Page 166 of Allegiance
“Then maybe, Gene, we leave.”
Gene closed his eyes.
“Maybe.”
Tommy wrapped his arm around him and rested his head on the man’s shoulder.
“If you can’t let go of that fear and stay here, Gene, we can go. If this isn’t what you want, I’m ready to leave. I’m staying to be with you and to help clean up, but you won’t let me do the last part. I’m not Preston.”
Gene stared out at the city and suddenly wasn’t in love with it anymore.
That gut-wrenching fear had him by the balls. Since coming here over a decade ago, he’d sworn he’d never walk away from this place.
It was his spirit animal.
New Orleans just called to some people, and he was one of them. Just like with Elizabeth, they just knew this place was special.
Now, if it meant Tommy’s life, he’d let this place go.
“You can decide. I’ll follow,” he said. “Just like you told me, Gene, that if I left, you’d follow. We’re a unit. If you need to make that choice, I support it one million percent.”
He got it.
Only, he wasn’t ready to decide.
“I’m going to go take a shower. I need to refocus,” Gene said, pulling away and heading into the adjoining shower to find his Zen.
In this city, that was a monumental task.
Tommy let him go, simply because if it was him, Gene would do the same.
Temporarily.
Standing there, he didn’t feel helpless. What he felt was desperation to reach the man and show him that he wasn’t exactly Stella with a gun.
He could hit a target and it was second nature.
It wasn’t long before he heard the water turn on, and he knew the man he loved was showering.
Well, Tommy had a few choices.
He could give him space, let him stew, or go be with him until Gene worked it out in his head.
He chose the latter.
Why?
Because that’s what a good partner did. They had your back, even if they weren’t one hundred percent sure that the issue was an issue.
Heading toward the bathroom, he walked smack into the door when it was locked.
What?
The?
Hell?
Did his husband-to-be put a locked door between him in some half-assed attempt to keep him out?