Suddenly the case was in the news, and not in a good way. It was something along the lines of another rich guy is escaping justice. As it turns out, having your client’s wrongdoing become the focus of national attention does not help grease the wheels of justice. Who knew?
Ben covers his face with a hand. “Please don’t start encouraging people to do that, Drew,” he says. “Not everyone I represent is, uh, as deserving as you.”
“It gets worse,” Josh says, pressing his lips to the top of my head. He has enjoyed the hell out of my Twitter revenge. “Her stepfather sent a text scolding her for it and Drew tweeted about one of his clients too.”
Ben groans aloud while everyone else laughs. Weirdly, my mother didn’t seem to mind all that much. She told me the firm was in an uproar, and when I told her I wasn’t sorry, she said I didn’t figure you would be. Let’s get lunch the next time you’re here. It can even be burgers.
Dinner is served, toasts are made. It’s a lovely evening but it ends pretty early given that there’s an infant, a ten-month old, and a toddler all falling apart by nine PM.
When everyone’s gone, I climb into bed and wait for Josh.
“I think it went well,” he calls from the bathroom.
“It did but Ben seemed kind of…wistful when he left. Do you know anyone we could—”
Josh wanders out with only a towel wrapped around his waist, skin still damp. My thoughts turn carnal in a second flat. “Well, hello there, nearly naked stranger.”
He grins. “I’ve got something for you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” I reply, throwing off the covers. “Remove the towel.”
“It wasn’t that. I mean, it will be obviously, in about thirty seconds,” he says with a chuckle, “but not just yet.”
He goes to the dresser and pulls out a sheet of paper. “Remember that reporter who came to the studio when you were recording? She just published a story about it.”
I stare at him for a moment, and then I start to laugh. “An online blogger wrote an article…and you printed it? You are so old.”
He raises a brow. “You never know how long that stuff will stay up—”
I’m still laughing. “Yes, you do. It stays up forever. I don’t need to read it, but that’s very sweet of you.”
“She makes Davis sound like an asshole,” he says. “Obviously, not the hardest job in the world. But she also says really nice things about the songs she heard you working on.”
I don’t really care what anyone says about Davis, or what anyone says about the album, but I love that he cares. I love that he likes my new songs. And I love that he printed the article out like someone who still thinks the internet is a passing fad.
He crosses the room to put it away but stops in place when I pull off my t-shirt. He stands there, blinking, as if he’s forgotten for a moment what he was doing, and then he slowly turns away, putting the printout in his sock drawer next to a black velvet box I’m trying very hard not to peek at. And I wasn’t snooping. I do his laundry sometimes.
“Come here,” I tell him. His eyes already have that dark, drugged look they get when he’s thinking about sex. I stretch out on the bed, relishing the outline of him now bulging under that towel. My work here is done.
He climbs beside me and I wrap my arms around him. “Tell me something,” I whisper. “Tell me something no one else knows.”
“I’m madly in love with you,” he says, pressing his lips to my neck.
I smile. “Everyone knows that. And of course you are. I’m adorable. Tell me something else.”
He laughs and rolls on his side, his hand on my hip. “I was thinking we ought to take a trip to Maui,” he says. “My mom has a book that says it’s the most beautiful of all the Hawaiian islands.”
“Sure, but how’s the medical care?” I ask.
He pulls me closer and bites down on a grin. “I don’t know, but they apparently have several good places to hold a wedding.”
My heart thuds in my chest. “Yeah? Do you know someone planning to get married?”
His lips brush over my temple, my cheekbone, down along my jaw. “I might. Depends on if she says yes.”
I remove his towel. “I bet she’d say yes. It sounds like she’d be crazy not to.”
“You’re sure?” he asks. I arch up to help him tug off my shorts. “It’s a pretty long trip. I know you have an aversion to that.”
I pull him toward me. “I’m sure. I don’t mind a long trip every once in a while.”
It makes all the difference when you’re not taking it alone.
The End