Snow Balls

by Tara Lain

  “Why?”

  JJ’s eyes flicked up. What? “What do you mean?”

  “Why do you have to get over him? If you want to live out your life in haunted remembrance, I think you’re allowed.” Robin cocked his head, and the five sparkly earrings that decorated his ears glistened from behind his curtain of midnight hair.

  JJ laughed, and it felt damned good.

  “On a slightly more serious note, I want to say that I think the guy likes you. At least, he about exploded with jealousy when Bobby and I showed up at the bar that night. I fully expected to be challenged to a duel.”

  JJ shook his head. “He likes the guy he thought I was.”

  Robin raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really. When do you get your Academy Award, dear?”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t realize you were such a brilliant actor that you could disguise your intelligence, sensitivity, talent, and basic goodness while pretending to like football.”

  “How did you hear about that?”

  “Jerry, of course. But hear what I’m saying, JJ. There is no way you could pretend to be someone you’re not. So Mr. Sexy and Sultry likes you, regardless of what team you play for.” Robin laughed at his own joke.

  JJ shook his head again. “You should have heard what he said. That I was a whore for trying to be what he wanted me to be instead of being honest.”

  “Whew. Harsh. You must have hurt him pretty bad.”

  “Hurt him? Nobody hurts Ryan Star.”

  “Really?” Robin just smiled. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to JJ’s. When he pulled back, he looked a little sad. “If you don’t want him and would like to give me a try, let me know.”

  “What?” JJ’s eyes widened.

  “I’m not counting on it.” He kissed JJ again, then got up and joined the group at the bar.

  Chapter

  Nine

  JJ PUT the last of his change in the cash drawer. He needed quarters to give to customers for the parking meters. Today would be a bitch, but a fun bitch. The annual Day after Christmas Sale. He took a deep breath. The other stores on Forest were opening their doors, and he could practically feel the engines revving as people from the Inland Empire headed for the beach and a day of sunshine, shopping, and watching the Lagunatics.

  JJ felt weird, but not in a good way. He’d left the party early last night after volunteering to open the store this morning so David could stay in bed with Gareth and Edge a bit later. Hard not to wish he had someone to stay in bed late with. Yeah, well, he’d had his chance, and he’d muffed it. He closed the cash drawer and wandered over to the shelves to adjust the little dolls.

  No more stupidity. He needed to concentrate on his schooling, his profession, and maybe in there somewhere he’d find some peace being just JJ LaRousse. Robin had been so kind last night, but if they were meant to be together, it would have happened by now. No. Time to be himself by himself. Why did the idea make his stomach hurt?

  The bell tinkled and Cindy, the lady who’d bought the Roman painting for cash, bustled into the gallery.

  JJ waved. Time to go to work. “You’re Johnny-on-the-spot this morning. How was your Christmas?”

  She patted her well-coiffed hair. “It was lovely, dear. My children came to visit, and now I’m glad they’ve all gone home. I’ve been dreaming of the pretties you must have on sale today. Show me, show me.”

  JJ laughed. “Okay, we have a one-day-only sale on the little clowns. And, while I’m not telling everyone this, Roman has agreed to a private, under-the-table, fifteen-percent-off sale on his portraits just for today.” Well, he hadn’t actually agreed, but he would.

  She clapped her hands together. “No kidding?”

  JJ lowered his voice conspiratorially. “That never happens.”

  “Lead me to them. I adore the one I bought. My children were properly shocked. I must have another.”

  “I have another lady customer who swears her children will have her committed for immorality if she buys one more Roman. So instead she buys two.”

  Cindy slapped her leg. “Sounds like my kind of woman. Where are the Romans?”

  He led her to the display area where Roman portraits commanded the wall.

  She walked up to the first portrait. “Oh my, they’re gorgeous. There are new ones since I was last in.”

  “Yes, we brought a couple over from the Winter Fantasy, plus Roman just completed those two.” JJ pointed to the new hangings on the end. One was his personal favorite—a portrait of two slim men, both nude, viewed from the back, standing with their arms around each other. The portrait made JJ feel like crying, but it was gorgeous. “All the prices are marked on the small cards. I’ll let you contemplate. Call me when you’ve narrowed it down, and we can talk.”

