Page 7 of Love at First Rep

“Yeah,” Rafe exhaled. “Yeah, I knew.”

Tears dripped down Garrett’s cheeks, but he did nothing to hide them. Rafe had seen him through dozens of terrible moments. He could handle some tears. Garrett was still on the fence about whether or not Rafe deserved his tears, though.

“I wanted to tell you, but they told me if I did it could be considered treason for sharing classified information and we would both be dishonorably discharged. But if I went through with it, I would have the opportunity to help save thousands of American lives. I knew it was the right choice because I knew you would have done the exact same thing, and telling myself that was the only way I could get through the last two decades.

“I’m sorry I left you and I’m sorry you had to mourn me, but it seemed like my only choice at the time.”

They kept their eyes on each other, Garrett’s head a tumultuous melee of thoughts and emotions, all of them fighting for the upper hand and none of them winning. He decided he could think about them later. Without saying a word, he tossed his gun on the passenger seat and got out of the car. After shutting his door, he opened the back and Rafe flinched away as Garrett climbed in next to him.

“I’ll go back to being mad in a bit, just come here, you fucking idiot,” he said as he yanked Rafe against him, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

It took an extra second, but Rafe relaxed in his arms, squeezing him tightly. For a few minutes, they sat there in silence, the only noise their quiet sniffs.

“I missed you so damn much,” Rafe said, his hand sliding along Garrett’s shoulders until it settled on the back of his head, his fingers gliding through Garrett’s hair and knocking off his beanie.

“Me too,” Garrett rasped, burying his head against Rafe’s shoulder. “Fuck, it’s been way too long.”

As Garrett settled against Rafe, he thought over everything Rafe told him. It all made sense, except for one thing.

He’d forgotten how safe he felt in Rafe’s arms, but he couldn’t think about that now, still filled with anger. He shoved Rafe off him and sat back against his door.

“Why now? Why are you showing yourself now? You said you left the CIA a couple years ago.”

“Yeah, well, I had to walk away from them. I couldn’t take the bureaucratic hypocrisy anymore, and I wasn’t about to follow illegal orders. I’ve tried working freelance since I left, trying to do some good on my own, but, uh…”

“Spit it out, Rafe,” Garrett barked.

“I’m in trouble and I need your help.”

4

RAFE WAS SURPRISED GARRETT didn’t have steam emitting from his pores as he stared him down in the suddenly way-too-tiny backseat.

“You need my help,” Garrett laughed ruefully. “You walk out of my life— No, strike that. You fake your death to walk out of my life, not a word for two decades, you’ve been dicking around doing who-knows-what during the last couple years, and you suddenly show up to ask for help and act like there’s no problem?”

Rafe winced. It had been too much to hope his and Garrett’s reunion would be running into each other’s arms in the middle of a flower-filled meadow, but he hadn’t expected so much vitriol. In hindsight, he should have.

“What have you been doing the last couple years that was more important than coming back to me?” Garrett inhaled sharply. “I mean, back home.”

A tiny flame of hope lit in Rafe’s belly.

He cleared his throat. “Leaving the operations under the CIA umbrella wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. I got caught up in some messes, and I truly couldn’t come back any sooner, as much as I wanted to.”

Garrett fumed and took a couple deep breaths with his eyes shut tight before he faced Rafe again.

“Tell me why you’re in trouble now,” he said through clenched teeth.

“You’ll help me?” Rafe said, excitedly sitting up straight.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Rafe slumped against the side door, squaring himself to Garrett.

“There’s this drug on the market that’s gaining ground, getting the attention of some truly evil people. We—um, no one has been able to identify the kingpin behind the operation even though it’s been years.”

“And when you say we you mean…”

Fuck.