Two Man Station

by Lisa Henry

  “Pete wasn’t the one,” Gio said, his stomach clenching.

  “Oh, bambino.” Sophie’s voice softened with sympathy. “You were going to marry him, remember?”

  Yeah, Gio remembered. They’d talked about booking a holiday to New Zealand and getting married there. Making it official somewhere, even though it wouldn’t be at home. Flights to New Zealand were cheap. They’d planned to invite a bunch of friends, make a real party of it . . .

  “Things changed,” Gio said. Pete had changed.

  “That’s fine,” Sophie said. “But should you really be jumping into another relationship so soon?”

  “It’s been twelve months.”

  He could almost see her roll her eyes. “You break up with Pete, and you won’t talk to me, and then you get a transfer to the middle of nowhere. It’s like you became this whole different person overnight!”

  Funny what having the ground ripped from under his feet could do.

  “Soph, it’s not a big deal. It’s not a relationship. It’s just a thing. It’s just casual.”

  She was silent for a long while. When she spoke again, her voice was wary. “Casual? Gio, you don’t do casual. You never have.”

  “Maybe that was the fucking problem!”

  “What crawled up your arse?” she shot back. “Apart from your sergeant?”

  Fuck that.

  Gio ended the call and turned his phone onto vibrate. He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t need Sophie’s shit today. She always thought she knew what was best and, okay, yeah, most of the time she was right. But not this time. How could she be? She didn’t know the truth. She didn’t know what had happened on the Coast, and she didn’t know why he was in Richmond, and that was good. He didn’t want her to know. He . . . he didn’t want her pity. He’d fucked up, and he just wanted one tiny corner of his life to remain uncontaminated by that.

  His phone vibrated with an incoming call, and Gio ignored it.

  Fuck her.

  Fuck everything.

  Gio started at two, and Jason finished at four. They headed out just before three to set up an RBT outside the school. The principal had phoned complaining of parents parking like dickheads—her words. He and Jason parked at the side of the road and left the strobes on the light bar flashing. Gio pulled his reflective vest on, and his cap, and waved their first customer over. Given it was 3 p.m. on a school day, he didn’t expect anyone to blow over the limit, but that wasn’t the point of the operation. Funny how quickly everyone remembered the road rules when the coppers were right there.

  Inside the school, the bell rang. Minutes later, kids appeared. Gio caught a glimpse of Taylor walking with a girl. Taylor waved, and Gio waved back.

  They kept the RBT going until the school traffic, such as it was, had died down again. They were packing up when Jason finally asked, “Are you okay?”

  “What?” Gio stacked the traffic cones into the back of the LandCruiser.

  “You seem off today. Is something wrong?”

  Gio shrugged. “I had a fight with my sister.” He paused. “No, not even a fight, really. It’s just lately she doesn’t approve of anything I do. It’s no big deal.”

  “What do you do that she doesn’t approve of?” Jason asked, unfastening his vest and pulling it off.

  Gio huffed. “Moving here.”

  Realisation settled over Jason’s features. “She doesn’t know what happened.”

  “No.”

  “Is there any reason you haven’t told her?”

  “I don’t want her to know.” Gio shook his head. “I don’t want her involved. She’s got enough to deal with. I left her with enough to deal with.”

  Jason was silent.

  “My dad has Alzheimer’s,” Gio said. “It’s early stages, but I dumped it all in her lap—the medical appointments, moving him into a home, getting power of attorney, sorting out his finances—all of it.” He swallowed past the ache in his throat. “She resents me. You know what, Jason? You’re probably the only person who knows me and doesn’t think I’m either a coward or a fucking dog.”

  Jason lifted his hand and reached out as though he was about to cup Gio’s cheek.

  A truck rattled past them, spitting gravel over the shoulder of the road. Gio flushed and stepped back.

  Jason dropped his hand. “That’s not true. You’ve got Taylor, and Vicki, and those teachers you hang around with. You’ve got Sandra.”

  Gio snorted.

  “Hey. Sandra’s abrupt, but she doesn’t do bullshit. If she didn’t like you, you’d know it.”

