[ multi-chapter ] Take in the Show I [ original ]
Title: Take in the Show I
Author: frostberryjam
Rated: PG (NC-17 overall)
Fandom: Original.
Warnings: May or may not make you laugh inappropriately. Lot of gay. It's original. It's a multi-chapter. There will probably be smut, and swearing, and God knows what else.
Summary: Officer Terry Wells has seen it a dozen times. A cheater gets caught in flagrante delicto and clothing is defenestrated. Yet this case is different. Mr. TV's Sexiest Bachelor is the one being cheated on, and Kaylen Dellington has a deliciously wicked sense of humor when it comes to delivering justice to his ex. Unfortunately for Terry, it doesn't seem to involve a rebound lay.
Author Notes: Here we go! The first piece of original fic I've written in years that I've actually put up instead of tossing it into a dusty folder. Heaven only knows if any of you are actually interested in reading original fic from me, so I guess this is a sort of test run. If it doesn't work out, I promise to keep this sort of thing to myself.
My thanks to kitrinathegreat, who both beta'd and set me on the path of Kay and Terry.
❝What you got boy is hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm all strung out, my heart is fried
I just can't get you off my mind.❞
-- Ke$ha, Your Love Is My Drug
Chapter ❶
✪ starstruck
The fervent pounding on the door made him feel nominally better.
Only slightly. Although it was amazing that he had no urge to cry, or throw a fit. Instead a soul-deadening mix of aggravation, exhaustion and disappointment dug with claws into his chest, making him long for the hotel he’d left behind in France. Life had been so much more pleasant only twelve hours back.
“Fuck! Kay, let me in!”
Kay ignored the demand, which sounded more like desperate pleading by that point. The more noise his now ex-boyfriend made, the more attention he attracted. Didn’t he know that? Kay could imagine his snobby, posh neighbors were unable to ignore the screaming out in the hallway and were already poking their heads out their doors. If not dialing 911 at the sight of two naked men trying to break into an apartment.
Well, Jessie had never been material for a Nobel Prize.
“Ew.” He picked up a pair of boxers and daintily added them to the pile of clothing hung over his arm. A casual perusal of his living room didn’t indicate any more stray articles of clothing.
“Kay, goddamn it! Let me talk to you!”
The door shuddered but held. It’d take more than one frantic cheater to break it down. Kay sauntered over to the balcony, pulled the sliding glass doors open and then unceremoniously dumped the bundle of shirts, pants, jackets and shoes over the ledge after making sure there was no one sunbathing below.
He remained to watch for a moment as the shoes dropped like stones while the rest fluttered uneasily on the wind. There went Jessie’s black silk shirt with the silver embroidery, tugged by an esurient wind over the sea wall, slipping out of sight.
God, he really should be upset, right? Not merely bothered and frustrated but genuinely suicidal, if not questioning his self-worth. Anyone would be if they found their boyfriend of two years cheating on them in their own living room. Thank God that for some reason they’d never moved in together, or Kaylen would be upturning drawers over the balcony and he just didn’t think the building’s management would appreciate that.
Yet he wasn’t reaching that level of upset. Was he in shock? Was he going to keep going like a demented Energizer Bunny until he suddenly broke to pieces? Best take care of business while he had control, then. At that moment he looked at the leather couch with regret, knowing he’d have to get a new one after what he‘d seen Jessie and his ‘friend‘ doing on it.
Pity. He liked that couch. It was a perfectly good couch. Maybe the Salvation Army would take it.
“Kay!”
Ah, right. Kay pushed away from the railing and stepped back into his apartment. For the briefest of moments he closed his eyes, thought about going into the bedroom, shutting the door and locking out the world.
“Kay!”
Kay opened his eyes, straightened his shoulders and moved with purpose towards the door.
“Jessie.”
“Kay -- let me in, please, for God’s sake! I can explain!”
I’d love to hear that explanation. ‘He tripped and fell on my dick.’
“Yeah. No,” Kay chirped back brightly, not needing to peer into the eyehole to know Jessie would be mottled red with anger and mortification. He didn’t much care to open the door. “Listen up. Your clothing -- most of it, anyway -- is somewhere around the pool area. Run down fast enough and maybe security -- or the police, whoever gets here first -- won’t catch you.”
