“Not someone. A group loosely affiliated with the church who meet in the hall after service on Sunday mornings.” McKinny’s expression had tightened like he’d sucked a lemon, and that told Gabe more clearly than words ever could exactly what the reverend thought of the group.
“What’s their deal?” Yas asked, not one to ever tiptoe around an issue.
“Their beliefs are a little more evangelical than those I would espouse. About half of their group consist of ALP members, while the rest are people from around the county who share some of the ALP ideals, but don’t necessarily want to join their movement.”
“And you let them use the church hall to meet when this is the kind of stuff they advocate?” Yas poked a finger at the offending pamphlet, clearly not impressed.
“I may not agree with their doctrines, but they are devoutly religious, and my single most important policy for running my parish is inclusiveness. It would be a little hypocritical of me to tell them they can’t use the church hall.” McKinny crossed his arms, suddenly seeming uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken.
“But it’s not hypocritical to support a group whose whole deal is bigotry, homophobia, and prejudice?” Gabe demanded a little more heatedly than he’d intended to, mostly because he was suddenly bombarded with the image of how pale Matt had gone when he’d laid eyes on the pamphlet in the car.
“As I said, I don’t agree. But I do try to educate through my sermons and careful consideration of scripture I share each week.” The reverend was definitely sounding distrustful now, and Gabe silently cursed himself even as he reined in the momentary flash of temper. Putting McKinny on the defensive wasn’t going to foster his cooperation.
“You have my apologies for questioning your motivations,” he said. “It’d be a huge help if you could provide some contact details for the people who run this group.”
The reverend seemed relieved at the break in tension as he turned and went to a shelf to find a single half-page paper flyer with the details for the Everness Devout Puritans, meeting every Sunday at the community hall just as the reverend had told them. The contact details listed a Stanley Ferguson as the person to call or email about becoming a member.
“Stanley is also the one who organizes the group’s information pamphlets,” McKinny said before either he or Yas could ask.
“Thank you, Reverend,” he said as he handed the flyer off to Yas so she could look over it. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
McKinny nodded with a smile that wasn’t quite as easy as his earlier ones. “If you’ll excuse me, I like to look in on the little ones at playgroup next door at this time of afternoon.”
They bid the reverend goodbye and exited through a side door.
“What do you think?” he asked Yas as soon as they were outside.
She sent him a shark smile, all teeth and cunning intent. “I think we just found our first suspect.”
CHAPTER TEN
APPARENTLY MATT didn’t need to leave the room for trouble to find him. It was late in the evening and he was expecting Gabe to call any minute now about their dinner. He was in the bathroom, staring at himself critically in the mirror and trying to decide if he looked too dressy in his pants-shirt combo and debating changing into his jeans when a loud, insistent thumping sounded on the door, startling him into a ridiculous jump.
Heart pounding, he blew out an annoyed breath at himself as he left the bathroom and headed over to the door. Had Gabe forgotten to call him about food and come straight back to the motel? Or maybe he’d decided he wanted to go out after all, despite what he’d said earlier about staying in.
However, when he pulled open the door, he didn’t find Gabe standing there with a charming smile designed to distract and disarm him. In fact, he didn’t find anyone. The motel parking lot was deserted, long shadows beginning to stretch across the blacktop as the sun went down on the far side of the building.
Shrugging it off, even though he felt kind of unsettled, he started to step back when his foot slipped slightly on something. He glanced down to see another one of those pamphlets, this one half slid under his door and scrawled with ugly red marker: faggots go to hell.
He swallowed at the rising burn of bile in his throat and stumbled back to slam the door, leaving the pamphlet where it lay, not wanting to even touch it. He paced, feeling jittery and shaky.
What the hell was going on? He wanted to believe it was just bad luck, but his gut said it was possible someone was targeting him. Some homophobic asshole who wanted to run him out of town. It wasn’t like he’d made any enemies since he’d arrived. He’d kept to himself and had only been here a couple of days. Except apparently the simple fact of his existence had pissed someone off.
