Free Spread Your Wings: Men in Blue, Book 4 by Jayne Rylon Page A

they’d both fallen for. Going further down this path would doom them. They couldn’t live in denial forever.
    At least it hadn’t worked so far. Time to be bold, to make some moves.
    Because continuing like this would kill him.
    “There was?” The other guy angled toward him as if to search for signs of humor in Matt’s face. No joke this time. “So why didn’t you do anything about it? You know, after the case closed and we went back to our beat.”
    “Why didn’t you ?” Matt swallowed hard. “You never mentioned it, so I thought…maybe I had it wrong.”
    “Holy shit, you two are stubborn.” JRad shook his head. “You’re partners on the force. I’ve seen you save each other’s asses. There you can communicate like you live in one brain. Why is this any different?”
    “Cut us some slack.” Clint leapt to Matt’s defense too. Relief flooded Matt as he realized they might still be on the same side. “This is a lot to take in. We’d already shifted our whole perspective on relationships and what our future might look like in order to fit what fate had handed us in Jambi. Then this on top? It’s like nothing I ever pictured about how my life would go.”
    “Maybe it’s better than you could have imagined before you knew what was possible?” Matt couldn’t stop himself from wondering aloud.
    “Yeah.” The hiss of breath from his partner was followed by the guy clearing his throat. “Maybe it is. Or it could be.”
    “I’m not saying we’re going to solve everything overnight, but I’d like to try. You. Me.” Matt paused, long enough for the other guy to finish his thought.
    “And Jambrea.” There was no room for argument in Clint’s conviction.
    “Exactly.” He extended his hand and Clint grasped it firmly. Their stares burned into each other as they sealed their silent pact. After a few seconds, the intensity had him looking away, to Lily. “And it seems like our girl is the pressing issue. So why don’t you tell us more about what you had in mind for her?”
    The sheen of tears in the Mistress’s eyes surprised Matt. Too much more of that and he might join her. Unacceptable now that they were getting some damn traction. Time to move forward, out of this colossal rut.
    “Just one more thing. While I’m glad I pointed out what idiots you’ve been—” Lily hopped down from her perch and joined them. “—honestly, I feel bad for you. Partly responsible. I know we weren’t in an official scene that day. Still, I should have followed up with you guys. Made sure you processed the interaction. It’s what I would have done for my submissives. I accept I had some part in this. And that’s why I’m willing to help you fix the mess you’ve made.”
    “Y-you will?” The waver in Clint’s question socked Matt in the gut like a perp’s errant fist or maybe a roundhouse kick. It hurt worse, actually. Struck deeper.
    “Yes, honey.” She hugged Clint, making Matt kind of jealous. It sucked watching the other man in a state of distress. Hell, that’s all they’d really existed in for months now. He wanted to be the one to comfort his best friend, to support him as they had done for years. They’d never had a problem they couldn’t figure out between them. Until now.
    “Would you like Jeremy to leave?” She looked to Matt, her serious stare promising they were about to get really personal.
    “Nah. JRad is one of our brothers. There’s nothing we would hide from him. Or any of the Men in Blue.” Matt sighed. “Do you think this will change how they see us?”
    “Seriously? You’ve wasted even a single second worrying about that?” JRad chuckled, not in an entirely amused or polite kind of way either. “Considering the example Mason and Tyler have set for us all, why would you think anyone would judge you? None of us exactly conform to the traditional view of a relationship. Well, maybe Razor and Izzy. Even the boy wonder knocked his girl up before they were hitched,