Epilogue – Rhea
“I think I have a problem.” Thomas said, interrupting my scan of call logs on my computer screen.
I was never one to turn away a distraction from paperwork, especially because there was so much of it as Lieutenant for the fire department.
I got the promotion after the Bakewell case came to a close, and at first, I was hesitant to accept the position, given what the department almost cost me to begin with.
But then they told me that Elliot Hayes had been promoted to Chief, making him my next in command, and I knew I couldn’t turn it down with him at the head.
And for the last six months or so, we’d been turning the entire department on its head and making it a million times better.
For everyone.
“Talk to me, Goose.” I said, joking with Thomas as he sat down in the chair on the opposite side of my desk. To be honest, I hardly used the office for anything aside from the computer work I had to do, and it was nice for moments like this.
“How did you know—” he started and then stopped with a groan. “You know what, never mind.” He stood up, ready to bolt, and I leaned over and shut the door to my small office in his face so he couldn’t leave.
“Sit down.” I said, forcing him to face me. He made it to my office, obviously, he wanted to talk. “Spit it out.”
He glared at me but sat back down in the chair and laced his fingers together on top of his head, clearly fighting an internal battle that left him all jittery and anxious. Which Thomas hardly ever was.
“I’m thinking about—” He stopped and dropped his hands. “We’ve been talking about it for a while—” He groaned and ran his hands over his face. “I’m so fucking stupid.”
“I agree.” I deadpanned, and he dropped his hands and glared at me again. “Oh hello, now that I have your attention again.” I smiled at him with a sickly-sweet grin I used on Tanner to annoy him. “I’m guessing this has to do with Jasper.”
Thomas and Jasper were together, and even though neither of them talked about specifics to anyone, I was guessing it was serious.
Since it had been going on for a while. But again, they never spoke about it, so I wasn’t sure.
They didn’t publicize their relationship in any way, but then again, they didn’t hide it either.
I admired their restraint, honestly. Because there was no way I could ever keep my hands off Goldie or Tanner in public or otherwise, the way Jasper and Thomas did.
Which might be what led Thomas to my office, in obvious need of someone to talk to.
“Yes.” He replied finally. And then took a deep breath and let it all pour out of him.
“I want to ask Jasper to move in. But he won’t.
I know he won’t. He hates my place. And to be honest, his place drives me nuts too.
So, I don’t know how to make it work without one of us giving up our place.
Or getting a new place together. Which seems like a big commitment because what if I can’t stand living with him.
Or what if he hates me being around twenty-four seven? What if it fucks everything up?”
“What if it makes it the best decision of your life?” I asked firmly, and he paused, mouth open before snapping it shut and countering.
“What if it ruins it?”
“What if it fulfills you in a way you never expected?”
“Stop that.” He huffed.
“Stop making sense?” I drawled, “Sure. Okay. That’s helpful.”
“You’re talking in Hypotheticals.” He argued.
“So are you.” I pointed out, leaning back in my chair as he scowled.
“Negatives are more likely to occur compared to the fantasy make-believe options you’re throwing out there.”
My eyebrows rose, and I grinned. “Wow. It’s really fucking weird to talk to myself from a year ago. Hey scaredy-cat Rhea, how’s living in fear working out for you?”
“I hate you.” He said grumpily. But he didn’t get up and leave like he would have if he really believed that.
So, I sat there, silently letting him process his thoughts and feelings while I scanned through the call log on my screen. After a few minutes, he spoke again.
“He won’t let me call him my boyfriend.” There was real vulnerability in his voice that made me stop and turn my attention back to him fully. It also made me shove my smart-ass attitude deep down into my chest in hopes I could be helpful to him.
“Would you call him yours if he let you?” I asked.
“Yes.” He replied instantly. “I’m not afraid of labeling our relationship.”
“But he is?” Jasper Wilde was never afraid to do anything out loud and proud. I envied that part of him.
“Yes.” He said, and then sighed. “Well, no. Not really.”
I chuckled, and he groaned. “So, if neither of you is against labeling it, why haven’t you?”
“I don’t know.” He admitted, and I could tell he didn’t really have a better answer. “I guess we started off keeping it to ourselves and then so much time has passed doing it that way, I don’t know what’s held us back.”
“Maybe start there.” I suggested with a shrug. “See if he wants to change that up, and then maybe you can talk about living arrangements after that.”
“Yeah,” he nodded absently. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Oh, and if you’re looking for a neutral space to start over as a mutual place to move into, my old apartment is open. No one has leased it yet.”
His brows rose, “The one in that duplex by the baseball fields? Why has no one leased it? That building is great. It has laundry and a gym, right?”
“Yeah, it does,” I chuckled.
“So why hasn’t it leased?” He asked again, squinting at me like he had a feeling he knew the answer. “You all have lived together for over a year now.”
Standing up and turning off my screen, he rose and followed me out of my office. “Maybe because I was a scaredy-cat once upon a time, that worried that moving in with my partners would end horribly when I had to deal with Goldie’s constant bubbliness and Tanner’s obnoxious calmness.”
Thomas laughed, getting the complete picture now. “And you kept your apartment, just in case.”
“Just in case I had to bail because of all the ways it could go south.”
“Let me guess, this is the part in the story where you tell me you’re glad you took the chance to move in with them, and you can’t imagine your life without them, and you’ve never been happier.” He scoffed. “How cliché.”
“Actually, I was going to say that I threatened to pluck Tanner’s eyeballs out with a butter knife this morning if he tried to tell me how to get the cream cheese ratio on my bagel just right, one more time.
” I admitted, “And then I told Goldie that if she bought one more pillow for the bed, she was going to be sleeping on a pile of them on the floor because there would be no more room for her.”
“Romantic.” He deadpanned.
“Practical.” I corrected. “Living with someone, let alone two people in my situation, isn’t always easy. But it is always worth it. If that helps you make the decision.”
“Thanks.” He nodded, thinking through it all as he grabbed his bag from his locker, following me out toward our cars in the parking lot. “Really,” He paused at his truck. “I appreciate your perspective. On a lot of things, Rhea. You’re really kicking ass as LT.”
“Thanks, dude.” I turned my Jeep on and rolled the window down. “Let me know if I can be of any other help. But now I’m going to go home, to my crazy lovers, and enjoy my evening.”
“Night,” he waved, and I drove off through town toward home.
Everything I said to him was the truth, especially the part about how even if it wasn’t easy every day, I wouldn’t trade it for a single second of life before I fell in love with Goldie and Tanner.
Because they made everything else worth it all.