Ride Along

by Meghan Maslow

  Chapter THREE

  UGH. JOSH shouldn’t have said anything. He watched as Drew’s brow wrinkled. Josh hadn’t meant to break the ice. He really hadn’t. But when Drew’s shoulders slumped and he started twisting that loose lock around his finger, Josh caved. He hated that the little ginger looked so defeated. He wanted to see him smile again, even knowing what a terrible idea that was.

  “You don’t look like a Josh.”

  Josh raised a brow. Not what he was expecting.

  “What do I look like?”

  “I don’t know. I just assumed with a last name like de Oliveira your name would be more….”

  “Ethnic?”

  Drew blushed. It was all Josh could do to keep driving and not pull the guy onto his lap.

  “N-no, I didn’t mean… well, yeah. I guess I kind of did. Sorry. It wasn’t very sensitive of me.” Drew’s blush deepened, and Josh stifled a groan.

  “Don’t worry about it. Besides, you’re right. My family call me Joao, but it’s not easy for most people to say, so Josh it is.”

  “Joe. Oww.” Drew tried it out a couple more times.

  Hearing his name on Drew’s lips was a fresh kind of torture. Even Eric hadn’t used his real name. What would it sound like with Drew screaming it?

  “That’s nice. Is it Spanish?” Drew sounded genuinely curious.

  Josh shifted in his seat. Damn, he had to get his mind out of the gutter. What had he asked? Origin of his name. Right.

  “Uh, Portuguese. My father’s from Brazil. It’s a pretty common name there. Seemed like every time we’d go, you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a Joao.” God, he missed his pai. No, don’t think about him. He pushed the thoughts away, refocused on Drew.

  “Wow, you have a much more interesting pedigree than my own. Both my parents are Scotch-Irish, but we’ve never been to either country. I think my dad might have a second or third cousin in Scotland, but really, we’re just plain old American.”

  “It gets better. My middle name’s Kenji because my grandfather was Japanese.”

  “Joao Kenji de Oliveira. That’s a mouthful.” Drew smiled and licked his lips.

  The guy was a total flirt. Josh was tempted to flirt back, but that would be a bad idea. He was no one’s prize these days.

  “Though I guess my mother’s side is just plain old American too. Whatever that means.”

  “That didn’t come out right—”

  “Relax. I know what you meant.”

  “I can’t seem to say the right thing around you.” Drew bit his lip. Without thinking, Josh reached out with his thumb, released Drew’s lip. Both of them gasped, and Josh grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.

  “S-sorry,” Josh stammered. What the hell was he thinking? “It looked painful.”

  “N-no, it’s okay.” Drew cleared his throat. “A nervous habit.”

  “Do I make you nervous?”

  “Oh yeah.” Drew smiled and a dimple appeared. “I can’t tell whether you like me or hate me. It’s unnerving.”

  “So you care whether I like you or not?” Josh didn’t smile, but it was a close thing. Drew kept surprising him. Most guys would have told him to fuck off, but Drew answered without even a hint of sarcasm.

  “I don’t know how to answer that.” Drew turned toward him, and Josh could feel his gaze like a caress.

  Now he was nervous. “If you’re so worried about what people think, why the T-shirt this morning? You had to know wearing that shirt would put a lot of cops off. It’s not very professional either.”

  Drew crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. “First, I didn’t say I was worried what people thought, I said I might worry what you think. Second, when I wore a plain shirt yesterday, I still couldn’t get anyone to talk to me. I tried. Repeatedly. They weren’t any friendlier than you.”

  Josh wasn’t about to touch the first statement. “Then you’re clearly talking to the wrong people. I could name four cops off the top of my head who would have been thrilled to sit down and talk with you.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess they weren’t the ones I ran into. I saw the Arrests and Booking presentation last night and tried to engage the panelists afterward. They made it pretty clear they didn’t want to talk to me.”

  Martin’s panel. Josh couldn’t say he was surprised. “So, what, the shirt was a ‘screw you’ or something?”

  “Ha, they wish.”

  Josh shook his head. “You blame them? You look like….”

