Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

“Maverick, let’s go. The meeting is in half an hour and it's always a beast getting a table about this time.” Looking at the open door of his bathroom through the reflection of his mirror, the man in question called back as he finished combing his hair into place. “I’m coming, Geralt.” Grabbing his wallet off the table in the hall to the front door, he pulled his keys off of the hook. “Am I driving or you?” Maverick’s fellow SWAT team member nodded in recognition as Geralt locked up behind them and headed toward the large driveway. “You can drive. I just cameback from pulling a double shift to help out the Bravo team. So I’m gonna nap a bit if you don’t mind.”

Maverick easily shifted his path toward his monster of a truck. It was solid black with four doors and an extended bed. Winter was in full swing, snow covered the ground in mounds on either side of the road and the truck moved surely along the freshly cleared streets. It was a bit warmer today than it had been, so they had agreed to meet with the possible roommate at one of the indoor-outdoor food truck parks.

It wasn’t too long of a trip, so Geralt was able to get about a half-hour nap, when they pulled into the parking lot. Pulling his jacket into place, Maverick led the way to their favorite truck. Quickly placing their orders, they found a table that was empty. The blond-haired man quickly sent a text to the man they were waiting on to let them know where to find them.

Pulling out the application, the two men glanced over it a bit. Maverick stated to his companion. “Honestly, unless we get some really bad vibes, this guy sounds perfect.” Geralt nodded in agreement before they fell silent once more. It was just moments later that a shadow fell across the table drawing their attention. Maverick’s breath caught as he took in the man standing before him. “Evander! Wow, it's been so long.” With quick movements he made his way around the obstacle and engulfed the other man in a hug. Pulling back, he turned to his teammate.

“Geralt, Evander and I go way back! We grew up together.” Glancing back toward the shorter man, he said, “I thought I saw you at the house break-in last week. Did you not live there?” Evander sighed a bit as he sat at the table. “I got kicked out by the landlord. It was the third time someone busted the place up since I not only won the lottery and then it was revealed about the wrong numbers being called, but close to what I had down. It was a whole thing and I offered to return the money, no harm no foul, but the company thought it would look bad on them. There was a contract so I’m covered.”

Shaking himself as if to get rid of the situation, he smiled at the two men. “So what questions do I need to answer?” Geralt pulled a notebook over to himself, “Honestly there are just a few questions. Your references were stellar, your application is impeccable, and since Maverick knows you that really helps. Would you mind being on the main living level? This means that the front entrance, access to the backyard are on your level. People will be able to walk through the main area. Yours would be the only floor with an oven, but we ask ahead of time to use it.”

Evander nodded. “That would be fine with me.” Maverick rested his forearms on the table. “I would be your direct roommate. Would that be a problem?” The younger man replied quickly. “Of course not. Would my wrong number lottery win be a problem?” At both men’s negative head shakes they fell silent. After a quick text conversation between the housemates, Maverick smiled. “Alright, Evander, it looks like we will be housemates. Do you need help moving in?”

Maverick looked up from his third cup of iced coffee he was currently making to the front entrance as a loud knock sounded. Evander had messaged that he was on his way with everything that had been salvageable from the last break-in. When Maverick and Geralt had offered to help with moving, they had quickly been assured there wasn’t any need. Quickly making his way around the kitchen island, he pulled the door open just as his new roommate was about to knock again.

The blonde had a couple of small stacks of medium-sized boxes at the base of the stairs, a footlocker and trash bag at his feet, and a backpack on his shoulder. His jeep was sitting at the end of the driveway and Maverick could see a few more boxes as well as a couple of bags in the back. Leaning down, he pulled the bag in to sit next to the door before hefting the trunk and stepping back. Carefully placing the heavy load just inside the living room, the two quickly went back out to bring in everything else.

It didn’t take very long and honestly wasn’t much of anything really. Looking around at the small collection of personal items, Maverick asked. “Are there any large pieces you need me to help you get?” Evander shook his head, “Thank you, but no. With three different break-ins, there has been a ton of damage to my stuff. The last one was definitely the worst. My bookcase was literally pried off the wall and smashed apart. A series of massive slashes was placed on my mattress. The best part was finding my pictures, artwork, and a lot of my clothes thrown into a pile and coated with various liquids including cleaners, paint striper, and urine.” Waving a hand to encompass the meager collection, he finished. “What you see is what there is. I had a nice camping cot in the back of my jeep from a trip I had taken a month or so ago and hadn’t gotten around to taking it out.”

Dark brows raised in surprise as the police officer took in what was being said. While not as tall as him, Evander was still a decent height and a massive wall of solid muscle as was needed for his job. No matter how high-end it was, a camping cot was not going to cut it for long. Lifting the foot locker once more he started to the side of the entrance. “Follow me and I can show you your room.” The door was standing open and there wasn’t any kind of furnishing. The beautiful hardwood floors had been mopped earlier in the day, so were gleaming in the midmorning sun.

