Family Secrets

Zach sat in his car looking at the tall apartment building. He felt his heart beating a little fast as he waited. Zach had been at this apartment a couple of times he had interviewed a witness in a hit and run the witness testified in the case and as an officer, Zach stayed in touch with the witness in case they had questions about the process. Zach smiled as he saw a familiar car pull into the assigned covered space. He got out and approached the car as the person quickly jumped out of the car and grabbed a briefcase from the back seat.

"Good afternoon" Zach was taken aback a little when he heard a small scream and the briefcase fell on the ground

"Oh no, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? '' Zach asked as they held their hand to their heart recovering from the scare.

"Geez, you scared the hell out of me. Sorry I was in deep thought. I didn't hear you approach" Zach laughed

"I'm really sorry wasn't my intention to scare you," Zach said sincerely

"Don't worry about it, I tend to be in my own world sometimes not paying attention to my surroundings. It's good to see you, Zach, I was afraid since the case was over I wouldn't see you again"

Zach smiled he had found himself thinking lately how those brown eyes were so comforting to look into. He had been thinking for a while about how much he wanted to get to know the witness better. During the case, he had to be professional and not cross any lines that might taint the case. Zach found himself flirting with the witness more than he should and it seemed the witness was flirting back with him which is why now that the case was over he could take a chance.

"I kinda wanted to ask you if you um... would you be interested in um..." Zach was stumbling over his words. The former witness smiled and gave a small laugh.

"I'm not that scary to ask out, am I ?" They teased making the tension drop and Zach felt more confident.

"No sorry, it's been a while since I asked someone out. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner. There's this restaurant slash bar on 4th street that has really good food." Zach was definitely speaking with more confidence.

The witness had found him attractive from the first time Zach had come to ask questions about the hit and run. He had been so sweet to check in at least once a week to see if they had any questions during the court process. They couldn't help but be drawn to his broad shoulders and tattooed arms. His dark eyes danced when he laughed and man if he looked more like a supermodel than a police officer. His gruff voice and stance of authority made him extremely attractive to the witness.

"I would love to go to dinner with you. When are you available?" Zach beamed

"How about Friday night I'll pick you up around 6:30?" They smiled back and took a step closer to Zach and placed a small kiss on his cheek

"I look forward to it. See ya Friday'' Zach tried to keep his excitement down. It had been a while since he had been out with anyone that wasn't his brother.

Perry was an officer he went to the academy with. They kind of dated for a couple of years but weren't really committed to each other. Once Perry started dating another man they just stopped hanging out. Zach rode home with a smile thinking about his date for Friday night.

Thomas thought he was going to lose his mind. Derek and he had seemed to hit it off from day one, but Thomas had a crush on him, and he wasn't sure if Derek felt the same way. Thomas had tried to flirt with him to see if he got a good response. It did seem like Derek flirted back with Thomas, but he wasn't sure.

Derek walked into Thomas' classroom. "Hey Thomas, I have a couple of questions for you. One is would you mind if I took Diane from your class today? She's having some issues at home, and I want to get a better idea of what's going on"

Thomas loved how dedicated Derek was to help the students he seemed to go above and beyond his job to help them.

"Of course, I'll send her to your office after roll call. What's your other question?" Derek smiled but looked a little nervous

"Would you be interested in going to dinner this Friday night with me?" He stood nervously waiting for Thomas' response. Thomas' heart was beating in excitement

"Where would you like to go and what time?" Derek seemed to brighten up.

"There's this place I've heard good things about but haven't tried, it's called Black Box, and around 7 pm if that works for you. I can pick you up?" Thomas had a small internal panic attack when he mentioned picking him up.

"Actually, would you mind if I meet you there? I have a couple of errands to run, and it would be easier to meet you there." Derek was slightly disappointed he didn't want to be picked up, but it was a date, nonetheless.

"Brett and Caleb stop roughhousing before you break something, and I have to break your asses" Zach scolded as he came downstairs after getting ready for his date.

"Ooohhhh doesn't someone look hot to trot? Who is the victim, another police officer?" Caleb teased. Zach gave him a look "my dating life is none of your business, thank you very much" Brett made kissy noises

"Whose gun is bigger, is she as hot as Perry was?" he asked, raising his eyebrows several times.

"Brett Michael Ripley inappropriate. You do not talk about women like that. Show some respect " Glen had come into the room and scolded him for his comments.

