Triangulation, p.42
Triangulation, page 42
part #2 of Borealis Investigations Series
North just squirmed a little closer, his forehead still pressing against Shaw’s, his breath hot on Shaw’s face. “You know what I think?”
“I think you need to brush your teeth.”
“You know what I think?”
“I think you’re—you’re being a bully.”
“You know what I think?”
Shaw’s eyes were hot and stinging again, and he tried to turn away, but North still held his chin, still pressed his forehead to Shaw’s.
“I think you’ve been through some bad shit, baby. And you just need some time to feel safe with me.”
“That’s stupid, North.” Shaw wanted to wipe his eyes. “Please get off me, ok? Please? Of course I trust you, just please get off me.”
“You trust me up here,” North said, butting gently against Shaw with his forehead. “But you don’t feel safe with me. Not all the way. And you know what? That’s ok. I’m here for the long haul, baby. I’m here for as long as you’ll have me. Whatever you’ll give me, whatever you can give me, I’ll take it until you know you’re safe with me.”
Shaw thought again about what it meant to be vulnerable: the Slasher throttling him in the dark, Carl dead in an alley, Matty digging the knife into Shaw’s chest.
“I love you,” Shaw whispered, blinking tears from his eyes.
“I love you too,” North said.
“Why isn’t that enough?”
For a long moment, North was still, his hot breath licking Shaw’s cheeks. Then he whispered, “It will be, baby.”
Then Pari started to yell. This time, she was shouting something about the Danish blue cheese, and the puppy was barking again. North grinned. In spite of his best efforts, Shaw started to laugh.
“You need to take him to a shelter,” North said, his fingers still delicately working along the length of Shaw’s hair as he rolled to lay next to him. “Before he gets too big and nobody wants to adopt him.”
Shaw sat upright. “I can’t do that. There’s no way I can do that.”
“Shaw.”
“Do you know what they do to those poor animals?”
“They put them up for adoption.”
“Yeah, North. And then they kill them if nobody adopts them.”
“Shaw, he’s a puppy.”
“Exactly. I am not going to murder a puppy.”
“I never said you had to murder him. I’m saying people want puppies; he’s an expensive breed. That means somebody’s going to grab him as soon as he goes up for adoption.”
“You don’t know that. They might put him down after a day. After two days. What if they put him down after two days?”
From downstairs came an enormous crash, and then Pari cried, “Not the Emmenthaler!”
North’s ice-rim eyes narrowed. “I guess I wouldn’t blame them.”
“Shaw,” Pari screamed up the stairs. “Shaw, I don’t care if North is making you count out your spanking—”
“There’s an idea,” North said.
Shaw felt his face heat.
“Really?” North said, watching Shaw’s reaction. “Interesting.”
“—you better get your cherry-red ass down here and kill this dog, or else I’m going to do it for you.”
“I guess I should put on pants,” Shaw said.
North raised his hand and offered, “Unless you’d like me to get that ass cherry-red.” He made an innocent face, one eyebrow raised. “We’d hate to disappoint her.”
“Not—if you—” Shaw scrambled toward the dresser, keeping his ass safely turned away from North. “I have to sit down.”
North made a noncommittal sound.
Damn Pari, Shaw thought. He was grabbing a pair of ornately-stitched jeans when his phone buzzed. North dug it out of the pile of discarded clothing, looked at the screen, and said, “Unknown number.”
Shaw shrugged and held out a hand; North tossed it to him. Shaw answered the call, and for a moment, the only sound on the other end was rough breathing.
“Hello?” Shaw said. “Hello?”
“Shaw?” The voice was familiar, although Shaw couldn’t place it. The words were thick with emotion. “It’s Jadon.”
“What? Who is this?”
“Bryce. Bryce Barr.” Jadon’s partner at the Metropolitan PD.
“Barr?” For a moment, Shaw felt like he was in a dream; it seemed unreal that Jadon could invade his bedroom this way, first in conversation, and now in a phone call. Then it felt less like a dream and more like a joke. “What are you—”
“He’s been attacked. Jadon’s in the hospital.”
Acknowledgments
My deepest thanks go out to the following people (in alphabetical order):
Justene Adamec, for catching all sorts of things (an unopened letter that Shaw had somehow read!), and for introducing me to the wonders of an electric-heated coat!
Austin Gwin, for encouragement and support, and for keen insight into North’s relationship with Tucker and why such a relationship might have happened.
Cheryl Oakley, for helping me to trace out all the filiations of Shaw’s vulnerability, both with Jadon and with North.
Tray Stephenson, for praise and kind words when they were needed, as well as excellent feedback on the manuscript.
Jo Wegstein, for helping with a million small errors and a couple of big ones, especially in the final scenes with North and Shaw.
About the Author
Learn more about Gregory Ashe and forthcoming works at www.gregoryashe.com.
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Gregory Ashe, Triangulation
