Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Balancing a cardboard carrier of mini Giants helmets full of gooey caramel popcorn, Elton strode the length of the club-level concourse.
From the Second Street gate where he’d entered to the opposite side of the ballpark along the first baseline, through the glass doors and down the stairs to the row of seats that had, over the past few months, become one of several unofficial Talley Foundation offices.
“Finally,” Aidan bemoaned, a hand already out for the sweet treat that whichever of them arrived last was obligated to buy the others, the popcorn stand on the complete opposite end from Nic’s vendor seats, Gravity a staple now at the ballpark.
“You better eat it fast.” Elton handed him a helmet and a plastic fork.
“Or else this heat will make it even more of a mess.” He reached past Aidan, handing Nic his, then lowered into his seat, balancing the carrier on his knees long enough to roll up his own sleeves.
Summer day games could go either way—banked in by fog or baking in the sun.
Today, Karl had deserted the city, and even though Nic’s seats were in the shade, it was a balmy afternoon at the park.
Elton let the carrier drop between his knees, just a fork and his mini helmet of popcorn left in hand, taking a few bites of what he’d never admit to Aidan was his favorite too before launching into updates. “Bring me up to speed.”
“I’m done,” Nic said. “As soon as I can be.”
“LA bestie?”
“The guy’s a liability to the department and a menace to society. He’s calendaring depos up here next month and not checking our office or court calendars first. There’s no room and no staff for his frivolous cases.”
“But those are the only ones that matter now,” Aidan mumbled around his popcorn.
“Where are we on recruitment?” Elton asked.
Aidan finished his bite and set down his fork. “Complete in my office. The others?”
Elton had been in charge of recruitment outside of the Bay Area, his EAD-related travel a convenient cover. “Ready to make the jump when we are,” Elton said, before asking Nic, “And the USAO?”
“We’re doing what we can to wrap our cases without getting mired in others. I want to be done before those depos because I can’t promise I won’t level that asshole.”
“If you do,” Aidan said, “I’ll give you a raise before you even start.”
They all laughed, then cheered as their pitcher hit a two-run homer over the right field wall into McCovey Cove.
When they settled back into their seats, Elton broached the subject he needed to get out in the open with his partners before they made these unofficial meetings official. “What are the rules here as far as our personal lives go?”
Nic stopped mid-lift of his fork and tilted forward, leaning around Aidan to look him in the eye. “Something you want to tell us, El?”
Aidan waggled his brows. “Does it have something to do with that sexy silver fox winemaker?”
Nic’s brows snapped together. “Is that why you pushed so hard to have my and Cam’s anniversary party up there?”
Aidan thunked his best friend’s side. “This is why your husband solves cases and you prosecute them.”
Nic shoved him back with a shoulder and a laughing “Fuck you.”
Elton couldn’t help but smile. The road ahead for the Talley Foundation would be hard—there was so much work to do, and the stakes had never been higher—but he would be traveling that road with good people, with friends.
And with Archer by his side was nonnegotiable.
“I’m planning to propose to him tomorrow,” he said, and before they could lift their jaws off the floor, added, “We’re also kinky. Is that going to be a problem?”
Aidan didn’t flinch. Instead, the Irishman’s smile grew impossibly wide, bordering on unhinged leprechaun. “The only problem is that you didn’t give me a heads-up. I would have gotten us some canned champagne from the bar.”
Nic nearly choked on a popcorn kernel, Aidan having to thunk him again, for real.
“Do not ever let Mel hear you say that,” he said once he caught his breath.
He shifted his gaze to Elton and lifted his nearly empty mini helmet.
“This will have to do for now.” His smile was more reserved than Aidan’s but no less genuine, the shared joy and goodwill shining from his bright blue eyes. “To love.”
“To the future,” Aidan added, lifting his.
Heart full, the future feeling as bright as the sun overhead, a welcome change, Elton joined with his, tapping them all together. “To friends.”