that he was bisexual. And that maybe, emotional attachment made him enjoy sex the most.

Snow groaned.

Rowe closed his eyes. “Please tell me you are not picturing that.”

“Fuck no. Want me to lie? We’re loaded up on honesty tequila, man. Even Jude said the two of you would be damn fine together. In fact, the other night—”

“Oh God, stop!” Rowe shot up and the room spun so fast, he leaned too hard to his left. He reached for the floor and his hand landed on Snow’s stomach. Hard.

Snow grunted in pain and rolled, which made the kitten screech and hold on. Snow yelled, rolled back and Rowe took one look at the wide-eyed kitten holding on for dear life with its claws in Snow’s chest, and lost it. He fell back, choking on laughter.

“It’s okay, little demon. Mean old Rowe didn’t mean to make me squish you.” Snow patted the creature’s head until it loosened its claws and curled back up on his chest.

Still chuckling, Rowe settled back into the rug and waited for the walls to stand still. The long, silky fibers of the rug cushioned his back nicely against the hard floor. “This thing is sinfully soft. I need to get one for in front of my fireplace.”

“It’s great for fucking.”

This time, Rowe groaned. “You couldn’t tell me that’s what you use it for before I stretched out on it?”