When his phone rang, he nearly jumped out of his skin, then had to take a second before answering because of how short his breath had become, leaving him panting like he’d just gone hard-core cardio on ten flights of stairs.
“Gabe, hi,” he answered after seeing his name flash up on the screen. “Finished for the day?”
He closed his eyes, feeling grounded and somehow safer with Gabe on the line. Which was probably totally stupid.
“Hey. Everything okay? You sound a bit out of sorts.”
“Yeah, I’m fine—” he automatically started, but then his gaze darted to the door and he caught sight of a single corner of the pamphlet poking under the door. “Actually, no, everything is not okay. Can you come straight here? I mean before you stop for food?”
“I’m three minutes out.” Gabe’s voice went a little choppy, like he was walking or moving fast. “You want me to stay on the line while I drive?”
He couldn’t help the relieved smile edging over his lips at the notion that yet again Gabe was dashing to his rescue. Well, not so much rescue this time. Just to be by his side.
And why the hell does it feel like that’s where he belongs?
He pushed the unhelpful thought aside and cleared his throat. “No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine for the three minutes it’ll take you to get here.”
“Okay,” Gabe replied, sounding reluctant. “But if you change your mind, call me right back.”
Why was overprotective Gabe so endearing? And knowing he was on his way made Matt feel about a million times better already.
“All right. I’ll see you when you get here.”
He hung up after Gabe said goodbye, and then resumed pacing, determinedly not looking at the door because he knew even seeing the corner of that damned pamphlet would make him feel sick again.
Two minutes later, Matt heard a car engine a second before an insistent knock on his door. The rapping stopped suddenly as he reached out to unlock the latch, and when he pulled open the door, he saw Gabe straightening from where he’d bent down to retrieve the pamphlet.
The look on his face would have been terrifying if Matt had thought for a second it was directed at him.
“How long ago did this turn up here?” Gabe walked quickly back to his sedan and popped the trunk.
Matt crossed his arms and tentatively followed, glancing around the parking lot to check there wasn’t anyone watching them. “About ten minutes ago, maybe. Just before you called. Someone knocked on the door and when I opened it, no one was there. Just the pamphlet.”
Gabe reached into some kind of kit pushed to the side of the trunk and took out one of those rectangular clear plastic evidence bags like he’d seen on TV. His heart skipped a few beats before a chill rippled over his skin.
“Gabe, I don’t think it’s worth opening an FBI investigation over. Just some biased idiot hiding behind religion—”
Gabe’s features were somewhat shuttered, more a professional mask than the charming, seductive guy Matt had been in bed with.
“It might be peripherally related to the case I’m working,” he replied, slipping the pamphlet into the plastic sleeve and then locking it in his trunk.
Matt had no idea what the hell he was suppos
ed to say to that. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His mind just stopped, all words and higher brain function abandoning him.
Dammit, he had enough issues with Thomas. The last thing he needed was to get drawn—even peripherally as Gabe had said—into some huge FBI investigation.
What the hell was it about this town that kept putting him directly in the line of trouble? Gabe had been right. He was like a walking disaster magnet.
“Don’t worry.” Gabe stopped in front of him and settled both hands on his shoulders, easing the tightness in Matt’s chest with the simple touch. The evidence bag with the offensive pamphlet was gone, and Gabe’s car closed up. “It’s just one of those fire-and-brimstone groups that aren’t even officially aligned with the church. A small group of people who take the Bible a little too seriously. I’ve got a friend of mine here from Houston to work the case and we’ll have it wrapped up in no time.”
He let Gabe’s words sink in, trusting every one of them to be true, trusting that Gabe would make this right. Who wouldn’t believe him when his gaze was so steady, voice pitched confidently, yet soothing, while his touch was sure and comforting?
