Free L. A. Mischief by P. A. Brown

They were beyond that now. He had Blair, who he suspected was falling in love with him. And Chris had... his mind shied away from images of Chris with another man. Or men? That would be worse. Chris had been an admitted slam hound before he had met David. Had he gone back to that behavior? David didn’t want to know.
    “How about you?” Chris asked. “How are things with you? Still partnering with Martinez?”
    “Yeah, we’re still running together. We fit. Always did.”
    “I’m glad.” And the truth was, Chris was happy for David. He and Martinez hadn’t hit it off when they’d first met, but then Martinez was convinced Chris was a vicious killer even when the evidence pointed to someone else. He had seemed to need to believe in Chris’s guilt. He had never been at ease around Chris and any socializing between cops rarely included Chris and David, which he had always known had hurt David, whose life revolved around being a cop.
    He indicated the hidden bandage across David’s abdomen. “How’d that happen?”
    “Cornered guy freaked when he realized we’d made him. I guess I was slow to react. My fault.”
    “You deal with animals, don’t expect them to act rationally.”
    David shrugged. “I guess.” He started to get up but Chris stopped him, jumping up and grabbing the pot.
    “You want a refill?” he asked and David nodded, thanking Chris with the smile in his eyes.
    After several minutes of easy silence David murmured, “You want to go out sometime?”
    Chris smiled, then clamped down on his reaction. He ducked his head. “Yes, I’d really like that.”
    David never quite knew why the next words popped into his mouth. Maybe he was testing how much Chris would be willing to do in his desire to see David again. “Let’s go bowling. You like bowling?”
Saturday, 1:15 pm, Piedmont Avenue, Glendale
    Chris stared at David. Was he serious? Bowling? Chris didn’t think he’d ever been inside a bowling alley in his life. Bowling was something beer swilling grunts did while wearing other people’s shoes—he froze. Didn’t that describe David? He was a blue collar stiff with no pretensions of being anything else. He hadn’t lost that even during their time together. Chris had always known that. He had fallen in love with him despite what he would have always thought were flaws. Those things were part of what David was. Part of the man he had grown to adore.
    “Ah, I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve never been.”
    “Well then, it’s about time you tried. New experiences and all.”
    “I’m always game to try something new,” he lied. “When?”
    David hitched in the chair, feeling another spasm of pain. “The doctor told me to lie low, take a week off work, so I suspect I won’t be in shape to throw a bowling ball anytime soon. Want to say a week from today? Next Saturday?”
    Chris hid his disappointment. A whole week? He wasn’t sure he could wait that long but then—he had to wait that long, if that’s what it took to be with David. Chris made up his mind.
    “Next Saturday would be great. You’ll have to be patient. I know nothing about bowling.”
    “I’ll teach you.” David seemed amused. “You’ll see. It’s fun.”
    “Right. I just hope I don’t drop the ball on my foot.”
    “I’ll make sure you come out unscathed.” He was definitely laughing now. “Besides that’s one of the things the shoes are meant to prevent.”
    Chris grimaced. David was really enjoying this. Finally Chris grinned ruefully. “If I do, you can pay for my cast.”
    “I’ll sign it too.”
    “I can hardly wait.”
    David laughed. He reached over and took Chris’s hand. “You will have fun.”
    Chris wanted to believe it. He had to settle for the knowledge that he would be with David for a few hours. That had to be worth some discomfort.
    Coffee finished, Chris stood reluctantly. He wanted to stay, but knew he should take things slow. All he really wanted to do was jump David’s