  He walked up to the window to adjust the sale sign and place more of the dolls in the pretty display he’d made. Amazing that Cindy might buy another Roman. He enjoyed getting a commission, but mostly he loved moving beautiful works of art into good homes.

  She called from the back. “Oooh, JJ, this one with the two men is just beautiful.”

  “Yes, it’s my favorite too and—” He stared out the window. What the hell? Was that Ryan? Oh my God! Across Forest Avenue in front of the natural art gallery, Ryan was handcuffing a short man with red hair. A few people stood around watching. It had to be the elf robber. Sweet Jesus. Ryan had caught him.

  A man walked past the window, obviously looking across the street. JJ glanced at him, then back at Ryan. Sirens in the distance. Backup must be on its way.

  The guy who’d passed the window stepped to the curb. His hand went in his pocket. He crossed the street a few yards past where Ryan had the little weasel sitting on the street, handcuffed.

  What looked familiar about the guy? Big, potbelly, black stubble on his chin. Holy crap. The big man started toward Ryan, but Ryan’s back was turned. The guy had his hand in his pocket. Gun? Crap, it was Santa Claus, and he had a—shit!

  No time to think. JJ tore out the door, dodged a parked car, and ran straight across Forest. The guy was almost to Ryan. No, dammit. “Ryan!”

  JJ hurled himself through the air, soaring. Wham. He slammed his gut into the guy’s shoulder, forcing his wind out. Hard to catch his breath. The robber flew backward, and JJ went with him until he landed flat on Santa’s bowl full of jelly. “Oof.”

  The robber looked dazed, but he still reached for his pocket. Slo-mo. Like going back in time, JJ saw his father’s face in that one defining moment that had changed everything. The moment JJ realized he was six feet four inches tall, and he might be a sissy, but his father wasn’t going to hit his mom again. His father had looked so surprised—as JJ hit him square in the jaw and knocked him out cold while his mother screamed.

  “JJ? JJ, are you okay?”

  JJ stared down at the unconscious thief below him, then at his sore hand bunched into a fist. Holy crap, he’d knocked the guy out. He looked back into Ryan’s blue, blue eyes. “I—I thought he had a gun.”

  Ryan fished a long switchblade from the man’s pocket. “No gun, but a knife. Pretty bad if he’d gotten ahold of it.”

  JJ just nodded.

  A couple of people applauded. JJ heard Cindy’s voice from the assembled crowd. “Good job, JJ. You’re a hero.”

  Ryan slipped cuffs on the Santa robber as two more police officers rushed up.

  JJ tried to catch his breath. Hero? Hell no. One punch had changed his whole life. Made him an outcast, even from the mother he’d tried to protect. He’d made peace with the fact that his family could never love him as he was, but he’d always wished he’d found a way to express himself that hadn’t involved hitting his father.

  Ryan’s hand on his shoulder made him look up from where he sat on the sidewalk. Ryan frowned. “Are you all right?”

  JJ nodded, but halfway through, his head shook sideways.

  Ryan squatted down beside him. “You saved me from injury or—shit, maybe saved my life. Yo
u could have been hurt or worse.” His eyebrows lowered and the blue eyes stormed.

  Well, hell, what did he do now? Uniformed legs stepped up next to them.

  Ryan pulled back quickly, and they both looked up into a young, smiling cop face. “Hey, Detective, is this the guy?”

  The guy what?

  Ryan stood and reached down to help JJ. JJ managed to get to his feet.

  Ryan took a deep breath. “Um, Officer Genovese, this is JJ LaRousse.”

  The young cop stuck out a hand, and JJ shook it. Genovese smiled. “You’re our witness, right? The one who identified Shrug? I met you that night at the police station.”

  JJ nodded.

  “Well done. And good job on this.” He pointed to the two suspects being loaded in the back of two police cars. “That was really brave.”

  JJ shrugged. “Not brave. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

  The officer laughed.

