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The mood at the table dipped and everyone was quiet until Rome suddenly leaned forward and poked the end of his fork in hter and then back up toyourself out there,to do with ot hurt and she’s never so ht noith a busted wing because so … and Rem," he shook his head sadly "That was an accident, too Bad stuff happens sometimes and it happens to people we care about You can’t live life insulated because you are scared of getting too close Ask my idiot brother over there hoell that worked out for hiiven iven in a much reement and leaned over to kiss his wife on the temple "I told myself I was happy, told myself I was fine If I didn’t let anyone in, then there was no chance of being hurt, but there also wasn’t the chance of feeling all the good stuff that so with them either There was nobody to love, no one to pushup over and over again That’s a pretty lonely existence, dude, and one I know my brother wouldn’t have wanted for you"

Those were so out because we all knew that all Remy had wanted was for me, for all of us, to have the best life we possibly could That’s why he illing to give me up He knew I needed someone who could be with me fully; who could love ret or any kind of excuses Soave hihed "He does and it usually works"

Ro on his plate "Seriously, when you’re with so that makes the what they have to do You give them a reason to stay hyper-focused and you reive the to co fro time enlisted in the aret back to their fah? Reh to come out and be with h Could lettingall in with him so that he had a reason to be extra careful, a h to hold us together?

I didn’t have the answer, but I kneithout a question thatenough and powerful enough to pull us apart if I let them

Chapter 11

Dominic

No one would ever call me a romantic

It wasn’t in my nature to plan occasions or to try and capture a moment with someone else I was too practical for any of that er had invaded hts

"What is all this?" Orlando’s tone was soft and slightly startled as I opened the door and ushered hi ato share that with a specific someone: him

I had cleaned my place up, like really cleaned, not just tidied it up like I usually did when he was over I also called na that I loved I think she went into shock before telling ht because she would just coh it I rarely cooked and I never cooked for so enough that she had pretty good powers of deduction When she showed up she not only had groceries but everything I would need to alley kitchen look presentable I did not shop at IKEA so believe ive it

Mom helped oing on the entire time I really wanted to tell Lando first since he was the reason forafter hoesome she had been, so I told her that finally, after three , the doctor had given me a clean bill of health to take back to the depart course with the depart form, almost back to work and so excited and proud that I couldn’t contain myself I deserved a etting me there so bad I could taste it

When Lando came into the apartment, his eyes widened at the spread laid out before him I asked him to co somewhere to eat The only time we ate in e were at his place and he cooked, so I wasn’t shocked by his surprise

"We’re celebrating" So reen button-up shirt instead of my usual jeans and T-shirt The last time I was this dressed up I had been at a fellow officer’s funeral It took a pretty serious occasion for me to put the jeans away

He bent his head and let his lips touch mine softly as I pulled him in for a kiss I hadn’t shared with him the fact my doctor’s appoint to react if the man told me I wasn’t ready yet I’d worked so hard, we had worked so hard, I wasn’t sure that I could si Luckily that wasn’t the case and now here ere and I was ready to throw ratitude and affection

"What are we celebrating, Dominic?" He sounded amused and a little bit confused

I should tell his hadn’t looked all that good for a few days after he unceremoniously kickedan end or co to an inevitable finish line, it looked exactly like that’s ere doing

My ego had taken a ding and hollered atback to work My heart had tripped and felt like it had been used for a soccer ball, all while s between Lando and I were indeedfairly quickly and there were still a lot of unanswered questions between us about my future and apparently about his past My co and eventually forked road ere currently navigating together My brain was smart