Cuffed©️

Deacon

Just like any other morning, I walk into SWAT HQ and head right for my locker as I stifle a yawn and walk with my head down. Early mornings suck, and yet here I am again, punching the fucking clock for another day of saving hostages and chasing down bad guys.

“Well, good morning, Deac.”

My partner, Carter Cole, says this to me as I hit the locker right beside him.

“How’s it hanging?”

“Eh, slightly to the left, brother.” I replied with a sarcastic laugh.

Carter pats me on the back and opens his locker, throwing his backpack in at the same time as me. We shut them with a loud slam and then took the bench to gear up for the day, both starting off by switching out our shoes for our SWAT-required combat boots. I’ve been working here for over fifteen years, starting at patrol first, before climbing the ladder to SWAT, which was always a dream of mine. My fucking career is also the reason I’m still single, even after being divorced for seventeen years. Long hours and days didn’t mix well with the wife. She ended up leaving me and my son when he was just five years old, and I’ve been raising him as a single father ever since. Let me fucking tell you, it’s no goddamn picnic, and it’s a fucking hard job, even harder than SWAT.

“So, Deac, have you gotten any hits on Tinder yet?” “Or have you not even fucking checked?”

I roll my eyes at Carter and go back to lacing my boots, ignoring his ignorant fucking question. I don’t have time to date; in fact, I don’t have time to do much of anything with the career I chose. Even so, it doesn’t stop my buddies from trying to get me laid from time to time. Carter made me a fucking Tinder profile, which I have yet to fucking check out.

“I don’t have time, Carter.” “You of all people know how busy we can get, man.”

“Fuck off with that bullshit, Deac!” Even I make time for a little pussy every once in a while.”

“Shit, let me see your goddamn phone, Deacon.”

Before I can hand it to him, he snatches it from the clip on my belt and starts scrolling through shit immediately. I let him, only because he won’t fucking stop until he checks it out for himself and sees that there’s nothing there. His laugh makes me turn my head to look at him; he’s grinning from ear to ear. He holds my phone out to me so I can see what’s on the screen.

“Dude, you’ve got a fucking match!”

“Fuck off, Carter.” I’m not in the mood to deal with this shit today. Travis is-”

He blatantly shoves the phone in my face, making me stop in the middle of my sentence and notice the gorgeous blonde who I supposedly matched with. I take my phone from him and scroll down the page. Sure enough, there’s a beautiful little angel staring back at me.

“She looks mad young, Deac.”

He’s right; she does look wicked young, and she definitely doesn’t look my age. Even so, I can’t peel my fucking eyes off of the screen, away from the gorgeous blue eyes staring back at me.

“So, what do you think?” Are you going to message her or what?”

“Fuck it. You do it for me, Carter. Help me get my foot in the fucking door. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to a woman outside of work.”

“Fucking scared, are we?”

He laughs and snatches the phone from my hands. I smack him upside the head and continue to put my bulletproof vest on while he types out a message to the girl. He smirks as he hands me my phone back and walks away, leaving me in the dark locker room alone, dying to check out the message he sent to this chick. However, the bell rings, signaling our morning briefing, so I put my phone back into its clip and leave the room, not giving the message another fucking thought.

Myla

I get to Travis’ house earlier than I usually do, only because I’ve had a few kids cancel their sessions for today. It hurts my fucking pockets, but it is what it is. I’ve been an in-home tutor and homeschool teacher for high school kids for the last three years, trying to save up money so I can move back home to Boston and out of LA. I came for the beaches and the boys, but when I got here, my boyfriend and I broke up, leaving me homeless for a while. I was lucky enough to rent a room from a college kid who needed the money and started working at a strip club for extra income. It paid off, and I was finally able to get my own house. I still dance at the club on my nights and weekends; the money is too good to give it up. My daytime job is as a full-time tutor, and I make a lot of money doing that too. The only downfall is dealing with parents of kids who don’t put forth the effort to learn what I’m teaching them. So, when they fail, I get yelled at and shit, but luckily for me, it doesn’t happen very often; I’m the best at what I do.

Before I can knock on Travis’ door, my cell pings with a notification, so I quickly check it. It’s a Tinder notification... I’d forgotten about making a Tinder profile a wicked long time ago. After all, I haven’t had the time to check it because I’m always so busy. After my last relationship, I’m afraid to even put myself out there. Sure enough, when I open the app I see I have a new message from someone named Deacon, who looks to be way older than me in his profile picture.

“The older the better.”

I say with a smile on my face as I click on the message and read it to myself, still standing on the front porch of Travis’ house.

“Hi, Myla, my name is Deacon. I saw that we matched and I figured I’d send you a message to see how you’re doing. You’re fucking beautiful, btw.”