  Gio looked down. “Yeah.”

  “Come over tonight, okay? If you’re still up after ten?”

  Gio lifted his gaze. This was breaking the rules, wasn’t it? Talking about this now, here, when they were working. This was the lines getting blurred, and neither of them wanted that. This was getting messy. The disaster waiting to happen, just like Sophie had said.

  This was a disaster that Gio was going to tumble into, headfirst, breathless.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll be up.”

  Jason’s answering smile was hopeful in ways that Gio didn’t even want to begin to articulate, but it filled him with warmth.

  The soft tread of Gio’s footsteps as he climbed the back steps had become something that Jason looked forward to. He checked that Taylor was sleeping, and closed his son’s door gently. By the time he’d made his way to the back door, Gio was already waiting there, bathed in moonlight.

  Jason unlatched the door and let him in.

  Gio glanced down the hallway.

  “He’s sleeping,” Jason said, keeping his voice low. Always doing this at his place instead of Gio’s meant they had to make sure not to be too loud. There was a chance Taylor might wake up when Gio was over, but Jason would much rather think up some way to explain why Gio was visiting in the middle of the night, than have Taylor wake up in an empty house and not know where Dad was. Bad enough that he risked that by ducking out on the occasional quick job.

  He walked towards his bedroom, aware that Gio was right behind him. The moment they were inside the room, Gio closed the door behind them and clicked the lock.

  Jason crowded him against the door and kissed him. He put a hand on his cheek, something he’d been waiting to do all day, and swept his thumb over the delicate skin under his eye. Gio closed his eyes, his long lashes trembling, and Jason licked into his mouth and then pulled back. He tugged on Gio’s lower lip with his teeth, leaving indentations in the soft flesh, and Gio sighed.

  I could fall into you.

  Gio blinked his eyes open, a small, satisfied smile curling his mouth. “Gonna fuck me, Jason? Gonna get that dick inside me tonight?”

  “Yeah.” Jason slid a hand down the back of Gio’s track pants, and Gio jerked forward. His hard dick nudged Jason’s thigh, and Jason ground against him in response.

  “Fuck me, Jason.” Gio knocked his head back on the door. “Come on.”

  Jason wouldn’t have called them practiced yet, but they were becoming familiar with one another’s bodies, the way they moved, reacted. He liked learning what Gio enjoyed. He liked learning how Gio tasted. He liked recognising the way Gio’s eyes grew heavy-lidded and his mouth hung open when he was close to coming.

  “Wanna ride you,” Gio murmured. He rubbed himself against Jason’s thigh. “Can I ride you?”

  “Yeah. Fuck, yeah.”

  Jason stripped and climbed onto the bed. He shoved his pillows behind him, and shifted back against them. He licked his palm and jerked himself off as he watched Gio undress, enjoying the slight rasp of too-dry skin. Gio took the condoms and lube from Jason’s bedside drawer and crawled onto the bed. He sat back on his heels, and tossed the box of condoms at Jason with a wink.

  Is this what we want? Jason thought. Just two blokes getting off together.

  There was a vulnerability to Gio that Jason never saw in the bedroom, and wondered if he ever would. He’d seen it when Gio was injured, or whe
n he was upset, but in the bedroom Gio was cocky and self-assured, which was hot as hell, but Jason knew there was more to him than that. There was a part of Jason that wanted more than Gio was offering. More than Jason had asked for. More than he could ask for now, without risking everything.

  Jason’s arousal climbed as he watched Gio squirt lube on his fingers and shift his hand behind himself. He studied Gio’s face, watching for the moment his expression shifted as his fingers opened himself up. He was gorgeous. His dark eyes. The muscles that shifted smoothly under his olive skin. Jason wanted to rake his fingers down his abdomen, and tangle them in the dark curls that framed Gio’s dick. The way he moved as he prepared himself was one of the hottest things Jason had ever seen.

  Gio was shameless when it came to his body, to fucking, but still Jason wanted more.

  Jason shook his head to clear it, then rolled a condom down over his dick.

