That was true, though Eric wasn’t sure he found too much comfort in it. It turned out that David had begun setting up another one of his devices in the physical records room. It had been his intention to burn the station down with Eric in it, but Blaine’s surprise arrival had put a crimp in that plan.
Information was still coming in, but the entire station was in an uproar that one of their own had been the culprit. A raid of David’s place had unearthed a gold mine of information, and a little bit of digging into his past had slotted a few more pieces into place.
It turned out that David Cochran had a father by the name of Anthony Wojack. There was no record of it, as David’s mother had never named a father on any records. It also turned out that the late Alice Cochran had been a heavy drug user and wasn’t shy about using her fists or her brutally sharp tongue on her son. At some point, David had gone seeking his father, only to find out that the man was dead.
Anthony Wojack had been a firefighter once upon a time before a collapsing building cut his career and life short. No one agreed yet, but Eric was pretty sure the realization that his daddy wasn’t going to come save him had broken something in David. He’d become obsessed with the heroic nature of firefighters and anything having to do with his father. It turned out the late Anthony Wojack had come from a family of blue-collar workers, his parents having owned a metalsmith shop kept under their name. The same name David had used while paying the rent.
Apparently, David wanted to keep firefighters busy, give them a ‘glorious flame’ to put out. How the little toys had figured into it, Eric didn’t know. It was unnerving enough to think that hero-worship had turned into such a level of destruction. And apparently, the lives lost in the process hadn’t mattered much to David. Which was even more unnerving to Eric than if the man had set out to kill people.
Blaine looked up as he dumped the burned burgers. “You good?”
Eric shrugged. “Feels weird, having a...family thing right now.”
“I think normal is what we could use right now,” Blaine told him, rinsing the plate off.
Eric thought of his brother sitting outside, who he hadn’t spoken to yet. “I don’t know if normal is the way I’d put it.”
“Something that isn’t dealing with almost dying in the basement of the station,” Blaine clarified.
“I still say Morgan wanted us out of the way.”
“Probably. We were about as close as it gets, and I’m sure he doesn’t want our uh, personal feelings getting in the way.”
“I’m a professional.”
“You’re also pissed off.”
“He shot me! And tried to shoot you!”
“Right, pissed off, not exactly what you’d call unbiased.”
Eric tried to cross his arms over his chest and look sullen but only managed a wince as his skin pulled at the stitches. He supposed he’d got off lucky, especially compared to David. In the very brief struggle between Blaine and David, the little firebug had his wrist broken, a couple of ribs cracked along with a hairline fracture of his skull.
He’d always known that Blaine was a well-trained and honed fighting machine, but Eric had never realized what that meant in reality. In the few seconds of pure darkness, listening to the sounds of the scuffle, Eric’s heart had lived in his throat. He still wasn’t sure what was scarier, the unknowable nature of the fight, or the fact that Blaine hadn’t made a noise throughout the whole thing. It had been so quick, and Blaine could have easily killed David, even though it was completely dark.
Blaine picked up the plate of fresh patties and squinted at him. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Eric felt his cheeks burn. “Was uh, thinking about how you took him down.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t help his smile at the wary expression on Blaine’s face. Eric reached out, snagging the other man by the waist of his jeans and pulling him close. Leaning up, he kissed him gently, rubbing Blaine’s side with his stray fingers.
“Scary, but in the sexy sort of way,” Eric assured him.
“I suppose that was supposed to be comforting,” Blaine murmured.
Eric smirked. “It means I got to see just what sort of skills you have when it comes to having my back.”
“Even if I didn’t, I’d still have your back.”
“I know.”
And he did. Eric might overthink just about everything, but he was quickly learning that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He could focus his attention on how well Blaine knew him, how it took only a look and Eric felt something tight inside him loosen, or the pleasure of having his warm body curled around him at night. It was a far better series of ideas to obsess over than whether or not his life was an utter disaster and if he’d fucked everything up.
Blaine’s eyes darted over his shoulder, grunting. “I should get these on the grill. If we don’t feed Blake soon, he’ll never shut up.”
“He can shut up?” Eric asked in surprise.
Blaine chuckled, kissing him again before walking around him. Eric turned with him, enjoying the way Blaine’s muscles shifted beneath his shirt, and the curve of his ass in the jeans Eric had insisted he wore. There were only a few pairs of jeans that Blaine had brought with him to stay at Eric’s, but he suspected there would be more coming. He even wondered how long it would take until one of them finally broached the subject of moving in.
His good mood faded when he saw his brother standing in the living room, watching Eric apprehensively. Now he knew why Blaine was taking himself outside rather than lingering for a little physical affection.
“Uh,” Sean muttered, looking around nervously. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“I didn’t,” Eric told him, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Blaine did it through my phone.”
“Oh.”
Eric had been present and had threatened Blaine with bodily harm if he dared to send the text. Predictably, his boyfriend had ignored him and sent it anyway. Eric could have corrected the text or told Sean the truth, but instead, he’d thrown the phone onto the couch in disgust.
Sean looked down at his feet. “He still has that effect on you.”
“Which one?” Eric asked sourly.
The corner of Sean’s mouth twitched. “Like you don’t have to be anyone but yourself.”
Eric said nothing, not trusting his mouth.
Sean sighed. “He did that then too. You just...you let your guard down, didn’t feel like you had to prepare for the worst or fight the world. I haven’t seen you like that since before he left.”
“And?” Eric asked pointedly.
Sean huffed. “Was I wrong for keeping the letters? Would they have helped or hurt?”