“Jesus fuck, are you kidding me?” The door shook. Jessie was built like a linebacker, and Kay had a moment of concern. He didn’t want to replace the door, too. “Stop being an immature little bitch and let me in.”
Kay snorted. “Don’t know much about how to negotiate for what you want, do you? Well, I’m afraid I’m too tired to teach you how to play nicely, Jessie. We both know you‘re a cheat.” He yawned, feeling exhaustion down to his bones. They felt brittle and achey, making him feel eighty, not twenty-six. He was jet-lagged, disheveled and hungry. What did he want more? A nap, a shower, or a meal?
Jessie bellowed, a dark, enraged sound.
Okay. Getting something delivered while Jessie threw a tantrum would be tricky. And he didn’t want to go to sleep feeling like a hobo.
Shower it was.
“Really.” Officer Terrance Wells attempted his best ‘I’m so sorry this happened to you’ sympathetic face. His partner’s sharp jab into his ribs indicated he wasn’t doing such a great job at it.
He cleared his throat. “Mister… what was your last name again?”
“Dahl, Jason Dahl! Now arrest that little prick!”
Terry blinked innocently. “For what? From the sounds of it, you were trespassing on his property.”
His partner coughed and made herself busy, scribbling down doodles on her notepad.
Jason Dahl opened his mouth and stared at him. Terry figured he’d probably poked enough fun at the guy.
“I’ll go have a chat with Mr. Dellington.” He murmured soothingly and then paused a beat. “Perhaps it’d be best if Officer Young drove the two of you home.”
“I want to press charges! Right now!”
“… that’s your prerogative.” If they wanted to walk into the precinct wearing nothing but flimsy towels around their privates, they were more than welcome to, Terry’s wicked little grin implied. He eyed the second, quieter man, who seemed more than ill at ease at the situation. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Jason Dahl was not a glib storyteller. His story was plainly fabricated, and he had the feeling behind the door was a pissed off ex-lover who had tossed Dahl’s cheating butt out the door.
He approved; Terry had a natural distaste for cheaters. He nudged his partner.
“Well, Officer Young?”
She blinked, having been staring at Dahl’s chest with an appreciative smile. “Oh. Yeah. Right this way, gentlemen.”
He waited until all three had trooped down the hall and gotten into the elevator before switching his attention to the neighbors. Their expressions of morbid curiosity shut down and they returned his glance with cool disinterest. Doors closed. The hallway became empty and silent.
Terry hesitated for exactly two seconds. He really shouldn’t have sent Mary-Lee away. The situation was comical, absurd -- but that didn’t mean it couldn’t turn dangerous. He deliberated for a minute waiting for his partner to return. But that could take upwards to an hour. Even if they found any clothing left at all downstairs, if there was any in the first place. They were on the fourteen floor. There was probably a sock right out in the middle of a highway and underwear caught in a tree somewhere downwind.
And somehow he doubted he was going to face much danger on the other side of the door. This wasn’t exactly a crack den in the ghetto. The building gleamed and smelled of luxury, a sharp clean scent overlaid with faint perfume. There were only three other numbered doors on the floor, which indicated the apartments themselves were spacious, no doubt costing not only an eye and am arm, but someone’s soul.
He shrugged and lifted his hand, intending to knock. If no one answered the door, he’d wait for Mary-Lee. Besides, he didn’t really see that a crime had been committed. He was more than ready to whistle merrily on his way.
So he rang the doorbell and knocked smartly with the back of his knuckles. “Police, Mr. Dellington.”
He waited. A minute crawled by. He found it strange that the man hadn’t come out at all. Had he been afraid of his boyfriend? Dahl had certainly looked mean, all straining muscle and humiliated fury. His hands had been reddened, indicating he’d been pounding on something. The door, from all appearances. Maybe he should be taking the whole thing more seriously. Young was fine, there was another patrol car downstairs that would be tailing her. But Mr. Dellington might be seriously freaked out.
