Join the Club (SWAT Generation 2.0 7)

Jonah took my hand and shook it before looking back at David, who’d still refused to move.

“This the trash that needs taking out?” Jonah asked quietly.

“That’s it,” I replied quietly, then more loudly. “He won’t leave.”

“I own this house,” David replied. “I don’t have to leave.”

“You have paperwork that states that?”

David shook his head at Jonah’s question.

“You have a key to get in the house?” Jonah continued.

David shook his head once again.

“What about a driver’s license that shows you live here?” Jonah pushed.

David’s jaw clenched. But he once again shook his head.

“Then it looks to me like you’re going to leave,” Jonah said. “Come back when you have a few of these things.”

David glared daggers at me, but nodded once. “I can do that.”

Then he left, determination in his every step.Chapter 13

Love is ale you need.

-Bar marquee sign

Delanie

“Hey, baby.” The voice of Booth carried through the vehicle’s speaker system.

“Um, hey,” Dillan said. “I called Delanie, though.”

Booth’s lips tipped up. “Sorry. Does that mean you can’t say hi?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Dillan cleared her throat.

“I was hoping to tell Delanie first.” She paused. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

There was a moment of silence and then Booth looked at me curiously.

I shrugged.

“Just tell me,” I said. “It’s on speakerphone.”

There was another long pause and then Dillan said, “So I heard some bad stuff happened today. I think that Bourne might be in the middle of it.”

“What kind of bad stuff?” Booth barked.

I looked over at him to see him clenching his hand onto the steering wheel, looking miffed.

“Not like that,” she said softly. “I wanted to tell Delanie this so she could tell you when you weren’t driving. But, from what I hear, one of y’all’s fellow officers died today. The one that just got married. Jason. Bourne saw him die.”

***

“Thank you,” I said quietly to Booth. “I’ll come pick him up tomorrow.”

Booth waved it away. “I’ll just drop Asa off with my dad when I have to go to work.” He looked toward the house as if he wanted to follow me in there. “Take care of him, okay?”

I nodded once then walked up the front walk that led to my house.

I glanced over at Bourne’s truck that was parked at the curb, then hurried up the path that led inside.

I found it unlocked.

Pushing the door open, I locked it behind me then slowly started to turn out lights as I went.

After a quick check on the two remaining dogs that I had to make sure were bedded down for the night, I then went and found my man.

He was lying face down in the middle of my bed, sleeping.

Moses’ head popped up when he saw me, but he didn’t get up from his sprawl on the floor.

I patted him with my foot as I passed him, then went to the bed.

Kneeling down onto it, I ran my hand down the length of Bourne’s back.

He groaned and rolled over, his arm coming up to cover his eyes.

He was asleep.

Very asleep.

I watched him quietly for a few long moments, my eyes taking in his body.

He was in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.

I slowly caught the covers and pulled them up over his body, covering it with a sadness that bordered on ludicrous.

The man was beautiful, pure and simple.

Built. Lean. Tan. God-like.

So out of my league that it wasn’t even funny.

There were times that I thought about how we fit together that I wondered just how in the hell I’d lucked out and gotten a man like him.

Leaving the covers half pulled up over his back, I went to the bathroom and took care of my nightly routine. Brushing my teeth, combing out my hair, applying deodorant, washing my face and then applying my nightly serums to my face.

The one thing that I could say when it came to my dad, was the benefit of skincare.

He’d always taken care of himself, applying sunscreen every time he thought he would be outside for a long enough amount of time. And nightly, he’d apply skin creams to his face.

That had to be why he always appeared so clean and put together.

I’d taken to the habit when I was two years post-pregnancy and sporting bags under my eyes that could rival suitcases. After realizing the benefits of good skincare, I’d never stopped. Even though the nightly routines were somewhat expensive and probably didn’t need to be done just yet.

But it was a luxury that I’d started and hadn’t really wanted to stop.

Speaking of my father, we’d gotten served a letter today that my sister had signed for. One that was from my father’s lawyer requesting visitation with my son.

One that I now needed to go talk to a lawyer about to see if there was anything legally I needed to do.