Julian’s smile faded from his face. “You know, Marc, for the first time since I’ve known you, this apartment seems like a home, not a place to change your clothes or screw some random guy you’ll never see again. You’re only fooling yourself.”
And Zach, who had picked up his coffee mug in preparation to return to Sam, left him with one of those comments you see on social media in greeting-card form that people use for inspiration.
“When the thought of living without Tyler scares you more than being with him for the rest of your life, you’ll understand. But I think you already know the answer to that question.”
Nodding but without adding a word, Julian gathered up his pad and mimosa and followed Zach, leaving Marcus alone to contemplate and wonder when his life had been reduced to an Internet meme.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‡
Monday dawned coldand bright and Tyler bundled up Lillie in her puffy purple coat she’d gotten over the weekend for school. Tyler couldn’t help but smile, remembering the terrified look on Marcus’s face upon entering the children’s department of the store; he looked ready to bolt. It took a few shots of scotch, a scorching-hot blowjob, and a shower massage before he calmed down when they’d returned home. And that was before dinner. Next time they’d go by themselves.
“Who’s picking me up today? Can I go to Rebecca’s house after school?”
“Let’s check when we get to school.” Tyler took her hand, and they walked down to the subway at the corner. The train came after only a few minutes of waiting and in less than fifteen minutes they were walking down the block from the preschool.
“Look. There’s Rebecca and Jacob with their daddy. Can I run up and meet her?”
Tyler nodded but cautioned, “Don’t run.”
She half skipped, half ran until she caught up with them. They stopped and waited for him to catch up, then Lillie, Rebecca, and Jacob walked ahead of them, while he and Josh Rosen caught up.
He liked the sandy-haired lawyer and found him much less intimidating than his husband, Micah, who reminded Tyler of Marcus.
“How’s everything?” he asked.
“Busy as usual. But in a good way.” Josh’s good humor shone from his eyes. “Have to find ways to pay this tuition.”
Being that that was still a sore spot with Tyler, he didn’t feel like commenting. “Uh, Lillie wanted to know if she can come over to your house after school.”
“Sure, but she doesn’t need to ask; she has a standing invitation anytime.” Josh pulled out his phone and texted. “I’ll let the babysitter know, so you’re good to go.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I don’t want to wear out her welcome. She loves your kids, and I’m still trying to find a dance studio space that isn’t going to bankrupt me every month.”
Josh nodded. “I hear you. It took me a while to find office space for my practice. I can ask around and see if any of my clients know of some storefront space.”
“Great, thanks.”
They headed up the front steps into the school, behind the children, and greeted the teachers as they passed them in the hallway. After saying goodbye to Lillie and telling her she’d be going home with Rebecca and Jacob, Tyler checked his watch and saw he had over an hour before his dance class at a charter school uptown in Washington Heights. He and Josh were walking down the hallway, retracing their steps to the front, when the headmistress of the school, Mrs. Meyers, stopped him.
“Mr. Reiss, may I have a word, please?”
He said goodbye to Josh and followed Mrs. Meyers into her office, where she closed the door behind him. Unsmiling, she sat down behind her desk.
“Is there a problem?” he asked politely. For some reason a cold sweat broke out across his back and his heart began to race.
“Mr. Reiss, I’m not going to beat around the bush here. Exactly what is your legal status regarding Lillie?”
The bottom might have dropped out from under his feet, yet Tyler, schooled in the art of faking his emotions after all the theater and dance training he’d had, held on, gripping his hands tight.
“Lillie is my niece. I’m watching her for my sister.”
“And you have the legal right to sign her paperwork and medical records and such?” Mrs. Meyers smiled, but there was no warmth in the depths of her cold gray eyes. “I’ll need the power of attorney you received from your sister to make these decisions.” Her hawklike gaze pierced him. “You do have one, correct, Mr. Reiss? We took Lillie into the school as a favor to Dr. Steinberg, but we aren’t going to flout the law for you.”
Love had a habit of changing a person into someone they’d never imagined. Tyler hated liars and strove to always tell the truth, but not here, not when Lillie’s whole future rested with him.
“It’s with my attorney, but he’s on vacation until after the New Year.” Amazing how smoothly the lie rolled off his tongue. “I can have it for you next month.”