Eric opened his mouth, looked out through the doors, and spotted Blaine talking with Blake at the table. Damn it, he knew the answer, and he was sure Blaine knew it too.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Eric admitted. “I was so...stupid at the time, I probably would have thrown them out without looking at them. You’re probably the only reason I got to read them at all.”
And they were safely stowed away. Not locked up, Eric could pull them out and look at them whenever he wanted. They were a source of comfort and a reminder of what happened when he didn’t stop and think clearly about those he loved and those who loved him.
Eric’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, Sean. You were right to take the things, but you weren’t for keeping them for so long. You could have said something, if he couldn't get through to me, you could have.”
“Yeah. I guess...reading them helped then?” Sean asked hesitantly.
Eric’s hand came up to his necklace, gripping the ring between his fingers. “More than helped. I guess Blaine letting me have it shook me loose a little bit, got me to stop being so fucking stupid. The letters...they...well, yeah, they did the rest of the work.”
“Good, that’s good. Something good came out of it.”
The last of Eric’s anger dwindled at his brother’s hopeful
tone. He still wasn’t happy that Sean had gone years without saying anything, keeping Blaine’s last attempts to fix things from him. But if he was going to forgive Blaine for leaving, and start to forgive himself for pushing him away, then he should add forgiving his brother for loving him and watching out for him as well.
Eric stepped up to him, wrapping his arms around his brother and squeezing tight. Sean stiffened against him before relaxing and returning the hug with a tight hold of his own.
“Thank you,” Eric murmured in his brother’s ear.
“For what?”
“For taking care of me.”
Sean chuckled, giving him another squeeze. “You’ve always been good at taking care of yourself. You didn’t need me for that.”
“Yeah, I did,” Eric admitted. “I needed people like you and Blaine, who put up with my shit and loved me. I’m shit at admitting it, but it’s true.”
Blake’s loud voice carried into the apartment. “Holy shit, is Eric...hugging someone that isn’t you?”
“And moment ruined,” Eric muttered, stepping away from his brother.
A yelp brought his head up and he frowned as he spotted Blake sprawled in the grass. He was staring daggers up at Blaine, who nonchalantly flipped the burgers over, looking as if he hadn’t moved.
Sean sighed. “Children, play nice or you won’t get any dessert.”
Blaine chuckled, closing the grill. “Come watch these for me, Sean, Blake can’t be trusted to cook anything. You can’t even let him boil water.”
“Oh God, you burn a pan one time and you never live it down!” Blake protested.
“It was a full pan that you left and forgot. It set the smoke detectors off,” Blaine shot back as he stepped into the apartment.
“Accidents happen to the best of us. I’m sure Blake’s learned his lesson, we were all young,” Sean admonished.
Blaine snorted. “That happened a month ago.”
“Oh, right, no cooking for you then,” Sean told Blake.
Eric shook his head as Blake continued to complain but stopped paying attention when Blaine wrapped his arms around him. He forgot that there might be witnesses as Blaine pressed their lips together in a kiss that was both soft but urgent. Eric’s stomach flipped, and he prodded the other man in the chest in warning.
“I know I know,” Blaine told him.
Eric kissed him back anyway, not caring if it teased Blaine a little further. It was nice, having him in his home, back in his life. A new source of comfort and pleasure settled into his chest as he realized that he was going to have this for the rest of his life, so long as he played his cards right.
“Mm, someone’s thinking again,” Blaine murmured.
Eric’s fingers toyed with the ring. “Just realizing that this is it, you and me. I’ve got you for real this time.”
Blaine smiled gently. “You always have had me, Eric.”
Eric chuckled. “Yeah, just took me a little while to realize it.”
Blaine’s hand came up to close around Eric’s, holding the ring between their palms. “And I’m not letting you go. It’s always been you, Eric, and it’s always going to be you.”
Eric kissed him again, keeping his hold on Blaine’s hand and feeling the press of the ring against their palms. Eventually, he knew that ring would one day turn into a smaller, more expensive one. And he was sure he would hear vows before an altar of how it had always been Eric, and always would be. After that, though, Eric didn’t know what might come their way.
But with Blaine by his side, he couldn’t wait to find out.
Author notes
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading ‘Unbreak My Heart’. This is the fourth and final book in The Heroes of Port Dale series, set in the city next to Fort Dale, where my last series was set. The first book, Two Straight Too Many, introduced us to the local firefighters! That was followed by Hit or Miss, To Kill or Kiss, an opposites attract tale of an assassin and a bodyguard and Drawing the Doctor a teasing tale of local doctor Grant and artist Theo. That just leaves the local police force which can be found in these pages. I’m pretty sure at some point I’ll get round to writing a long-awaited cross over between the guys at the fort and the local uniformed heroes.
If you love a bit of banter, then delve into my hot Military series, the ‘Men of Fort Dale’. All the stories are standalone, and if you haven’t read them yet, you can get a free copy of the first story by signing up for my newsletter. Click here. Why sign up? You'll receive my book ‘Just a Little Bi’ for free, it’s the story of John and Lance, who take a chance on love. If you can’t tell by the title, this is a first-time gay short story. It’s a sensual and steamy romance featuring romantic encounters between a hot, military man in uniform and his new-found friend.
‘Just a Little Bi’ will be delivered straight to your inbox. Also, you’ll receive alerts when I release a new book. If at any point you wish to stop receiving emails from me, at the bottom of every email I send, there’s an unsubscribe button.
If you enjoyed reading about Eric and Blaine, then check out my Amazon author page for more of my steamy, contemporary MM romance tales.
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Yours
Romeo
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Men of Fort Dale series.
I’m Straight, Right
Trust Me I Hate You,
Here We Go Again.
At My Generals Command
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Unbreak My Heart (Heroes of Port Dale Book 4) Page 17