SWAT Ed: Fox & Bull (Nothing Special 8)

Fox took the printed photos and left the sheriff standing there to take the heat he’d rightfully earned. But what was most insane was the applause and cheers that Bull heard for Fox as they walked out of the emergency room together.

Bull felt as if he might have a fever, or maybe he’d caught something in that short time he’d been in the hospital, because his body was burning up. His insides felt as if he were standing too close to a bonfire, and Bull fumbled with the passenger window to try to get some air. After a couple of seconds, he managed to get the glass halfway down. He glanced over at Fox as he flew down the long highway towards his ranch, not going fast enough for his current predicament. Fox had one hand resting on his thigh, the other curved overtop of the steering wheel, seeming unaffected by what had just happened.

Bull was experiencing the opposite.

He dragged his eyes up Fox’s toned chest in that nice sweater until he got to his throat. He watched Fox’s Adam’s apple sink before rising back up, making his mouth water at the bristly gray hairs he wanted to rake his tongue over and leave possessive red marks concealed beneath it. Bull took another deep breath of frigid air, but his body only got hotter, his thirst now unbearable.

“You okay over there?” Fox asked, his tone husky. Or was that Bull’s imagination? “Your breathing seems a little… off.”

“Just drive,” Bull growled.

Fox smiled slyly. “I’m sure you’re probably feeling an overwhelming urge to fuck me right now… and that’s natural. Trust me. But you are at least gonna let me get inside the house first?”

“No. Drive.”

Fox moved around in his seat, and Bull pressed the heel of his palm down on his cock to try to relieve the ache. He groaned low and deep in his throat, letting his head fall back against the headrest.

“Jesus Christ,” Fox muttered.

The truck accelerated, and Bull was glad—now he didn’t have to ask Fox to pull over. They’d danced around each other for so long, and Bull was beyond waiting even one more night. His dick was bent in his Wranglers in a way that was pissing him off. He wanted out of this damn truck, now, Fox’s calves on his shoulders and him balls-deep inside his ass. Bull’s dick jerked, then leaked against his thigh, making him dig his heels into the floorboard.

Fox finally turned down his driveway and parked Bull’s truck behind the house next to Amelia’s Buick. He put the gearshift in park, then killed the engine, and despite their urgency, neither of them moved out of the dark cab.

Fox eventually spoke up. “I haven’t dated in a long time, Bull.” He looked conflicted as he stared straight ahead. “I’ve been down this path before, where I try to have something real and solid and not let my job become its own entity in the relationship. But it’s hard sometimes, y’know? Shit can get complicated. In the beginning everything is so new, and my job makes life sound as if it’ll be exhilarating to be with me.”

“Fox—”

“But men quickly find out that it’s not. And soon their excitement is replaced with fear. Fear that I might get shot, fear that I could end up an invalid, fear that I’ll be killed in the line of duty. It’s all possible, Bull.” Fox’s gaze caressed his face. “Most of the time I’m broken up with over a text, if not just flat-out ghosted. And I’d be okay after a few weeks, because I never really expected much from them in the first place. But I, um…” Fox’s smile wasn’t as cocky as it usually was. “I don’t think I can do that with you. I couldn’t just let you go, Bull, and then be okay after a few weeks.”

Bull’s pulse pounded in his ears. To think all this time, he’d been hesitant of Fox’s advances because he was afraid of getting his heart broken by a player, only to find out that he was the one that was scared. It sounded as if Fox had put himself out there and because the men—or women, Bull wasn’t sure—he’d dated couldn’t handle being a real partner, so they’d deserted him. Bull was not that kind of man. Never had been.

“I was engaged once,” Bull started. This wasn’t something most people knew about him because it was a story where he came out looking like a fool. But he had a feeling that if Fox knew this, he wouldn’t question Bull’s dedication or how he felt about desertion. “Up until the flood happened, I was supposed to marry the boy next door. Literally. Osmond Baker. I wouldn’t say we were crazy in love, but we grew up together, and I did love him very much, in my own way. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, and it’d been that way our whole lives. And in La Vernia, Texas, there wasn’t a vast pool of proudly out cowboys. So, obviously it made sense to be together. And I wanted a husband more than anything, so I thought Os would’ve been my only shot.”