Eh. He didn’t like having to comfort people. He wasn’t that great at it. Terry tapped his foot and considered knocking again when the door opened.
Oh. Hell. He thought, followed by his dick piping in Oh, hell yes.
He ignored his dick. “Mr. Dellington?”
“That’s me. May I help you?” The sly, amused smile the man wore indicated he knew exactly why Terry was there. They were approximately the same age and height but Dellington was leaning slightly against the door frame, shoulders relaxed. He had shaggy light brown hair, darkened with water. He’d apparently jumped out of the shower, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, no shoes, drops still beading his skin.
Christ. Mary-Lee was going to throw a fit when she realized Mr. Dellington was Kay Dellington, Mr. TV’s Sexiest Bachelor.
And, Terry realized with inappropriate glee. He’s gay. Or at least bi. Thank you, God! “Do you happen to know a Mr. Jason Dahl?”
The actor’s lips quirked in a pleased line, drawing Terry’s attention to them. “About six feet tall? Looks like he participates in Mr. Universe? Last seen naked as the day he was born?”
“That’d be him.”
Kay Dellington nodded and licked his lips when a drop of water slid across them, dripping from his hair. He ran a hand through the wet strands, impatiently shoving them back. “Am I charged with something?”
Yes. Yes. For being too hot for anyone‘s health. Terry purposefully shrugged and maintained a mild tone. “I think the question is, do you want to charge Mr. Dahl for anything?”
Most exes would have been vengeful, ready to rain stygian wrath. Kay shook his head. “I believe I’m satisfied. No need to twist the knife in further.”
“You sure?” Terry couldn’t help but compare Kay’s lean physique to the behemoth he’d sent home. How the hell had Kay managed to even kick him out of the apartment?
“Entirely. Why? Want to convince me otherwise?” Kay chuckled and then pushed away from the doorway, gaze turning away from Terry. The elevator doors swung open and a pizza delivery girl entered. She looked at them and then counted the door numbers before approaching.
“Mr. De--” A good glance at Kay’s face put a glazed expression on her face.
“Yep.” Kay took the pizza box from her hand and replaced it with a twenty dollar bill. “Thanks, that was fast. Have you had lunch yet, Officer?”
“No.” Terry answered truthfully, feeling as dumbstruck as the delivery girl when Kay winked at him and crooked a finger. “Well then, come on in.”
He shouldn’t. Really, really shouldn’t. Still on duty, regulations, might still catch Mary-Lee downstairs -- the reasons were infinite.
Unfortunately all his blood was rushing south, and only one head was in control, and it wasn’t the one on his shoulders. He followed the actor eagerly -- almost, for a moment, wondering if he wasn’t the fly walking into the spider’s lair.
“So, what did Jessie tell you?”
Terry jerked his eyes from staring at Kay’s ass in those blue jeans. The actor wasn‘t paying attention to him, setting down the cardboard box on top of a bar counter separating the kitchen from the living room. He moved with an easy, unconscious grace. If the events of the day had bothered him, he was one hell of a thespian to hide it.
“Nothing that made much sense. He said you were roommates… but his records didn’t match the address.”
Kay simply smiled and opened the box. The scent of freshly baked bread and Italian spices filled the air. Terry’s stomach growled and he actually salivated. Pepperoni, black olives, onions and mushroom. He’d have asked for double cheese but this was pretty much fucking close to perfect. He came closer and got a good whiff of Kay’s sweet, clean smell and felt his gut clench.
“Water?” Kay asked, meeting his gaze with dark hazel eyes. There were deep circles under his eyes, implying he was more exhausted than his casual demeanor revealed. “I’d offer beer, but I take it you’re still on the job.”
Terry smothered a wince. Yeah. On the job. As gorgeous as Kay Dellington was, he wasn’t worth being unprofessional over.
“No, thank you. Really -- are you sure you’re okay?” He checked out the apartment, He’d already registered the layout on a first glance but now he was looking for signs of a struggle that he might have missed. Aside from cushions knocked off a leather couch, he didn’t see any. Kay stepped away from him and Terry smelled sex in the air.