I laugh at the properness of his message and hover my finger over the reply button, debating if I should answer him now, or ignore it and answer him when I’m done with Travis’ session. Fuck it, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten any; might as well answer him now and get it over with.

“Hi, Deacon! It’s nice to get a message from you and see that we’re a match. tbh, I wasn’t sure my profile was still active, it’s been a while lol If you’d like to message me back I’d be okay with that, but if I don’t respond right away it’s because I’m currently at work!”

Biting my lip nervously, I quickly type out a reply to the mysterious Deacon, and slip my phone back into my purse, then ring the doorbell for Travis. Travis answers the door in his pajamas with his hair a mess, ushering me into his house quickly, and locking the door behind us. This is usual for him since he’s homeschooled, and my job with him is to pretty much teach him what he needs to know. He’s by far the most well-behaved kid I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching.

“Mornin, Myla!”

“Good morning, Trav. Are you ready to take your chemistry test this morning?”

“Nah, but I’m gonna take it anyway. Can we work in the den today?”

“Sure, Kiddo; wherever you feel comfortable.”

As Travis leads me to the den, I can hear my phone blowing up in my purse and I find myself smiling, thinking it might be a message from the gorgeous Deacon I just matched with. I get Travis all set up with his materials and give him instructions, then take a seat and pull my phone out, excited to see what it says.

“I’m surprised you answered so quickly. I thought once you saw my age you’d run away”

“Sorry to disappoint, Deacon, but age doesn’t bother me. I like a man with some miles on him that can teach me a thing or two. The older the better I always say.”

Oh, god. What the fuck am I saying? You can really tell it’s been a while since I’ve dated or done anything similar to dating.

“Well then, I can definitely teach you a thing or two, Myla; there’s no problem there.”

“You’re funny, I like that! Tell me, Deacon, what do you do for work?”

“Well, I’m actually in law enforcement.”

“Ooh, a man in uniform! I love that! lol”

“Is that right? lol Tell me, Myla, what do you do for work?”

“I actually am a tutor during the day and I work at a nightclub in the evening for extra income.”

“Your profile says you’re twenty-one; is that true, or are you catfishing me? lol”

“lol your profile says you’re forty! How do you even know what catfishing is?"

“My son watches that shit. Oh, yeah, I have a teenage son, and before you ask about his mother, she’s not in the picture.”

I’m stumped as to what to reply to him. If he’s forty and has a son, would that make his son close to my age? Would it be too weird if Deacon and I were to actually meet for a date?

“Did I scare you off, Myla?”

“No, sorry... I just wasn’t expecting you to have a son, but it’s fine.”

“Look, I’ve never done this before and I’m not sure how it all works exactly. I definitely feel old as fuck when it comes to this new age shit.”

“Well it’s easy tbh. If you want to meet up for a drink or something, we could do that... or we could just talk on here for a while before we decide if we want to meet each other irl.”

“Yeah, why don’t we chat on here for a little bit and get to know each other more before we decide to meet up?”

“Sure, Deacon! I’d like that. It’s nice having someone to talk to without being uncomfortable or whatever.”

“Great, Myla, I’m glad you agree. Unfortunately, I have to get back to work now, but I’ll be looking forward to talking to you a little bit later today.”

“Me too, Deacon. I’m glad we ended up being a match... You seem like someone I’d get along really well with.”

“Agreed, Myla. ttyl”

I put my phone down and can’t get rid of the smile that’s glued to my face. Who knew downloading tinder would bring me to this place right now? I just hope he isn’t some fucking weirdo and that he really is the man in the picture on his profile. This is just what I needed to move on from my ex. Let’s just hope my ex isn’t the one behind this shit because not only would I be highly fucking embarrassed, but I’d be livid, and I’d kill him with my bare hands for putting me through this shit.

Deacon

After my short conversation with the beautiful Myla, I can’t seem to get rid of the smile that she’s put on my damn face. She’s a little young for me, but at the same time, my ex-wife was my age, and that shit didn’t work out. Once she found out about my little secret, it was too much for her on top of the bullshit I had already put her through, and she took off running as fast as she could, not even bothering to take Travis with her. It’s hard being a single father to a teen boy, and it’s even harder being a SWAT officer with a dark, dark secret. Trying to keep said secret under wraps has proved way fucking harder than I thought it would.

There’s a part of me that I keep hidden from the rest of the world that can ruin me and anyone who finds out about it. I haven’t met a woman yet who can handle the type of man I am, but maybe Myla will be that girl for me. Deep down, I need her to fucking be, because I’m slowly spiraling out of control and desperately need to reel myself back in. She can do that for me, I hope. Maybe Myla will be the one who helps me bring my darkness to light... However, it’s only the first time we’ve spoken, so who knows where this fucking little innocent conversation will bring us?