  “I mean, I didn’t think long enough to get scared. I just saw the guy and thought he had a gun, and I jumped on him.” He grinned just a crack. “If the guy had a spider in his pocket, I would have run all the way to Fountain Valley.”

  Ryan barked a laugh.

  David came tearing across the street. “Oh my God, dear, are you okay?” He grabbed JJ in a huge hug. “The whole town is talking about you.”

  JJ frowned. “It’s only been a few minutes.”

  David put a hand on his hip. “That’s all it takes. Are you hurt or anything?”

  “No.” He put a hand out to Cindy in the crowd and pulled her forward. “But Cindy really wants to buy another Roman, and I’m sure I have to go make a statement or something, so will you help her, please?”

  She clapped her hands. “Oh, darling, I’d buy everything you have to sell if I could. That was so wonderful, what you did. Didn’t you say you’re a decorator?”

  JJ glanced at Ryan, then smiled at Cindy. “Yes, although I haven’t graduated yet.”

  “Will you do my whole house? I just know you’ll understand me better than any decorator I could ever have.” She fished in her purse. “Here’s my card. And remember, I pay cash.”

  She laughed and took David’s arm. His boss glanced back at JJ and winked as he squired her across the street.

  JJ turned to Ryan. He was still frowning. Well, hell. “You have stuff for me to do?”

  “Come to the station so they can take your statement?” Ryan looked completely professional and completely pissed. He’d said JJ saved his life. Now he acted like he’d killed his puppy. The man was cracked.

  JJ turned on his heel and marched down Forest toward the police station.

  Ryan called after him, “Someone will drive you.”

  JJ didn’t even look back. He just kept walking.

  When he got to the administration building, he went into the police department. Maybe he could avoid this place after today.

  A young woman sat at the desk. “Can I help you?”

  “I’m JJ LaRousse. Someone is supposed to take a statement from me.”

  She smiled. “Oh yes, Mr. LaRousse. Come with me, please.” She led him down the hall to a different room than he was in before. He tried not to look for Ryan.

  She opened the door to a room with a table and a mirror. Okay, he watched TV. He knew what kind of room this was. There were people watching. That felt weird.

  She pointed to the table. “Please, take a seat. The officer will be with you shortly.” She grinned and lowered her voice. “And thank you for what you did.” She backed out and closed the door behind her.

  JJ sighed. He’d like to get this over with. Maybe go home and cry for a while and then go back to work. Sweet God, he had a new decorating commission. That would be exciting if he could just get past—this.

  The door opened, and the young officer he’d seen earlier came in. “Hello, Mr. LaRousse. I’m Officer Genovese.”

  “I remember.”

  “Thank you for coming in. I just need to ask a few questions, and then you can go.”

  Yes, go. Away from here. “Okay.”

  “Can you take me back to what caused you to become involved in this incident?”

  JJ’s eyes got wide. “Am I in trouble?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. We need to know what occurred, that’s all.”

  JJ took a deep breath. “I was standing by the window in the gallery.”

  “The Underwood Gallery, right?”

  “Yes, where I work. I saw Ryan, uh Detective Star, handcuffing a guy across the street.”

  “Forest Avenue?”

  “Yes. The guy looked like the weasel I saw in the police mug shots, so I was watching. I mean, a lot of people were watching too.”

  “Weasel?”

  “The guy from the picture. Thin face, pale eyes, red hair.”

  “Earl Shrug?”

  “I guess. Anyway, as I was watching, this big guy walked in front of my window. He seemed real interested in what was going on, but like I said, a lot of people were, so I didn’t think anything about it at first. But I saw him stop and put his hand in his pocket. He seemed kind of familiar. I noticed he was about the same size as the thief who masqueraded as Santa Claus. Same unkempt beard too. I started getting scared.

  “The guy walked across the street kind of, I don’t know, stealthy or something. He was a few yards from Detective Ryan. Then he started moving faster, and I guess I thought he had a gun. I ran across the street. I got a few feet from him and saw his hand coming out of his pocket. I jumped on him and we fell. It winded me, but when I looked at him, he was still struggling and still seemed to be trying to get something out of his pocket. So I hit him.” JJ’s hands shook. He fluttered them to get them to stop. “Oh God, I hit him.”

