The Last Thing He Needs by J.H. Knight Page A

idea, but a night away from the house was a bad plan for too many reasons. “I don’t know. If Pop and Cheryl come home in the middle of the night, or if something goes wrong here and I’m not around….”
    Sighing again, Bobby pulled back and caught Tommy’s eye. “How about we make sure Colleen has my numbers, and if your folks show up before you get off work, we abort the plan. But if they don’t show up and everything is okay around here, you drop by for a few hours after your shift?”
    Tommy was grateful Bobby seemed to be suggesting an alternative, not pushing him. “All right, I think I can swing that.”
    Bobby gave him another quick kiss for his answer. “Good. Now I’m gonna run home and get cleaned up.” He pulled back before anyone had a chance to walk in on them.
    “Need a lift?”
    He smiled at Tommy and said, “I’ll jog. Need to get a run in anyway.”
    Tommy laughed at that. He only ran when he was being chased.
     
     
    T OMMY HAD managed to get the house in order, hook up with Kelly to make sure she got her cut of the money from his deal the night before, shave, shower, and start a load of laundry before Bobby got back. Not bad for a couple of hours. He was sitting on the front step smoking a cigarette when Bobby pulled up in front of the house.
    Max and Zoe were playing in the yard, and Bobby stopped to greet them, picking Zoe up when she reached out to him. He carried her up the walkway.
    “Looks like you’ve got a fangirl,” Tommy pointed out, laughing. He took one more drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from them, before he crushed it out and dropped it in the bucket of sand he kept out there for his butts.
    “Maybe I should keep her.” Bobby pulled back to look at Zoe’s face. “I can put her in my pocket.” He kissed her hand when she tried to grab his nose and said in a playful voice, “You wanna help me catch bad guys all day, Zoe?” When Tommy shot him a look, Bobby corrected himself. “The actual bad guys. Not the guys just trying to get by.”
    A few thoughts ran through Tommy’s head. He considered accusing Bobby of swooping again, and he tried to beat down the fear skittering through him at the little joke about Bobby keeping her. Instead he said, “Careful what you fill their heads with. Mike and Davey already got records. I doubt they’d make it past the background check if they decided to sign up.” Tommy stood up and walked down the last couple of steps to Max. He picked him up and kissed his cheek.
    Bobby looked somewhere between hurt and worried before he spoke. “Juvenile records can be worked around or expunged,” he told Tommy as they headed into the house. “They just need to be careful as they get older,” he added, still sounding like a whole battalion of O’Shea cops was a possibility if they applied themselves. When Tommy stopped and stared at him, Bobby asked, “What?”
    Tommy shook his head and laughed as he put Max down by the toy basket. “Nothing.”
    “No, what?” Bobby pressed him, looking playful but curious.
    Tommy gave in and told Bobby what he was really thinking. “You’re too much of an optimist to be hanging around here.”
    “Maybe you guys need a little optimism,” Bobby countered, taking up the challenge.
    “That’s the last thing we need. Who do you think has to pick up the pieces when they get their hopes up and then get the rug pulled out from under them?” Tommy wasn’t nettled, his words weren’t edged with anger, but he felt strongly about what he was saying.
    Bobby was still holding Zoe close, looking at Tommy like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What if the rug doesn’t get pulled out from under them?” he asked softly, sitting down on the battered couch and bouncing Zoe on his knee.
    “Look around, Bobby.” Tommy huffed in frustration. “Our whole life is one shitty scenario after another.” When it looked like Bobby was about to comment on that, Tommy cut him off before Bobby