Chapter 98
1055 Words
The next morning at just past six o’clock, Dallas stepped onto his front porch with a cup of coffee. He was groggy, but he’d stayed up all night many times before for his job, and he knew that he’d be OK after two coffees.
Maybe three today.
Dean stared over at him in shock, his breath steaming in the morning cold.
“What the hell are you doing home, man?” Dean asked. “I thought you were staying at Liv’s place until this whole thing was all over. Does this mean it’s all over?”
Dallas shook his head. “Not even f*****g close.”
Dean studied his tense face. “C’mon over here. Talk to me.”
“I can’t. I can’t leave her alone even for one second.”
“She’s at your place?”
“In my bed.”
Dean grinned. “I feel like we’ve had this conversation before… Liv in your bed, you on the sofa.”
Dallas shuffled his feet, and Dean stared over at him, set down his coffee on the railing.
“Unless… unless this time she stayed over.” Dean grinned wider. “Did you finally make your move, man?”
“Uh. Well. Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
Dean launched himself over the porch railing, then reached up to retrieve his coffee. “OK, I’m coming to you. I want an update.”
Despite his worry and exhaustion, Dallas couldn’t keep the smile from crossing his own face. Dean clomped up the steps and stood there.
“OK, Foreman,” he said. “Fill me in… what happened?”
Dallas huffed. “You think I’m going to kiss and tell?”
“I don’t mean about that,” Dean said. “That part’s between you and Liv, but let me just say how happy I am that you two finally got it together, because goddamn man, you took your sweet time. No, what I was asking about is the stalker. What happened that you guys are back here?”
Dallas glanced over his shoulder. “OK, I’ll tell you. But this is between us for now, OK?”
“Yeah.”
Dallas told Dean about the gift and the photo, and Dean’s face went still and watchful. When he heard that the current working theory was that the twisted f**k had actually been hiding out in Liv’s house, he felt the rage start to build in his chest, threatening to cut off his air and take away all his ability to engage in rational and calm thought. He just wanted to beat the s**t out of this guy.
God, if I feel like this, how is Dallas holding it together?
“And she doesn’t know?” Dean said quietly.
“Not yet.” Dallas took a sip of coffee. “Mark and my team have been in her house all night, and he just texted me that he’s arranged for an infrared scanner to arrive at Olivia’s house late this morning. He also called in a few of our most trusted friends in the Denver PD. No way we’re handling this any farther on our own.”
Dean nodded.
“Once I’m sure that the guy’s been there this whole time – or at least part of the time – I’ll tell Olivia.” He sighed. “I can’t imagine how she’s going to react.”
“Yeah. Me neither.”
Dallas glanced at his watch. “Mark promised to be in touch again by eleven o’clock, and the scanner should arrive about an hour later. I should know more in a few hours.”
“What can I do?”
Dallas looked up, touched. “Nothing right now. But I’ll let you know, OK?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks for asking, man.”
Dean shook his head. “No problem. I adore Liv, as you should damn well know, and anything she needs, you just say the word. Consider it done.” He looked out at the quiet street. “I’ll keep an eye on your place for you, though, just to see if anybody’s hanging around.”
Some of the tension went out of Dallas’ shoulders. “And how’s Emma doing? I feel bad that I haven’t been there for you guys lately.”
Dean waved his hands. “Don’t you even think about that… Liv is your priority, and she should be. I’ve got Emma and we’re good.” He paused. “Two days ago, she had her first chemo session since the transplant.”
“f**k, yeah.” Dallas leaned against the railing, berating himself for having forgotten about that. “How was she after?”
Dean sighed. “Sick as hell. She puked for a day straight, but she’s better. Still weak and shaky, but she’s getting some rest now.”
“She eating?”
“A bit yesterday. I’m hoping she’ll be better today.”
“I’m sorry, Dean. I should have called and checked in.”
“No, don’t worry. All Emma can even talk about is Liv, I swear. She’s worried as hell, and just about the only thing that reassures her is that you’re involved. You just keep taking care of Olivia, OK? She’s your focus now. The rest of us? We’ve got Emma, and we're cool.”
Dallas nodded. “OK, I want to get back in and check on her.”
“Yeah, I need to go see how Emma’s doing.”
The two men looked at each other and grinned.
“f**k, man,” Dallas said. “Would you have believed even six months ago that we’d both have women in our beds that we give a good goddamn about? After all the years of one-nighters and morning-afters?”
“Nope.” Dean picked up his empty coffee cup. “But I wouldn’t go back to the way it was six months ago. Not for anything.”
Dallas thought about Olivia coming on top of him last night, her face alight with pleasure; he thought about how it had felt to be buried inside her sweet, hot body. He remembered how she had tasted, and all he wanted was to go to her right now and kiss her again.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, me neither.”
- Writer