“I promise, I’m good.” Kay gave him a polite smile, sensing Terry’s decision to withdraw. “Thanks for being so thorough, but I’ve probably kept you long enough. I have a Styrofoam box around here somewhere…”
Faster than Terry could protest, Kay had found an empty box and dropped four slices in. Terry had no choice to accept the offering, thoroughly knocked off-kilter.
“Thanks.”
Kay nodded. “You got Jessie out of my hair, it’s the least you deserve. Officer… “ He leaned in closely, frowning, trying to read Terry’s nameplate. “Kell?”
“Wells. Terry Wells.” He offered his hand, wanting to touch Kay at least once before he forced himself to walk away. Kay gripped it, fingers cool from the shower.
“Kaylen Dellington. You should go now. The paparazzi will be getting here any minute, if they’re not already at the gates.”
Right. Shit. Famous person. Terry knew he had to hightail it. Yet he lingered, wanting to prolong the contact. “You’ll be okay? With the… paparazzi?”
Kay’s expression turned confused. “Well, you never get used to being put on TMZ, but yeah, I’ll be fine.” His gaze dropped to their hands. Terry reluctantly let go. “No, I mean, when they find out your lover is--”
“Ah.” Hazel eyes lit up with understanding. “You mean, will they crucify me for being bisexual? Nah, that’s yesterday’s news. And Jessie isn’t anyone famous. It’ll blow over in a couple days. No big deal.” Kay studied him. “Thank you for worrying about me, Officer Wells. Not a lot of other officers would.”
“… my pleasure.” Terry murmured and allowed himself to be guided out the door, pointedly not listening to his dick’s reasoning of ‘he’s on the rebound! On the rebound! My God, man, what more could you ask for?’
At the last possible moment, he chose ‘to hell with it‘ and clumsily pressed his scribbled phone number into Kaylen’s hand. He kept scraps of paper like that on him because of situations exactly like the one he was in. “If you have any -- problems -- call me, okay?” He smiled, trying to summon his usual devil may care charm.
Kaylen returned his smile, pouty lips looking ready to be kissed. “Will do, Officer.”
Then he shut the door in Terry’s face.
Terry left with no idea if he’d just been rejected.
Author: frostberryjam
Rated: PG (NC-17 overall)
Fandom: Original.
Warnings: May or may not make you laugh inappropriately. Lot of gay. It's original. It's a multi-chapter. There will probably be smut, and swearing, and God knows what else.
Summary: Officer Terry Wells has seen it a dozen times. A cheater gets caught in flagrante delicto and clothing is defenestrated. Yet this case is different. Mr. TV's Sexiest Bachelor is the one being cheated on, and Kaylen Dellington has a deliciously wicked sense of humor when it comes to delivering justice to his ex. Unfortunately for Terry, it doesn't seem to involve a rebound lay.
Author Notes: Here we go! The first piece of original fic I've written in years that I've actually put up instead of tossing it into a dusty folder. Heaven only knows if any of you are actually interested in reading original fic from me, so I guess this is a sort of test run. If it doesn't work out, I promise to keep this sort of thing to myself.
My thanks to kitrinathegreat, who both beta'd and set me on the path of Kay and Terry.
❝What you got boy is hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm all strung out, my heart is fried
I just can't get you off my mind.❞
-- Ke$ha, Your Love Is My Drug
Chapter ❶
✪ starstruck
The fervent pounding on the door made him feel nominally better.
Only slightly. Although it was amazing that he had no urge to cry, or throw a fit. Instead a soul-deadening mix of aggravation, exhaustion and disappointment dug with claws into his chest, making him long for the hotel he’d left behind in France. Life had been so much more pleasant only twelve hours back.
“Fuck! Kay, let me in!”
Kay ignored the demand, which sounded more like desperate pleading by that point. The more noise his now ex-boyfriend made, the more attention he attracted. Didn’t he know that? Kay could imagine his snobby, posh neighbors were unable to ignore the screaming out in the hallway and were already poking their heads out their doors. If not dialing 911 at the sight of two naked men trying to break into an apartment.
Well, Jessie had never been material for a Nobel Prize.
