What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

He also said he’d talk to the kids who claim to have seen things at the
school and see if they’d be willing to talk to us.” Bo nodded. “Good. Thanks for doing that.” “No problem.” Reaching under the desk, Sam
adjusted his swelling crotch. He wondered if Bo realized
he was stroking Sam’s neck, thumb teasing his earlobe. A glance at Bo’s face told him probably not. Bo
was a million miles away, staring into the middle
distance with knitted brow and bottom lip caught
between his teeth. His fingers crept into Sam’s hair, and
Sam had to bite his tongue to hold back his moan of
pleasure. Damn. Not for the first time, Sam wished Bo
would stop trying to hide their relationship from their
friends. Maybe then he wouldn’t have the subconscious
need to touch Sam like this every time he started
thinking.
Sam let himself lean into the caress for a second
before clearing his throat. “Um, Bo?”
“Hm?” Bo curled a finger around a hunk of Sam’s
hair, pulling just a little too hard.
“Ow. Bo, uh…” Casting frantically about for
something—anything—to say, Sam blurted out the first
thing he thought of. “Want me to get out the paperwork
for Dean?”
Behind him, Bo stiffened and yanked his hand
away. “Yeah, that would be a big help. Thanks.” Bo turned and hurried into his office, slamming the
door behind him. Closing his eyes, Sam leaned back in
his chair and drew a deep breath. That was close. Part of
him hated Bo for making him think that. For hiding what
they were to each other, even from their closest friends. And just what are you to him? The question rose
unbidden from the dark corner of his mind where a lifetime of loneliness and self-doubt lurked. He didn’t
want to face it.
“Sam?”
Opening his eyes with great reluctance, Sam met
Cecile’s concerned gaze. “Yeah?”
“I asked if you had all the forms on your hard
drive, or if you need me to print them off for you.” Sam shook his head, feeling slow and stupid.
“Forms?”
“For Dean.” Cecile frowned. “Are you okay?
You’re not getting sick, are you? The flu’s been going
around lately.”
“No, I’m fine. Just thinking.” Sam forced a smile.
“I think I’ve got all the forms. I’ll let you know if I’m
missing anything.”
“Okay.” Tilting her head to one side, Cecile fixed
him with a penetrating stare. “You know what, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but lately I’ve been
wondering—”
The trill of the phone ringing cut her off. She
frowned at it, glanced at Sam, then snatched up the
receiver. “Bay City Paranormal, this is Cecile, how can I
help you?”
Sam turned away as Cecile grabbed a notepad and
started scribbling furiously, the phone tucked between
her ear and shoulder. He could practically feel her
watching him, the weight of her gaze pressing on the
back of his neck.
She knows about Bo and me. She’s been watching,
and she knows.
Cecile was by far the most intuitive person in the
office, so he wasn’t surprised she’d been the first to
figure it out, but the others wouldn’t be far behind. The
thought made him feel oddly calm. His colleagues at BCPI had become very important to him over the past few months, and he knew he could trust them. Bo knew it too, if he’d just let himself move past the fear of discovery and learn to open up to the people who loved
him.
Maybe if he could do that, he could finally open
himself completely to the one who loved him most of
all.
The one who loves him…
Sam blinked, startled. It was the first time he’d
truly admitted the depth of his own feelings, even to
himself. He had a strange urge to laugh. Of all the men
in the world to fall irretrievably in love with, he would
have to pick one still halfway closeted. One who he was
beginning to fear would never see him as anything but a
shameful secret.
Shoving the bitter thought to the back of his mind,
Sam opened the “forms” folder on his computer desktop.
He had work to do.
    “Turn here.”
“Here?”
“Yeah. No! No wait, my bad, it’s the next one.” Andre glared at David, who sat beside him in the
    front seat of the SUV. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah, it’s Pierre Avenue.” David frowned at the
crumpled piece of paper in his hand, where he’d
scribbled the directions to South Bay High. “Yeah,
that’s right. Sorry, man.”
Andre shook his head and turned onto the indicated
road without a word. In the backseat, Sam snickered.
“What’s wrong, David, couldn’t read your