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bumps up on his nape. Did Ivan have kids? Was that how he learned to take care of minor injuries like this?
    Ivan continued on with his first aid. “How long has it been?”
    “Six months. Cancer.” Parker didn’t need any clarification for Ivan’s question.
    “I’m sorry for your loss.” Ivan placed a couple of bandages over the cut, his fingers warm against Parker’s skin.
    “Thanks.” He cleared his throat.
    As he pulled Parker’s pant leg back down, Ivan lifted his head. Parker had never seen such beautiful blue eyes before, and the compassion filling them warmed his belly.
    The doorbell rang, and Ivan sprang back, nearly toppling over onto his ass.
    “Guess that’s the pizza.” Ivan headed for the door, pulling out his wallet.
    Suddenly chilled, Parker wrapped his arms around himself. He couldn’t decide if living with Ivan was going to be heaven or hell.

Chapter 2

     
    A FTER paying for the pizzas, Ivan took the boxes into the kitchen, carefully not looking into the media room. This job was already so fucked up, and no wonder this kid had flown under everyone’s radar. He seemed so innocent, grieving for his mother. No one who met him would ever think he was dealing drugs. Ivan was going to need to be careful, or he’d give himself away before he figured out how much of this guy was an act, and how much was the real Parker.
    Nevertheless, he needed to get ahold of himself and start ingratiating himself with Parker, not figuring out how to get him into bed. He had sex on the brain as soon as he saw Parker, and the life-sized porn appearing on the TV hadn’t helped. He’d never seen anyone blush like that before, and as tempting as it had been to make some sort of comment to keep Parker flustered and embarrassed, he might have stroked out if any more blood rushed to his head.
    Between tending to Parker’s injury and imagining him sitting naked on the couch pleasuring himself as he watched porn, Ivan had been distracted like he’d never been on the job. Just one more reason for him to reevaluate his life and career once his administrative leave was over.
    As Ivan searched for plates, he made a mental list of all the reasons he couldn’t even begin to think about sex with Parker. He was a criminal, he thought Ivan was straight, he was too damned young, and, most important, he had a boyfriend. There weren’t many criminals Ivan had seen who’d been adamant about the notion of fidelity, but after experiencing the lack firsthand with Colin, Ivan had no interest in being party to that. Thankfully, his cover precluded him having to do anything of the sort. Fucking weird situation. The last time he’d roomed with a complete stranger was in university, but it felt like eons since he’d had that carefree mindset, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get it back well enough to relate to a guy twelve years younger.
    Once he’d gathered everything he needed, including his composure, he placed everything atop the pizza boxes and carried the food out to the living room.
    Staring relentlessly at the TV, Parker hadn’t relaxed a bit. Which would never do. They had to find some common ground, some way to be friends, or this job was not only going to be a complete waste of time, it might even get Ivan killed.
    “I brought us out a couple more beers.” They could both use the alcohol.
    “Oh, thanks.” Parker stared at the boxes. “I wasn’t expecting my own pizza.”
    Ivan shrugged and slid the box of pepperoni over. Parker flipped up the box and frowned.
    “Did they screw up the order?”
    “Uh, no.” Parker rubbed his belly. “What kind did you get?”
    “Chicken and broccoli.” It was never a popular choice with the other detectives but it was one of the healthiest pizza options, and he’d never been able to give up pizza entirely. When he’d hit on the combination, he’d found it quite enjoyable, and it had become his regular order. Besides, now that he was getting older, too much grease