“She’s okay,” Gavin said firmly.

Winnie didn’t look convinced. “She’s gonna need help.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean she’ll thank you for it. You stay out of it.”

“Gavin.”

“Yeah?”

She looked worried again, but tossed him her keys. “Be careful?”

“Always.”

He headed into town, driving aimlessly for a while. He avoided the Whiskey River Bar and Grill. He was getting his life together, so why tempt fate?

It was one in the morning when he found himself in front of CJ’s house. Yes, he’d stalked his ex, figuring out which house was his thanks to a combination of Instagram and Gavin’s knowledge of every square inch of the county.

He wasn’t sure why he’d come here. Or why he got out of the car and stood on the front porch. It was stupid. It was beyond stupid really, especially when he heard footsteps come up behind him. He whipped around and froze.

CJ stood there, gun out. “Good way to get yourself killed.”

Just looking at the first and only love of his life was a gut punch. And a heart punch. And a soul punch . . .

God, he’d been so stupid. And wasted so much time. “Getting killed isn’t the plan,” he said mildly, even with his heart in his throat. “At least not tonight.”

CJ just shook his head as he shoved his gun into the waistband of his jeans, at the small of his back. The jeans were the only thing he wore, and the difference between the too-skinny eighteen-year-old CJ and the now ripped twenty-eight-year-old CJ was . . . eye-opening.

“So what was your plan?” his past asked, still looking pissed off.

Plan? Gavin had no idea. So he went with his first instinct. He yanked CJ close and kissed him, the man’s erotic growl of surprise spearing heat through Gavin’s entire body. His hands came up to slide into CJ’s hair, against his scalp, tugging him closer still, the kiss a haunting, almost forgotten combo of promise and connection.

“Stupid plan,” CJ said when they came up for air.

“No shit.”

“I should kick your ass.”

Gavin smiled. “You could try.”

CJ shook his head. “You’re not even the slightest bit sorry you tried to sneak into a cop’s house undetected.”

“I’m a little sorry,” he said with a shrug, adrenaline still pumping through him. “But probably not nearly as much as you think I should be . . .”

Swearing roughly, CJ gripped Gavin’s biceps hard.

Shoving me away or pulling me in?

They stared at each other until a rough groan tore from CJ’s throat and he yanked Gavin inside.

Chapter 15

“Careful, payback’s a bitch.”

A few days later, Piper was exhausted and just leaving the station after a long twelve hours at work when she got a text from Winnie.