Daniel sat scrolling through his phone and finishing his coffee. Eli noticed he’d poured him one, so he sat and nursed it. He was happy to stay quiet for as long as Daniel wanted. Daniel finished on his phone and put it down.
“Firstly, living arrangements. I think we should plan on you staying for at least a month.”
Eli shook his head. Not in denial, but in a stunned sort of way. “What do you mean?” he croaked out.
“I need a hundred percent of you for this job. If you’re either not sleeping or worrying about if you even have somewhere to sleep, your focus isn’t going to be on putting this creep away.”
It wasn’t anyway. His focus was an entirely different outcome for Caffrey, but Daniel couldn’t know that. “I pay my share.” He didn’t manage to pull off unconcerned that time; it sounded defensive even to his own ears.
“You can cook,” Daniel said, and it wasn’t a question. Eli nodded, wondering where he was going with that. “Good, then that’s your responsibility. I hate it. You buy it and cook it, and I consider that you paying your fair share.” He paused. “But not either Thursday or Friday because we’re both invited to my mom’s,” Daniel added. Eli opened his mouth to protest, but Daniel was still talking. “We share cleaning and house chores.”
Eli closed his mouth because that was okay.
“No girlfriends, or whatever. The team are welcome obviously, but this is a safe space, and I don’t want strangers in here.”
“Girlfriends?” Eli blurted out.
“Or boyfriends,” Daniel added carefully, and Eli immediately dropped his gaze.
“I also want to know if you’re not coming home and I was expecting you to be.”
Eli gaped. What the fuck?
“And I just mean as a common courtesy. I obviously have no control, neither do I expect to have, over whether you go out or not. I just want to know if you are sleeping at home.”
Eli had no idea what to say to that at all. Really no idea. He tried to see it from Daniel’s point of view. Then he remembered him sleeping with him last night. Just sleeping. And Eli had felt safe enough to. Was that worth the thought of having to let Daniel know if he wasn’t going to be home? He was used to doing what he wanted when he wanted. By comparison it felt a small thing.
“Okay.”
Daniel nodded approvingly. “What are your…rules?”
Eli stared at him for another second because he couldn’t work out if he was more shocked by Daniel’s question or the fact Daniel would expect him to have them. Eli shrugged. He didn’t know. He didn’t have any.
“Then have a think and let me know.”
So basically Eli had to do the cooking, share the cleaning, and just let Daniel know if he wasn’t sleeping at home?
Like I’d be anywhere else.
“I can do all that.” Because now he’d gotten over the shock on the surface, they didn’t seem bad. Not unreasonable, and if Eli knew what was expected of him, there was less chance he would screw up, which in a strange way made him feel more confident.
“I will call the management office to get you a resident parking pass for your car so you can bring it back from the field office,” Daniel said practically. “Jake drove it back from the store yesterday. But we can drive in together today.”
“I’ve got a thing I have to do this morning,” Eli hedged. “Talon knows.” It was his mandatory bullshit therapy session they all had to have. He’d missed the last two appointments though, and if he needed to keep this job for the time being, he would have to turn up for this one.
“At work or somewhere else?” Daniel asked levelly.
“It’s the team therapy appointment,” Eli said casually. No big deal. He’d always bluffed his way through it. The doctors had an office downtown. “The office is just off Osborne Avenue.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got some errands to do. Go to the DMV and change my address. So unless you would rather I didn’t pick you up after, I can let Talon know we’ll both be in later.”
Eli shrugged. “It won’t take long.” He’d learned a long time ago how to tell certain people what they wanted to hear.
Eli walked up to the same receptionist prepared to go through the same rigmarole. “Eli Stuart to see Dr. Reddicker.”
The receptionist—Mrs. Marsh, who reminded him of Daniel’s mom—smiled pleasantly. “You can go right through, Eli, but it’s Dr. Rakeem. Dr. Reddicker’s wife has just had a baby, so he’s taking some time off.”
Eli held back the sigh. An appointment with a new therapist always took longer. They always thought he needed saving. It was a lot less hassle when you had the first two or even three out of the way. He nodded and went to the third door on the left, knocked once, and then let himself in. He blinked at the guy, who was on his hands and knees under the desk, took in the carpet covered in LEGO pieces, the random toy cars, and the solitary rabbit that was tucked on a chair he would normally sit on. He glanced back at the door wondering if he’d come in the wrong room, when the man on the floor tried to get up without completely clearing the desk and caught his head. “Shit.”
Eli’s lips might have twitched slightly. “Shall I come back?”
The man backed out properly and sat up rubbing his scalp. “Not unless it’s with a double caramel latte.”
“What?” Eli asked, unsure if the doctor had stepped out and this was a patient.
“My wife has banned me from my favorite coffee place for the foreseeable future until I get my numbers under control.” He patted his belly. “I’m prediabetic, and unfortunately this physician hasn’t worked out how to heal himself.” He seemed to consider that as he got to his feet just as Eli decided it might be better if he helped clear up instead of just watching the guy. “No, that’s a lie,” he said with a wry grin. “My brain knows full well what I should do, it’s my taste buds that have trouble being fooled that the low-everything version is just the same as the creamy goodness of the forbidden fruit.” He grinned and held out a hand. “Jonathan Rakeem, Dr. Reddicker’s new partner.”
Eli dropped some LEGOs in the large blue bucket and shook his hand. “Eli Stuart.” He let out a sigh of relief as all he got from the touch was mild curiosity and a longing for a sweet drink.
“Please sit.” He waved to the chair containing the rabbit. Eli put it on the desk, not sure it should be consigned to a bucket.
The doc dropped to the other chair, not the one behind the desk, and picked up a file. “Eli Stuart, twenty-three, hotshot FBI agent with enhanced abilities,” he read, keeping his face straight. Eli knew it didn’t actually say that. He smiled and tossed the file on the desk. “So, tell me why you’re here.”
Eli’s lips parted in surprise. “I have to come every three months for the job, Doctor.” Maybe being new he didn’t know that.
Dr. Rakeem nodded. “Call me Jonathan. I don’t mean the agency speak. I mean why do you think you need to be here.”
“I don’t.” But that almost felt like a lie.
“Convince me, then, and I’ll sign your permission slip and you can go back to catching bad guys with Talon and the rest of them. I met his partner, Agent Mayer, last week. An interesting man.” Eli managed to stifle the groan at Finn’s name, but it wasn’t a challenging statement. “Or at least tell me what you discussed with Dr. Reddicker so I’m up to speed.”