  Gio shuffled closer on his knees, his mouth quirking into a smile as he hitched a leg over Jason and straddled his thighs. He raised himself up, and Jason caught his hips and pulled him forward.

  “Gonna give it to me how I want it?” Gio asked in a low voice.

  “You know I am.”

  Gio’s wicked smile grew, and he reached back to grasp Jason’s dick. He held it in place as he lowered himself down. They both groaned as the head of Jason’s dick notched into place, and then Gio sank down heavily.

  He was hot and tight and perfect around Jason’s dick.

  Jason rocked his hips up as Gio began to ride him, a thousand unaskable questions on the tip of his tongue.

  Are you okay, Gio?

  What are you feeling, Gio?

  Do you want more than this?

  Because I think . . . I think that I do.

  He twisted his fingers in Gio’s curls instead, and tugged him down for a biting kiss, and Gio hummed out his pleasure as they fucked.

  The envelope sat on Gio’s desk at the station for half a day. There was no return address on it, and the postmark was from just over the border in Tweed Heads. Jason didn’t see Gio open it. The envelope was there at two when Gio started, and gone fifteen minutes later when Jason passed his desk on the way to get a coffee. Gio’s mouth was a thin line as he scrolled through his emails.

  “Everything okay?” Jason asked him.

  “Yes, Sarge,” Gio said, his expression blank.

  Jason wanted to stand behind him and try to ease the tension from his shoulders. He wanted to ask what the problem was, but he wasn’t sure who would be asking the question—Gio’s boss or Gio’s friend—or who would be answering it—Senior Constable Valeri or Gio. He didn’t know how to navigate the moment, and so he let it slide.

  “See the email about the CPR course?” he asked instead.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m up-to-date,” Jason said. “When are you due?”

  “I’ll, um . . .” Gio rolled his shoulders. “I’ll check.”

  “Let me know,” Jason said. “If you have to go all the way into Townsville for a course, we can shuffle your roster so you get a couple of days off while you’re there. Give you a chance to get some shopping done and check the place out.”

  “Thanks,” Gio said, his expression softening.

  “Did anyone get more milk?” Sandra yelled from behind the counter. “If someone doesn’t go out and get milk, I’m going to kill everyone in this station.”

  Gio stood, grabbing his keys. “I’ll go.”

  “Thank you, Gio!” Sandra called.

  Gio took the envelope out of his drawer, and Jason watched him head for the back door. Whatever the envelope was, he didn’t have it when he got back about ten minutes later with the milk.

  It ate at Jason all day. He still didn’t know how to read Gio a lot of the time, but it was obvious that whatever was in that envelope, it hadn’t been nothing. Gio’s blank expression reminded him of how Gio had been when he first arrived, and Jason didn’t want them to regress back to then. They were friends now, weren’t they? He’d hoped that Gio trusted him enough now to come to him with any problem, and more than that, it bothered him that something was upsetting Gio. It ate at Jason because it was clearly eating at Gio as well.

  “What was in the envelope?” Jason asked, ten hours later. The night was bright. Insects were chirping and buzzing, and pinging against the window screens.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Gio said, reaching down to pick his shirt up off the floor. His skin shone with sweat, and the muscles in his shoulders bunched as he pulled his shirt over his head. He scooped his jeans and underwear up off the floor, shaking the underwear free of the denim before stepping back into them. “It was nothing.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Gio met his gaze and held it. “It doesn’t matter.”

  It was an obvious lie, but Jason let it go for now. He didn’t have the right to push, but he’d hoped Gio would decide to open up if he asked. Apparently not though. Jason swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached down for his own clothes. He stood and pulled them on. “You want a beer before you go?”

  Gio hesitated and then nodded. “Sure.”

  They sat on the front veranda in the dark, since turning on an outside light would only attract more bugs. Jason kept a thumb over the lip of his stubbie to make sure nothing flew into the bottle.

  Gio’s chair creaked as he leaned forward. “I was a good copper. I am a good copper.” He snorted. “Maybe not a good country copper yet, but I’m getting there.”

  “You are,” Jason agreed.