Maverick walked over to the two doors on the far side of the room. “The original owners did a bit of work to the house before we got it. This includes both rooms on this floor having its own bathroom and walk-in closet. Once we get your stuff in here, we can run to the closest furniture store and see about replacing your stuff.”

It had only been a little over three months and everything was going great. It didn’t take Evander much time at all to settle into his new room. True to his word, Maverick had taken him to get the furnishing he needed for his room. Evander had added a few things to other parts of the house which Maverick had been completely fine with, such as a cube-shelved bookcase in the living room to store movies, books for guests to look at, and spare blankets since Evander was notoriously cold. A fancier coffee pot had taken up residence on the counter as well. It had only taken a handful of attempts and a youtube video to figure out how to use it.

A bonus was Evander loved to bake. It wasn’t uncommon for Maverick to come home from a shift and see a fresh tray of brownies or cookies sitting in one of the cake stands they had acquired for that very thing. He didn’t expect today to be much different since Evander was on an off session from the station and often baked when there wasn’t any laundry to do or he was taking a break from his drawing.

Entering the house, Maverick was instantly engulfed in the smells of warm sugar, vanilla, pumpkin, and cinnamon. “It smells fantastic in here.” Evander looked up from the dough he was kneading and smiled bashfully. “Welcome home, Maverick, and thank you. I got a wild hair to make some different breads and it kind of got away from me. I sure hope you like flavored bread.” Smiling, Maverick moved closer to the island to see some of what the other man was working on. He was doing his best to ignore the flour smeared all over the younger man’s face.

There were moments where it felt a lot like old times, when they were younger and before life got in the way. There had always been a level of affection between them that everyone had encouraged. At some points it looked like they were going to start dating, but it never seemed to be the right time. Now that feeling was constantly in the air. Maverick didn’t mind it at all. Leaning on the flour free side of the counter, he asked. “So what have you made so far?”

Shoving some stray hair out of his face, and unknowingly smearing more flour, Evander started listing off. “I made banana nuts first since ours were starting to get too ripe. Chocolate chip was next, which I’ve eaten probably too much of. There are a few savory ones that will be good for sandwiches. They are in the breadbox already. Geralt stole the loaf of oatmeal raisin.” Pausing to move the dough to the next destination he waved to a couple of containers wrapped with a note at the end of the counter. Moving over to look, Maverick felt a warmth settle in his chest. The note read ‘For Maverick, No one else touches or else.’ Lifting the note and removing the fabric wrap, he found two loaves of bread. A cinnamon streusel and a pumpkin.

This had been going on more and more as the two men got to know each other more. They were doing little things for each other. Last week Maverick had taken Evander to the bookstore and convinced him it was okay to not only replace his destroyed books, but to also get more that he wanted to read. Then the car show the SWAT officer had wanted to go see but was way out of his price range for tickets. Evander had just brushed off the cost and thrown out a comment about the lottery numbers. Maverick had done a paint and sip with him that weekend and just a few days ago Evander had asked him to help plan a week long camping adventure for just the two of them for the end of February.

He must have been staring for too long, because the worry in Evander’s voice should never be there. “I made the right ones didn’t I? I could have sworn those were your favorite flavors. If not, I can make those next.” Maverick’s head whipped around as he replied. “These are perfect, Evander. I haven’t had them in years. Thank you.” The smile he got in reply to his comment was megawatt. A sheet of paper under the edge of the breads drew his attention. Pulling it loose he groaned. “I completely forgot about this.” Evander looked over from where he was cleaning up his mess, noticing the issue. “Oh yeah, Geralt brought that in grumbling. Apparently he’s frustrated about this Valentine’s Day Gala that the police department is throwing.”

Maverick sighed, “It’s thrown every year in as a chance to raise money. There is often a ‘suggestion’ for officers who are unattached to be auctioned off for dates. It’s stressful as the men and women in question argue against doing it, but it's always there.” Evander’s brow furrowed, “So you aren’t automatically in this auction, but it’s a possibility of happening?” Maverick scrubbed at his face a moment, before cutting a piece of pumpkin bread and biting into it, moaning as the flavor exploded in his mouth. “This is so good.” Evander smiled before he bit his lip a bit as he seemed to contemplate something. Taking a deep breath, he said. “If you want I’d be willing to be your fake date for the Gala.” Maverick coughed as he choked a bit on a bite.

Turning to the younger man completely, he said. “Evander, I don’t want you to feel like you have to do that.” The soft smile he got was so sweet. “Maverick, I wouldn’t have offered it, if I didn’t want to help.” Pausing a moment as he took in the situation. Evander was offering as a friend and nothing else, but it almost felt like this was a chance to move them toward something more. With a full smile, he nodded. “Alright then, I accept.”