27. Libby
Libby
Like Sands Through an Hourglass
“H ey, X.” I stand at the doorway to our hotel room and lean against the frame. The door is open, the nice breeze filtering through as Gunner stands in the doorway two rooms up – Soph and Jay’s room – and talks about our next plans. “Sorry, I’m here.”
“Where are you, Lib? You never take any time off, ever. You don’t even take a dump while on shift. You hold it in until you clock out. But then this .” It’s like I can see him throw his hands in the air. “You get a concussion, and suddenly you take two months off work.”
“I know, X. I’m sorry. I know I’ve put you guys in a bind.”
“No, it’s not so bad. We have enough manpower, but you make me worry.” His voice lowers. “You’re okay, right? It’s against the law for me to ask if you’re at a rehab facility, but if you slipped or something, I promise, no judgment.”
“I didn’t slip! Jesus, X.” I calm my voice when Romeo pokes his head past Gunner and lifts a brow at me. “I didn’t slip. I’m strong. I’m as strong as always, I promise.”
“You know I just wanna make sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” I lean against the doorframe until the bones between my shoulder blades click, then with a grunt, I slide down and plop to my butt. “Yes, I know. I’m okay, I promise. I’m just taking time off. Everything is okay there, right?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. I pulled Oz onto the same schedule as me. I feel like we’re a stronger team–”
“You missed him.”
He laughs. “I missed him so much. I need bro time with my best friend. Lord knows why, considering we fight more than anything else. But whatever. I missed him, pulled him onto my shift, and we’ve partnered some of the others together.
Everyone is fine, and everything is covered.
Your buddy Drake comes down every now and then if we need a little extra on weekends. ”
“Drake.” His name alone makes me smile. “I miss him.”
“Ya know, I think he’s single, Lib. You and he could be cute together.”
“Ew, don’t do that, X. Don’t become matchmaker. You’re my chief, not my mother.”
He chuckles and sits back in an office chair until the hinges groan in protest. I’ve spent so much time with that man, in that station, that I know the very chair he’s sitting on, where he’s sitting, behind what desk, and exactly which hinges are groaning.
I miss the guys too. Even if, like Oz, we fight more often than not, I still miss them.
They were the family I needed when I had no others.
I’m not sure what Gunner and I are going to do, because I can’t leave my guys, and he can’t leave his. We’re going to find ourselves at an impossible crossroads soon, and it terrifies me to think of how it’s going to end.
“Sorry, Lib,” X continues, unaware of where my thoughts have run. “It was a lapse in judgment. When are you coming back?”
“I dunno. Am I out of a job when I do?”
“Nah. I’m brand loyal, and you’ve already earned your stripes. You have more than a decade in leave accumulated, so you’re still good. Your apartment is fine, too. I dropped by last night and checked in.”
“Aww, thank you. How are the babies?”
“Can you believe Jessie is a mom?” I hear the wonder in his voice.
Alex Turner might not be Jess’ biological brother, but they grew up together all the same.
She and her sister are regarded as everyone’s little sisters, and now one of them has already lapped Alex in the baby department.
“It blows my mind when I go over and see her.”
“But they’re good?”
“Yeah, they’re great. She’s finding her rhythm, and Kane is taking care of her every need when he’s not working.”
I arch my neck and glance down the breezeway to find Gunner’s back and Romeo’s shoulder poking out of the door. “He working a lot?”
“Eh. Regular hours. He’s taking care of what needs to be taken care of, but he’s not working more than he has to.
He’s with Jess as much as he can, and when he can’t be home, she brings them to us.
To the station, to Checkmate, to the gym.
She’s in and out when she’s feeling up to it, so we get to love on them while she takes a minute to rest. One is a little bigger than the other, but they’re both still smaller than my girl ever was. ”
“How’s she doing, Chief? How’s Avery?”
“She’s good too. Still sleeping like shit. It pisses me off, because Jess says the twins are sleeping pretty well already. They’re two fuckin’ months old and sleeping. Avery is coming up on ten months, and she can’t be left alone for more than three seconds or there’s hell to pay.”
“She’s high-maintenance, like her momma.”
“Don’t I know it,” he chuckles. “I’m gonna go broke buying them designer label shit. Why’d I get a mini Jules, huh? Bishop got a mini Jess, but he also got a mini Kane, and I bet that second one isn’t gonna be nearly as high-maintenance as Jess’ clone.”
“Listen to you, X. Getting soft on those Bishops. Who’d have thought the day would come?”
“Don’t tell them that,” he whispers. He has no clue that there are three of them now, nor does he know I’m with two of them on my ‘vacation’. “They’re okay. I don’t much know the other one, but Kane… I dunno. He’s brand loyal too.”
I bark out a laugh. “You mean to Jess? Jess is the brand?”
“Right. There ain’t a thing he wouldn’t do for her. So for as long as he continues to look at her the way he does, I’m gonna have to play nice.”
“He’s alright, Chief. He seems nice enough.”
I get nothing more than a grunt. Because that’s who X is. He doesn’t like to admit feelings, because in his mind, it’s a weakness. He’ll love fiercely, but there are few who he’ll say that four-letter word to.