  Gio took a swig of beer, the moonlight illuminating the planes of his face. “I’m not staying in the job just to prove a point, or anything. Like, just to stick it to those fuckers. If I didn’t love this job, I would have quit months ago. But this is the only thing I ever wanted to do.”

  Jason watched him silently.

  Gio sighed. “You know when you’re a kid in preschool, and they ask you what you want to be when you grow up? I said policeman. I drew this picture and everything. My sister found it and framed it for me when I graduated the academy. I didn’t come into it as some starry-eyed idealist though. I knew what to expect when I was starting out: shit pay and shittier hours. I always had this idea that because I was gay, I’d need to work twice as hard to prove myself, but that was fine, because I knew I could do it. And what am I now? Nobody gives a fuck how well I could do my job. All they see is the whiny little bitch who went running to the bosses when his boyfriend dumped him.”

  Jason took a moment before he responded, unsure of what Gio needed to hear. “Even if that was true, which it isn’t, he still deserved to lose his job if he was buying and using steroids.”

  There was no question in Jason’s mind that Gio had done the right thing. A guy in a high-stress job with a short fuse? Add some roid rage to that, and no way in hell should Gio’s ex be in any job where he had to deal with the public.

  “No, see, they’ll forgive that,” Gio said. “Not the bosses, but the team. They’ll forgive that because Pete was their mate. Because he was a good bloke who made an error in judgement. They feel sorry for him. They fucking hate me.”

  An insect pinged against Jason’s stubbie.

  “When I was fifteen, our house got broken into,” Jason said. “The coppers came around. That was when I decided I wanted to be in the job. It was all very mundane, but I liked the idea that I could help people every day. I think everyone I graduated with wanted to end up in Scenes of Crime—all those CSI shows were huge back then—but I always knew I’d be happiest in General Duties.”

  “I wanted to end up under State Crime Command,” Gio said.

  “Homicide?” Jason hazarded.

  “Taskforce Maxima.”

  “Shit.” Jason snorted. “Bikie gangs, huh? No wonder you hate it here. Not enough guns, drugs, or criminal syndicates.”

  “Hardly any organised crime at all,” Gio said dryly.

  “Yeah, most of it’s pretty disorganised,” Jason said. “And
a fair chunk of it is downright accidental.”

  Gio’s laugh warmed him.

  “For what it’s worth,” Jason said at last, “I’m sorry it wasn’t your choice to come here. But I think you’re doing a good job.”

  “Thanks.” Gio held his gaze in the moonlight for a moment, then he looked away again. He set his stubbie down on the table—empty, by the hollow sound it made—and stood. “I should head home.”

  Jason thought about asking him to stay, and if there was any way to frame that question without putting too much pressure on whatever it was they already had here. He didn’t want to risk it.

  “Good night,” he said.

  “Good night.”

  Jason watched him leave.

  He sat on the veranda alone after Gio had left, slowly working on finishing his beer. He eked it out, wanting to prolong it while at the same time he didn’t want to go inside and get a second one. He was too comfortable to move, and he was on call overnight. He needed to stay well under the limit just in case.

  A flash of movement caught his eye, and his heart skipped a beat as the cat appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “Jesus,” he said. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  The cat slunk forward, and then sat and maintained a safe distance between them.

  Taylor had been on Jason’s case for years to get a pet, and maybe Jason should have caved earlier. A dog might have stopped the cat from moving in. But then, the yard wasn’t fully fenced, and that was unsafe for a dog—it had been unsafe for a little kid too. When Taylor had been small, he’d been something of an escape artist. Jason had been at the station one day when a council road worker had turned up at the front counter, Taylor on his hip.

  “I think this little fella belongs to you,” he’d said, bundling Taylor over.

  Taylor had apparently been fascinated by whatever work they were doing on the street, and had followed them as they’d progressed around the block.

  That was Taylor all over. Inquisitive. Adventurous. Oblivious to hazards. Always diving headfirst into sticky situations. The last one was probably genetic, and as unavoidable as the freckles on the bridge of his nose that he’d also inherited from Jason.