  “Like what? Go ahead. Say it.”

  “Hey, I didn’t mean anything. I like how you look… I mean—” Josh felt his face flame.

  “Why Officer de Oliveira, I do believe you’re blushing. But it still doesn’t get you out of saying I look like some kind of criminal.”

  “I never said that.” Why had he started talking to this fiery ginger again?

  “You thought it.”

  “Can’t be held accountable for my thoughts.”

  “Or mine.”

  Drew gave him a thorough once-over. Dammit, he was trying to fluster Josh again. And it was working. Josh knew he was a good-looking guy. Enough women had come on to him, and he’d taken endless amounts of ribbing from the guys… well, that was before. Still, Drew was just screwing with him now. Thinking he was embarrassing the straight guy. If he only knew….

  Not going there.

  Josh raised a brow. “You wish.”

  “Maybe.”

  He could hear the laughter in Drew’s voice. Dammit. Not helping.

  “You said you had some questions you wanted answered?”

  DREW KNEW he shouldn’t be disappointed Josh was changing subjects. Not only was flirting with a straight cop a bad idea, but he was offering to answer Drew’s questions. This was the whole reason he was here. Still, Drew wished he could continue flirting with the gorgeous cop. Joao. Josh. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as Drew had thought? He hadn’t acted mad that Drew was flirting with him. Had even flirted back a bit. At least that’s what it felt like.

  Shut him down fast enough, though. Probably for the best.

  “Can I work the siren next time?”

  “That’s your question?”

  “The first one, yeah.”

  “No.”

  “Why not? I’ve heard some officers allow their ride along to operate the radio and the siren.”

  “Good for them. Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with me.”

  “Control freak, huh?”

  “Is that what they call it?” Josh looked amused. The jerk.

  They pulled up to a red light. A crowd of coiffed hons and a couple drag queens in housedresses crossed the street in front of them. Some of them wore flats or tennis shoes, but a lot were in heels. An older drag queen at the back of the crowd tottered across on six-inch stilettos. Josh’s gaze was glued to her; he didn’t look happy, his jaw tense. Drew didn’t want any trouble. Some straight guys were completely freaked by drag queens. Ridiculous. Drew touched Josh’s arm.

  “Yeah, I wanted to know about—”

  The drag queen tripped and fell right in front of their squad car. Josh was out of the car before Drew could finish his sentence. Drew hit the hazard lights and bolted from the other side.

  “Josh, it’s okay!” Drew yelled.

  “What?” Josh spared him a glance before turning back to the diva he’d helped to her feet. “Louie, you know the doctor said you weren’t to wear heels anymore.” Josh was brushing her off.

  “Stop fussing, Joao. I’m okay.” The drag queen swatted him with her purse.

  “You could have hurt yourself.” Josh’s face was stern, his jaw clenched.

  “I’m not the one who’s hurt and we both know it.” Louie and Josh exchanged glances. “You gonna call your mama anytime soon?”

  Drew looked between the two of them. What the heck was going on here? Louie knew Josh’s mom?

  “There’s nothing to say. I’m not welcome. Doesn’t matter what she says. She won’t stand up to
Pai, so that’s that.” Josh gripped her elbow and led her to the sidewalk, cars skirting the squad car. Drew trailed behind.

  Even with her heels, Louie was shorter than Josh by a good few inches, but she stood straight and tall, her chin tilted at an aggressive angle. Drew knew his eyes had to be about as wide as saucers. Officer de Oliveira was definitely not what he expected.

  Mind officially blown.

  “Joao, you want me to stop wearing heels, I’ll make you a deal.” She poked her bony finger at Josh’s chest. “You talk to your mama and I’ll give ’em up. Scout’s honor.”

  Josh huffed. “You were never a Scout, Louie. And you think I haven’t tried? She hung up on me. Told me not to come home until I ‘straightened’ up. Yeah, that’s going to happen.” Josh rubbed absently at the spot Louie had poked.

  Drew stood there like an idiot. What should he do? This conversation clearly wasn’t meant for him, but he could barely look away. He took a step back toward the car.