  The door to the room burst open, and Star barreled in. He pointed at JJ. “You could have been killed! Do you understand that you could have been killed?”

  Holy crap. JJ nodded.

  Star stepped closer and stared into JJ’s face. “You had no business doing that. You shouldn’t have risked your life. I’m a cop. If somebody wants to kill me, I’m trained to deal with it. You’re not. You could have been stabbed.”

  JJ frowned. “I heard the police cars coming, but I knew they’d never get there in time. I couldn’t let him hurt you, could I?”

  Star’s voice rose and he waggled his finger at JJ. “Of course you could. That’s what cops are for. To get hurt so other people don’t have to. You had no right to save me. Why did you do it? You hate shit like that. You hate violence.”

  JJ threw his head back and screamed, “But I love you!” His hands flew into space and clamped over his mouth.

  Silence. Ryan stared at him. Officer Genovese slipped out the door and closed it.

  Sweet God, what had he done? “I-I didn’t mean that.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No. Yes. I mean, I didn’t mean to say that.”

  They stared at each other. Ryan’s face was unreadable. Shit.

  JJ stood and put his hands on his hips. “Look, I care about you. I’m stupid. I’m sure I’ll eventually get over it. Meanwhile, if I want to save your fucking ass, I will, get it?” He stepped up to Ryan and towered over him. “Yes, I’m a femme. I’m scared of a lot of things, and I hate violence. I’ve only been violent twice in my life, and I just realized that both times, they actually did some good.” Shit, that was true. It was true! He fluttered his hands in front of Ryan’s face, and his voice went up an octave. “Neither of the people I protected, one of them being you, Detective Ryan Asshole Star, appreciated it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth doing. So, get over your macho self and say ‘Thank you for saving me, JJ.’”

  Ryan stared. “Thank you for saving me, JJ.”

  “What?”

  Ryan reached out a hand and grabbed JJ’s head. He had to stretch, but he managed to press their lips together. Holy shit, Ryan Star was kissing JJ in the police station. Sweet god of happy gay boys, he didn’t care.

&
nbsp; JJ pressed his fluttering hands on either side of Ryan’s face and kissed him within an inch of his life. From somewhere behind the big glass mirror, he could faintly hear applause.

  Ryan pulled back and put one hand over JJ’s on his cheek. “I’m sorry for being such an asshole. You can save me any day you want to.”

  “You serious?”

  “Yep. This isn’t easy for me, but I’d like to try doing what I wanted to do all those years ago in New York. I’d like to try coming out, and I’d like to do it with you.”

  JJ nodded toward the window in the room. “I think you already did.”

  “Yeah.”

  JJ sighed. “Look, don’t go making this decision just because I saved you. I’m not some macho dude. I’m not your type. I’m an interior decorator, I don’t like sports, I’ll probably never make it on a pair of skis, and I’m trying not to care. I want to like who I am, Ryan. I can’t spend my life pretending. I’m sorry I did it in the first place.”

  Ryan smiled and touched JJ’s lips. “I’m not, because I never would have gotten to know you. I’ve thought about it a lot since I lost you. You got me to see that I love you the way you are. When I saw you jump on the perp, I about freaked. I thought I might have lost you for real.” He took a deep breath. “We can go to Yosemite and you can sit by the fire. I’ll even let you decorate my apartment and get a cat or something.” He flashed that radiant smile, but his eyes looked misty. “I miss you so much. I’ll probably mess up a lot, but I’d sure like to try and make it work. I don’t want my type. I want you.”

  The door to the room opened, and the police chief walked in with Officer Genovese. Oh great. Now they’d get arrested.

  She smiled. “Hey, you two, get a room. In fact, Ryan, please take our star witness home and don’t hurry back.”

  Star gave a tight smile. “JJ, this is Sarah Albright, chief of police and my boss.”

  Wow. “Yes, we’ve met.” JJ shook her hand.

  “JJ, the city thanks you for the key role you’ve played in solving this crime and in saving the life of one of our officers.” She grinned. Which way did she mean that? “And I request that you perform one more act of civic responsibility.”