“Your friend, was she the one you were talking to this afternoon when I brought out your phone?” Focusing on some other random detail seemed better than dwelling on the image of that ugly pamphlet his brain seemed reluctant to release for some stupid reason.
Gabe nodded, a smile flitting over his features. “That was Yas. Special Agent Yasmin Quinn. She’s scary amazing. If anyone can figure this out quick and quiet, she will.”
He could believe that. Yas had looked to be in her early thirties, with dark hair, light brown skin, and dark hazel eyes. She’d been very put together, and though he’d only seen her for a few moments, he’d gotten the sense she was the kind of person you wanted in the middle of a crisis, that she’d be cool as a cucumber no matter what was going down.
“Sorry about—” He felt his face getting warm as he made a vague gesture. “Chasing after you half-naked. I just didn’t want you to forget your phone. And I didn’t know she was—”
“You can chase me naked whenever the mood strikes you.” Gabe’s grin widened. “I’ve got absolutely no problem with it.”
“Of course you don’t.” He rolled his eyes, except he wasn’t really exasperated with Gabe…. Okay, maybe a little. But mostly he was relieved that, as usual, Gabe knew exactly what to say to get him to relax and forget his troubles.
Gabe gave his shoulders one last comforting squeeze and then dropped his hands. “Now, I believe we made arrangements for the consuming of food in each other’s presence tonight. All I’ve had today are some Pringles and an alarming number of Mountain Dews.”
“Probably better than the mediocre sandwich I got from the diner. Dry chicken on even drier bread with a pitiful amount of mayo.”
Gabe grimaced. “Let’s take the diner off the list of food choices for tonight.”
“No arguments from me,” he replied as Gabe took his hand and tugged him back into his motel room.
Once they were inside, Gabe used an app on his phone to find a pizza place in Conroe willing to deliver, despite the distance.
“Forty minutes until food arrives,” Gabe reported when he’d finished ordering and hung up.
Matt glanced up from where he’d been sitting on the bed, texting with Krissy about stock supplies and an order they needed to put in tomorrow. Gabe took his wallet, badge, and keys out of his pocket, dropping them on the laminate table, then shrugged out of his jacket, draping it carelessly over a chair. He toed out of his shoes as he tugged his tie free and then tackled the first few buttons on his shirt.
Done with all that, Gabe finally seemed to realize he had an audience.
“Comfortable?” he asked as Gabe came over to flop down on the bed beside him. He grabbed the remote from the nightstand and flicked the TV onto one of the twenty-four-hour news channels.
“I’m sure you don’t mind.” Gabe rearranged the pillows so he was reclining comfortably against the headboard.
Oh, he really didn’t. A sexy, rumpled FBI hottie in his bed? There was no reality where he’d ever complain about that.
Matt set his phone aside and turned to swing a leg over Gabe, settling on his thighs. Gabe’s hands immediately came up to rest on his knees, smoothing upward a little.
“How long until the pizza gets here again?” Matt asked lazily as he reached down to start plucking Gabe’s shirt buttons free.
“’Bout half an hour.” Gabe’s dark gaze became hooded as he stared up at him, a kindling heat warming the rich brown of his eyes. “Lots of things we can get up to in that time.”
Yeah, there really were. Problem was, he didn’t even know where he wanted to start. Gabe beneath him was like a feast laid out to a starving man. The options were almost overwhelming, and he only knew he wanted everything.
“You’re thinking about this way too much.” Gabe slid his hands up his thighs, skimming over his hips to grip his ass. With a firm hold, Gabe rocked up against him, slow and sensual, sending a shudder cascading through him.
Gabe was right. He didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to think about Thomas being a pain in his ass or how much of a dick his cousin had been when they’d spoken that afternoon. Definitely didn’t want to think about those pamphlets or Gabe’s super-serious FBI investigation. He just wanted to feel. Immerse himself in the sensation of Gabe beneath him, in the sparking pleasure igniting in his blood, in the mindlessness he knew Gabe could bring him. In the escape he could find, even if it was temporary.