  “Hey, who’s this?” Louie settled her attention on Drew, giving him a thorough once-over. If Drew wasn’t feeling so awkward at the moment, he would have laughed at Louie’s lecherous expression. “Nice, Joao. New boyfriend? I like this one. He’s… sweet-looking. Not like that other one.”

  Josh started, like he’d forgotten about Drew. He probably had.

  Drew licked his lips. “You’re, ah, gay, then?” God, he felt like an idiot. Not only had he essentially called Josh a homophobe, but apparently Laura was right about his gaydar being broken. Josh was gay.

  Just not attracted to him.

  Josh shrugged but didn’t answer him.

  Right. Not his business.

  “Um, I’ll just wait for you in the cruiser, then. Uh, nice to meet you, Louie.” Drew spun and beelined for the cruiser.

  “Drew, wait!” Josh called, but Drew darted inside, slamming the door behind him. He slumped in the seat.

  Now it all made sense. The guy was a closeted cop. One who Drew was insanely attracted to and who didn’t want to give him the time of day. Ouch. No, shake it off. No big deal.

  Anyway, he’d already been in a relationship with a closeted guy, and he was never going to be an afterthought again. Once bitten….

  Besides, he wasn’t here to hook up. Right? He’d been rejected before. He just needed to keep things professional. Ask his questions, finish the shift, and get out. He’d leave Josh—Officer de Oliveira—in peace. Get home, go for a long bike ride, maybe hit some trails. Then he’d finish his manuscript. Sounded like a plan.

  It felt like forever until the driver’s side door opened and Josh—Officer de Oliveira—slid into the driver’s seat.

  “Sorry I hopped out of the car without your permission. I just reacted.” Drew kept his voice upbeat, but couldn’t meet his eyes. “So where are we going next?”

  “Drew—”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation. I should have realized. I’m a little slow.” He kept his tone as light as possible. He’d be as cool about this as he could.

  “I don’t follow.” Josh’s fingers gripped Drew’s shoulder. “You should have realized what?”

  Drew wanted to shake off his hold, but at the same time it felt so ridiculously good to be touched.

  “That you aren’t a homophobe. You just don’t like me. I get it.”

  “You think I don’t like you?”

  Josh—dammit, Officer de Oliveira, keep it formal—tilted his head, a slight sheen on his skin from being outside. Even that looked amazing on the guy, like he was posing for some ad campaign.

  “I don’t mean like that,” Drew said. God, what was he, twelve? “I mean you… you know what? Forget it. Let’s just finish this night off and we’ll say our goodbyes, ’kay?” He jerked his shoulder from de Oliveira’s grip.

  “Hey, wait. What’s going on here? What did I do wrong?”

  Drew frowned, but couldn’t help responding. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was all me. I made assumptions about you. I seem to have read you wrong from the beginning. Here I am calling you closed-minded and it turns out I’m the one with all the prejudices.”

  “I wouldn’t say you pegged me wrong. I… I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with you.”

  “Yeah, but it’s your business. I overstepped.”

  “Look, can we start over?” Josh smiled and it almost stopped Drew’s heart. How could this guy’s smallest gesture make Drew’s pulse race? It wasn’t fair. He’d always pulled his share of attention anywhere he went, but he wasn’t even in the same league as Officer Hottie. And now that Drew had seen past his gruff demeanor, it only made Josh that much more attractive.

  But it sucked that Drew had made so many assumptions about him. He prided himself on being open-minded, and yet he’d so easily cast Josh as the villain. And here he was extending the olive branch. Drew looked at him from under his lashes.

  “I’d like that.”

  Chapter FOUR

  JOSH TOOK a deep breath through his nose. Drew was so adorable. A tinge of color spread across Drew’s cheeks, and when he smiled it made Josh feel like he was being bathed in pure sunlight. The guy didn’t even seem to have a clue how sexy he was, which was a plus in Josh’s book.

  Josh glanced at the patrol car’s clock. “We have about forty-five minutes until we can stop and get some dinner. Then we’ll finish our shift. That okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.”

  Dangerous words to be sure. Drew had no idea what Josh wanted, and Josh should keep it that way. He threw the cruiser in gear and pulled back into traffic.