“Ew.” He picked up a pair of boxers and daintily added them to the pile of clothing hung over his arm. A casual perusal of his living room didn’t indicate any more stray articles of clothing.
“Kay, goddamn it! Let me talk to you!”
The door shuddered but held. It’d take more than one frantic cheater to break it down. Kay sauntered over to the balcony, pulled the sliding glass doors open and then unceremoniously dumped the bundle of shirts, pants, jackets and shoes over the ledge after making sure there was no one sunbathing below.
He remained to watch for a moment as the shoes dropped like stones while the rest fluttered uneasily on the wind. There went Jessie’s black silk shirt with the silver embroidery, tugged by an esurient wind over the sea wall, slipping out of sight.
God, he really should be upset, right? Not merely bothered and frustrated but genuinely suicidal, if not questioning his self-worth. Anyone would be if they found their boyfriend of two years cheating on them in their own living room. Thank God that for some reason they’d never moved in together, or Kaylen would be upturning drawers over the balcony and he just didn’t think the building’s management would appreciate that.
Yet he wasn’t reaching that level of upset. Was he in shock? Was he going to keep going like a demented Energizer Bunny until he suddenly broke to pieces? Best take care of business while he had control, then. At that moment he looked at the leather couch with regret, knowing he’d have to get a new one after what he‘d seen Jessie and his ‘friend‘ doing on it.
Pity. He liked that couch. It was a perfectly good couch. Maybe the Salvation Army would take it.
“Kay!”
Ah, right. Kay pushed away from the railing and stepped back into his apartment. For the briefest of moments he closed his eyes, thought about going into the bedroom, shutting the door and locking out the world.
“Kay!”
Kay opened his eyes, straightened his shoulders and moved with purpose towards the door.
“Jessie.”
“Kay -- let me in, please, for God’s sake! I can explain!”
I’d love to hear that explanation. ‘He tripped and fell on my dick.’
“Yeah. No,” Kay chirped back brightly, not needing to peer into the eyehole to know Jessie would be mottled red with anger and mortification. He didn’t much care to open the door. “Listen up. Your clothing -- most of it, anyway -- is somewhere around the pool area. Run down fast enough and maybe security -- or the police, whoever gets here first -- won’t catch you.”
“Jesus fuck, are you kidding me?” The door shook. Jessie was built like a linebacker, and Kay had a moment of concern. He didn’t want to replace the door, too. “Stop being an immature little bitch and let me in.”
Kay snorted. “Don’t know much about how to negotiate for what you want, do you? Well, I’m afraid I’m too tired to teach you how to play nicely, Jessie. We both know you‘re a cheat.” He yawned, feeling exhaustion down to his bones. They felt brittle and achey, making him feel eighty, not twenty-six. He was jet-lagged, disheveled and hungry. What did he want more? A nap, a shower, or a meal?
Jessie bellowed, a dark, enraged sound.
Okay. Getting something delivered while Jessie threw a tantrum would be tricky. And he didn’t want to go to sleep feeling like a hobo.
Shower it was.
“Really.” Officer Terrance Wells attempted his best ‘I’m so sorry this happened to you’ sympathetic face. His partner’s sharp jab into his ribs indicated he wasn’t doing such a great job at it.
He cleared his throat. “Mister… what was your last name again?”
“Dahl, Jason Dahl! Now arrest that little prick!”
Terry blinked innocently. “For what? From the sounds of it, you were trespassing on his property.”
His partner coughed and made herself busy, scribbling down doodles on her notepad.
Jason Dahl opened his mouth and stared at him. Terry figured he’d probably poked enough fun at the guy.
“I’ll go have a chat with Mr. Dellington.” He murmured soothingly and then paused a beat. “Perhaps it’d be best if Officer Young drove the two of you home.”
“I want to press charges! Right now!”
“… that’s your prerogative.” If they wanted to walk into the precinct wearing nothing but flimsy towels around their privates, they were more than welcome to, Terry’s wicked little grin implied. He eyed the second, quieter man, who seemed more than ill at ease at the situation. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Jason Dahl was not a glib storyteller. His story was plainly fabricated, and he had the feeling behind the door was a pissed off ex-lover who had tossed Dahl’s cheating butt out the door.