A deep well of gratitude surged up through him over the fact he and Gabe had stumbled across each other out here in the wilds of Texas. He knew without a doubt that if Gabe hadn’t been here, Matt would have been a mess over the events of today. Probably on the phone with Sammie, hoping his friend could talk him off the proverbial ledge and fighting his guilt over whether to forge on with his plan to take his cousin home or abandon his promise to Aunt Katie and leave Thomas to his own choices.
Except if he’d done that, he would have hated himself the second he got back to San Fran. Not only because he’d have to face a heartbroken Aunt Katie, but because he’d never get over his own cowardice in giving up on the closest thing he had to a brother because of a few uncomfortable obstacles.
Amazingly, the thought of leaving town hadn’t crossed his mind once since he’d seen the second pamphlet wedged under his door, mostly because of Gabe’s perfect timing in calling him shortly after. Somehow, in an impossibly short amount of time, Gabe had become his safety net. Maybe he should have felt bad that he was technically using Gabe, but it wasn’t like the guy was some emotionally vulnerable person he was taking advantage of. Gabe could definitely hold his own and wouldn’t have been there if he didn’t want to be.
Except there was more to it than that—than Gabe simply being a body Matt could lose himself in. His feelings had quickly gotten tangled up in things, and he knew without a doubt there’d be no forgetting Gabe. No indifferently going back home and fondly thinking that was fun, fine with it being over. He was going to miss Gabe the second they said goodbye. Matt had notions, ideas, and questions forming in the back of his mind that told him he wasn’t going to let this go easily. Gabe was a once-in-a-lifetime kinda guy, and Matt could sense himself getting all kinds of possessive, which he probably definitely had no right to.
If they didn’t live so damned far away from each another, he no doubt would have already let himself fall half in love with Gabriel Lopez.
Gabe rocked up underneath him again, a little more insistently this time, scattering his thoughts and leaving him moaning.
“Still thinking too much.” One of Gabe’s hands slid over the curve of his ass to his lower back, all the way up his spine to the base of his neck. Gabe’s fingers dug gently into the tight muscles there, sending a shiver rolling through him.
He let Gabe pull him down, sealing their mouths together, straight into the kin
d of kiss that scorched. It sent white-hot flames licking through his veins, sparking brighter and hotter when the slight change in position pressed their groins together at a different angle, leaving Matt able to feel the hard, insistent outline of Gabe’s erection through their pants. He rode the length, wishing there was nothing between them, even as the friction of material against his sensitive flesh left him almost squirming.
Matt deepened the kiss, finding Gabe’s tongue and thrusting his own against it as a hint of frantic energy edged into their movements against each another. He dragged his fingers down the contours of Gabe’s chest, feeling the muscles ripple in his wake and the shudder that moved in one long wave through Gabe’s body.
Just as he got hold of Gabe’s belt buckle, Matt found himself unceremoniously flipped onto his back, Gabe reversing their positions in one easy move. Gabe batted his hands out of the way and took over unbuckling his own belt, breaking the kiss to straighten where he knelt between Matt’s thighs.
He watched as Gabe shrugged out of the shirt, letting it fall away before returning to his pants. But after flicking the single button free, his fingers paused on the zipper.
“You like watching?” Gabe asked in a low voice, roughened from desire.
Matt nodded, no doubt eagerly, but he was way beyond caring whether he seemed desperate. Truthfully, desperation was surging through him in increasing waves, fed by the sensory memory of just how good Gabe had gotten him off earlier today and last night.
Gabe caught his gaze and gradually drew down his zipper in a slow, tantalizing motion. “You want to watch me enjoy myself?”
He moaned in answer as Gabe palmed himself through the cotton of his underwear, the shape of his thick cock outlined between the open fly of his pants.
“How about if I enjoy myself until I come all over you?” Gabe taunted him, hooking his thumb on the elastic of the waistband and tugging it down just enough so that the head of his erection was visible.
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