  “You seem really fascinated by HonFest. If you want, I can call and see if they can squeeze us in at Cafe Hon. It’s got good food, and you’ll love the atmosphere. It’s right in the middle of everything.”

  “Really?” Drew flipped a page in his notebook and held up his pen. “What happens at HonFest?”

  “Well… there’s a Best Hon contest. It’s run like a beauty pageant. We’ve missed the first round today.”

  “That sounds so fun.” Drew began scribbling furiously, the tip of his tongue sticking out between his teeth.

  He was so animated, his hand racing across the page. What a difference from the guys Josh was usually surrounded by. Hard to be a cop and stay upbeat, though. Just a fact of the job.

  “Can you buy the wigs and glasses there too?” Drew asked, raising his pen.

  “Yeah, and there’s a salon that will do your do for like twenty bucks.”

  “No way!” Drew turned toward him. “What else?”

  “Um, music. There’s a couple stages and stuff. One at each end and a bigger stage in the middle.”

  “How do you know all this? You acted like you couldn’t stand it when you mentioned it before.”

  “Nah, I don’t really mind it. It’s just a bit of a hassle. Four blocks closed off for the weekend and it brings in lots of people. I used to go with Louie—the drag queen you met—he’s… I mean—she’s—my mom’s uncle.”

  “If this is too personal, just tell me to mind my own business, but does she always wear women’s clothes?”

  “Louie?” Josh chuckled. “No. She just enjoys women’s clothes and likes to flout people’s expectations. She performs at a club downtown sometimes, though. My parents don’t have anything to do with her, but I’ve always liked her. She’s a character.”

  “Good description.”

  If Drew smiled any wider, Josh was going to pull the squad car over and not be responsible for his actions. His fingers itched to grip Drew’s dreads. Instead he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

  “Says one character about another.” Josh winked at Drew and then watched Drew’s pupils dilate. Made Josh want to bang his head on the steering wheel. The guy was ripe for a little fun.

  However, getting involved with a conference attendee was not a wise idea. He had no intention of doing anything to out himself to his unit. He had enough prob
lems without throwing that into the mix. Then again, Drew already knew he was gay, so would having some fun really be a big deal?

  They had no trouble filling the next forty-five minutes with banter. Josh told Drew what he remembered about the festival and Drew ate it up, recording everything in that notebook that seemed to be attached to his hip. He especially liked the stories of Louie trying to crash the Best Hon contest.

  By the time Josh parked so they could walk through the festival to the Cafe Hon, Drew was practically vibrating in his seat.

  “You plan to write about this or something?”

  “You never know. I get a lot of my ideas in the oddest places.” Drew tucked the notebook back into his bag, then hopped out of the car and waited for Josh to join him. “Lead on.”

  They cut through the Hampden neighborhood and were soon in the middle of a crowd. Drew’s face was priceless. He scanned everything and everyone. He approached people in crazy getups and asked if he could take their picture. He jumped in and did selfies with them, seeming oblivious to the sun’s harsh rays.

  Josh shook his head. They couldn’t be that far apart in age, but Drew seemed so young. Not in a bad way, either. He laughed so easily.

  “Hey, Josh, hop in here,” Drew called from the middle of a crowd of hons.

  “Nah, but I can take the picture.”

  “Come on! It’s not every day you get to pose with charming ladies.” The ladies trilled and waved him in. They were all pressed close to Drew, cooing over him like he was a stray kitten. They didn’t hesitate to catcall Josh, though.

  “Come on, Officer Hot Stuff, hop in, hon,” one of the ladies shouted. The others laughed and followed suit.

  “Yeah, come on, Officer Hot Stuff,” Drew called, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t be shy!”

  “Fine.” Josh approached and the ladies opened a spot right next to Drew. Drew held up his camera.

  “Everyone squeeze close. Strike a pose, ladies! You too, Officer Hot Stuff.” Drew snickered as he took photo after photo. Josh had to admit it was fun. Drew was just so… goofy.

  “Thanks, hons,” he said as he and Josh broke away from the group.