He approved; Terry had a natural distaste for cheaters. He nudged his partner.
“Well, Officer Young?”
She blinked, having been staring at Dahl’s chest with an appreciative smile. “Oh. Yeah. Right this way, gentlemen.”
He waited until all three had trooped down the hall and gotten into the elevator before switching his attention to the neighbors. Their expressions of morbid curiosity shut down and they returned his glance with cool disinterest. Doors closed. The hallway became empty and silent.
Terry hesitated for exactly two seconds. He really shouldn’t have sent Mary-Lee away. The situation was comical, absurd -- but that didn’t mean it couldn’t turn dangerous. He deliberated for a minute waiting for his partner to return. But that could take upwards to an hour. Even if they found any clothing left at all downstairs, if there was any in the first place. They were on the fourteen floor. There was probably a sock right out in the middle of a highway and underwear caught in a tree somewhere downwind.
And somehow he doubted he was going to face much danger on the other side of the door. This wasn’t exactly a crack den in the ghetto. The building gleamed and smelled of luxury, a sharp clean scent overlaid with faint perfume. There were only three other numbered doors on the floor, which indicated the apartments themselves were spacious, no doubt costing not only an eye and am arm, but someone’s soul.
He shrugged and lifted his hand, intending to knock. If no one answered the door, he’d wait for Mary-Lee. Besides, he didn’t really see that a crime had been committed. He was more than ready to whistle merrily on his way.
So he rang the doorbell and knocked smartly with the back of his knuckles. “Police, Mr. Dellington.”
He waited. A minute crawled by. He found it strange that the man hadn’t come out at all. Had he been afraid of his boyfriend? Dahl had certainly looked mean, all straining muscle and humiliated fury. His hands had been reddened, indicating he’d been pounding on something. The door, from all appearances. Maybe he should be taking the whole thing more seriously. Young was fine, there was another patrol car downstairs that would be tailing her. But Mr. Dellington might be seriously freaked out.
Eh. He didn’t like having to comfort people. He wasn’t that great at it. Terry tapped his foot and considered knocking again when the door opened.
Oh. Hell. He thought, followed by his dick piping in Oh, hell yes.
He ignored his dick. “Mr. Dellington?”
“That’s me. May I help you?” The sly, amused smile the man wore indicated he knew exactly why Terry was there. They were approximately the same age and height but Dellington was leaning slightly against the door frame, shoulders relaxed. He had shaggy light brown hair, darkened with water. He’d apparently jumped out of the shower, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, no shoes, drops still beading his skin.
Christ. Mary-Lee was going to throw a fit when she realized Mr. Dellington was Kay Dellington, Mr. TV’s Sexiest Bachelor.
And, Terry realized with inappropriate glee. He’s gay. Or at least bi. Thank you, God! “Do you happen to know a Mr. Jason Dahl?”
The actor’s lips quirked in a pleased line, drawing Terry’s attention to them. “About six feet tall? Looks like he participates in Mr. Universe? Last seen naked as the day he was born?”
“That’d be him.”
Kay Dellington nodded and licked his lips when a drop of water slid across them, dripping from his hair. He ran a hand through the wet strands, impatiently shoving them back. “Am I charged with something?”
Yes. Yes. For being too hot for anyone‘s health. Terry purposefully shrugged and maintained a mild tone. “I think the question is, do you want to charge Mr. Dahl for anything?”
Most exes would have been vengeful, ready to rain stygian wrath. Kay shook his head. “I believe I’m satisfied. No need to twist the knife in further.”
“You sure?” Terry couldn’t help but compare Kay’s lean physique to the behemoth he’d sent home. How the hell had Kay managed to even kick him out of the apartment?
“Entirely. Why? Want to convince me otherwise?” Kay chuckled and then pushed away from the doorway, gaze turning away from Terry. The elevator doors swung open and a pizza delivery girl entered. She looked at them and then counted the door numbers before approaching.
“Mr. De--” A good glance at Kay’s face put a glazed expression on her face.
“Yep.” Kay took the pizza box from her hand and replaced it with a twenty dollar bill. “Thanks, that was fast. Have you had lunch yet, Officer?”