"Yes sir, sorry" Glen shook his head

"Have fun Zach it's good to see you getting out there again" Zach threw his keys up in the air and caught them.

"Don't wait up. Boys behave!! Claire, your room is still a mess. I'm not going to ask you to clean it again. It needs to be done before you go to bed" he gave all three pointed looks.

"The chorus of "Yes sir" came out. Zach left for his date.

"Alright you three I'll make you a deal, Claire I want you to go clean your room, boys I want you to check your rooms too I'm sure you need to pick them up as well. If you can do this quickly I'll go pick up pizza and movie rentals. We can have a pizza party, movie night." The three teens cheered and agreed with his deal; they all ran upstairs just as Thomas was coming down. The three stomped like a herd of Buffalo up the stairs.

"Slow down guys" he chastised.

"They're excited I'm heading out to get dinner and movie rentals" Glen explained to Thomas.

"I'm glad you have agreed to meet some of the teachers for dinner. I was starting to worry about your lack of social life." Thomas rolled his eyes

"I could say the same about you Glen we can start to call you doctor hermit." Glen laughed and smacked Thomas upside his head

"Smart ass. Have fun tonight, but the minimum on the drinking got it?" Glen said much more seriously

"Yes sir" Thomas grabbed his jacket and keys pulling his car out after Glen but turned in the opposite direction.

"Have you been here before?" Zach asked his date.

"Ya a few times but it's been a while. How about you?" His date asked him back

"Ya I used to, but it's been pretty busy at home that I haven't had time to go out." Zach's date asked more about his family. Zach explained what had happened to them as children and his date admired the way he and Glen stepped up to take care of their sibling. They were really enjoying their date together.

Thomas met Derek in the parking lot of the restaurant, and they went inside together. Derek ordered wine for both of them. After they ate they moved on into the dance room where a DJ was playing some great music.

"Dance with me?" Thomas gushed. Derek took his hand and guided him to the dance floor. The beat was a mild tempo, they started dancing.

The next song was really upbeat and had some risqué lines in it. Derek grabbed Thomas' hips and pulled him so there was hardly any space between them. Thomas closed the space and started grinding on Derek and was happy that Derek lowered his hands to Thomas' ass and squeezed. Thomas threw his head back and tried not to moan as it felt good to have Derek's body rubbing against his. Things were heating up between the two. Derek placed his lips on Thomas, and he responded by sinking into the kiss

"Thomas?" A familiar deep voice spoke behind him. Thomas spun around and moved away from Derek. He was shocked to see Zach standing there with a tall well-built handsome man with soft big brown eyes.

"Wha...what are you doing here? I thought you had a date tonight?" Zach looked annoyed at his younger brother.

"James could you and I'm sorry what is your name?" Zach addressed Thomas's date.

"Derek Chambers, I'm a counselor at Sky Islands Middle and High School" Zach put his hand out to introduce himself and Derek took his hand

"My name is Zach I'm Thomas's older brother."

"Oh yes, the police officer, he's talked about you and Glen a lot" Zach smiled politely

"Could the two of you excuse us for a minute I just need a couple of minutes of Thomas's time?" The two men agreed, and James invited Derek to come to join their table. When they were out of earshot Zach glared at Thomas

"Bathroom" he snapped as Thomas still stood there in shock. Zach grabbed his arm and headed for the bathroom. There were only two stalls in there and it was empty, so Zach locked the bathroom door folded his arms, and snapped at Thomas again

"Explain exactly what you think you were doing out there grinding on that man like that?" Thomas finally came out of his shock and spoke up

"It's called dancing Zach and I really want to know what you're doing here with that GQ cover man. Zach closed the distance between him and his brother. He spun Thomas around and landed three hard swats on his jeans. Thomas yelped mostly for the act of the swats as his jeans gave him good protection.

"Do not smart mouth me or turn this around answer my question or I will drag your ass out of here, take you home, and whip the hell out of you. Do you know how shocking it is to turn around and see my baby brother grinding on a guy as he shoves his tongue down his throat?" Thomas was trembling slightly, he hated when his brothers were upset with him. Suddenly he recalled his conversation with Zach at home

"Wait I'll answer your questions but what about you? You told me you were going on a hot date and then you're here in a gay club with another guy? So, what's going on with you Zach?"