“Anyway. Jess made one of each, so maybe that means you need to try for another baby. That might be the secret: first one is Jones, second one might be a Turner.”
He scoffs. “It’s much more likely the second one will be Jules’ clone too. My luck don’t work the way Bishop’s does.”
Laughing, I walk my feet up the frame of the door opposite me and snuggle in for a chat. “I’ve missed you guys, X. It’s crazy how, even though I’m on vacation, I miss home.”
“When are you coming back, kid? We miss you too. Oz is way too cocky now without you here to beat on him. He’s strutting around the station like some kinda hero. His kid walks around behind him.”
“Benny?”
“Yeah. They pretend they hate each other, but Ben is in here shadowing Oz every time he can. Or they’re in the gym. They spar, and then the kid checks out Miss Evie like he thinks no one sees his wandering eye.”
“Does her daddy know?”
He laughs. “Yup. Nobody is watching as close as Aiden. Benny is gonna die at some point before his next birthday, and as a dad to a little girl, I’ve guaranteed a window of time where I’m not gonna watch.”
“You what?” I laugh. “You’re finally on side with the Rollers? I thought you hated them?”
“I thought I did too, but then I got to thinking about my girl and boys. Turns out I hate those boys so much more. So we’ve reached a kind of agreement.
We still don’t chitchat or get a beer together, but if they murder a certain teenager for touching when he ain’t supposed to, I won’t even get mad. ”
“Horrible.” My laughter comes in small little bubbles that draws Gunner’s eyes around.
He tilts his head to the side and watches me for a moment; he’s curious, but he’s wary.
He’s always wary. “Anyway, X.” I say ‘X’ louder, so Gunner knows who I’m talking to.
“I’m gonna go for a swim or something. The beach is calling my name. ”
“Yeah, rub it in, Tate.” He grunts, and because I know every sound in that station, I know the moment his heavy boots hit the top of his desk. “Meanwhile, I have to slave away in this place and keep all the children walking in a straight line.”
“Your vocation is noble. You should be proud.”
He chuckles. “Take it easy, Lib. Think of me while you’re in that water.”
“I probably won’t,” I tease. “That would just be weird.”
“You’re weird,” he grumbles. “Come home soon, okay? That’s not the chief asking. That’s your friend. I’ve known you a long time, so I kinda consider you a sister too, yeah? Don’t make me worry so much.”
“I’ll be home soon. Promise.” I smile when Gunner leaves Jay’s room and heads toward me. “I’ve gotta go. But I’ll call again soon.”
“Okay, love you, Lib. Be good.”
“Um–” My heart comes to a standstill, but no one else can know that, least of all Alex, because he hangs up. My eyes are wide, itchy, and my hands shake.
“You okay?” Gunner stops by my legs and crouches down so we’re almost on the same level. His lips pull up into a playful grin reminiscent of the boy I once met. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“He said he loves me.”
“Who?” His brows pull close together. “Your chief checking you out?”
“No.” I drop my hands into my lap and study them in shock. I’m… speechless. “Um, no. Not that kind of love. He said he thinks of me like his sister. He said I make him worry, and that he loves me.”
“You’ve been his cop a long time. I can see why he thinks of you that way.”
“Right. But he’s never said it before. Um…” I cough to clear my throat. “You were the first person to tell me you love me…” I fight his hand when he tries to pull me around. “Like, literally. Before now, you’re the only person who has ever said those words to me.”
“Ever?”
I nod.
“So for the twenty years I was gone?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. Never.”
“Baby…”
“And now I’ve got you saying it. Plus X. It’s like an epidemic.”
His eyes dance with humor. “That’s called family, babe. We declared family status forever ago. Now you’re branching out to others. You’ve got your boss, and that other one, the arrogant one.”
“Oz?”
He chuckles. “Yeah, him. And then there’s the one-legged dude you speak of.”
“Cruz.”
He nods. “You ate dinner with Jay last night. Like, the rest of us were there, but you and Jay chatted and had a laugh while the rest of us were the third, fourth, fifth wheel.”
My eyes widen. “Are you mad? I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Nah. Your hand was in my lap. You were present for me too, but whatever the fuck that idiot was saying made you happy. So who am I to get mad about that?”
“It’s the Bishop genes,” I croak out. “They’re kinda impossible to ignore.”
“Mm.” He takes my hand and slides our fingers together.
“Just don’t forget which one you promised yourself to.
You can be their friend. I’ll never get mad.
Plus, you’re helping me get to know him through you.
He doesn’t show me the same person he shows you.
So I watch you, I watch him when he’s talking to you. It’s almost the same thing.”
“I love you.” I slide a hand around his neck and pull him down until our lips touch. “I really, really do.”
“I know.” He smirks. “You’re kinda obsessed with me.”
“Hey, Priss.” Spence walks out of the end room with a phone pressed to his ear and a wide smile almost breaking his face. “You have no clue how glad I am to hear your voice right now.”
I smile for Spence’s happiness. He has a girl back home that none of us knew about until weeks into this trip, but his smile drops in a heartbeat. His muscles visibly swell, and his eyes turn almost black as he dashes into his room beside ours and slams the door.
His deep voice carries through the wall.
“Abigail? Baby, what’s wrong?”