“No.” Terry answered truthfully, feeling as dumbstruck as the delivery girl when Kay winked at him and crooked a finger. “Well then, come on in.”
He shouldn’t. Really, really shouldn’t. Still on duty, regulations, might still catch Mary-Lee downstairs -- the reasons were infinite.
Unfortunately all his blood was rushing south, and only one head was in control, and it wasn’t the one on his shoulders. He followed the actor eagerly -- almost, for a moment, wondering if he wasn’t the fly walking into the spider’s lair.
“So, what did Jessie tell you?”
Terry jerked his eyes from staring at Kay’s ass in those blue jeans. The actor wasn‘t paying attention to him, setting down the cardboard box on top of a bar counter separating the kitchen from the living room. He moved with an easy, unconscious grace. If the events of the day had bothered him, he was one hell of a thespian to hide it.
“Nothing that made much sense. He said you were roommates… but his records didn’t match the address.”
Kay simply smiled and opened the box. The scent of freshly baked bread and Italian spices filled the air. Terry’s stomach growled and he actually salivated. Pepperoni, black olives, onions and mushroom. He’d have asked for double cheese but this was pretty much fucking close to perfect. He came closer and got a good whiff of Kay’s sweet, clean smell and felt his gut clench.
“Water?” Kay asked, meeting his gaze with dark hazel eyes. There were deep circles under his eyes, implying he was more exhausted than his casual demeanor revealed. “I’d offer beer, but I take it you’re still on the job.”
Terry smothered a wince. Yeah. On the job. As gorgeous as Kay Dellington was, he wasn’t worth being unprofessional over.
“No, thank you. Really -- are you sure you’re okay?” He checked out the apartment, He’d already registered the layout on a first glance but now he was looking for signs of a struggle that he might have missed. Aside from cushions knocked off a leather couch, he didn’t see any. Kay stepped away from him and Terry smelled sex in the air.
“I promise, I’m good.” Kay gave him a polite smile, sensing Terry’s decision to withdraw. “Thanks for being so thorough, but I’ve probably kept you long enough. I have a Styrofoam box around here somewhere…”
Faster than Terry could protest, Kay had found an empty box and dropped four slices in. Terry had no choice to accept the offering, thoroughly knocked off-kilter.
“Thanks.”
Kay nodded. “You got Jessie out of my hair, it’s the least you deserve. Officer… “ He leaned in closely, frowning, trying to read Terry’s nameplate. “Kell?”
“Wells. Terry Wells.” He offered his hand, wanting to touch Kay at least once before he forced himself to walk away. Kay gripped it, fingers cool from the shower.
“Kaylen Dellington. You should go now. The paparazzi will be getting here any minute, if they’re not already at the gates.”
Right. Shit. Famous person. Terry knew he had to hightail it. Yet he lingered, wanting to prolong the contact. “You’ll be okay? With the… paparazzi?”
Kay’s expression turned confused. “Well, you never get used to being put on TMZ, but yeah, I’ll be fine.” His gaze dropped to their hands. Terry reluctantly let go. “No, I mean, when they find out your lover is--”
“Ah.” Hazel eyes lit up with understanding. “You mean, will they crucify me for being bisexual? Nah, that’s yesterday’s news. And Jessie isn’t anyone famous. It’ll blow over in a couple days. No big deal.” Kay studied him. “Thank you for worrying about me, Officer Wells. Not a lot of other officers would.”
“… my pleasure.” Terry murmured and allowed himself to be guided out the door, pointedly not listening to his dick’s reasoning of ‘he’s on the rebound! On the rebound! My God, man, what more could you ask for?’
At the last possible moment, he chose ‘to hell with it‘ and clumsily pressed his scribbled phone number into Kaylen’s hand. He kept scraps of paper like that on him because of situations exactly like the one he was in. “If you have any -- problems -- call me, okay?” He smiled, trying to summon his usual devil may care charm.
Kaylen returned his smile, pouty lips looking ready to be kissed. “Will do, Officer.”
Then he shut the door in Terry’s face.
Terry left with no idea if he’d just been rejected.