Apparently, they’d been in there longer than they’d thought. It was so easy to get distracted by Josh. He was one of a kind and he’d always been Riley’s number one. There wasn’t anything Riley wouldn’t do for him.
If Josh called him and said he needed help moving a body, well, Riley likely already would have been with him. But he would help him bury it, no questions asked.
It was a ride-or-die friendship they could always rely on. Cole and Avery had been their close friends for years, but there was always a special connection Josh and Riley shared that eclipsed everyone else.
If Riley wasn’t already in love, it wouldn’t be long before he fell, because Josh was everything he’d ever wanted.
After drying off and throwing on some warm clothes to ward off the chill of the shower, they hunkered down on the couch and got to work.
Riley was in the middle of emailing client invoices when his phone buzzed on the arm of the couch, Garrett’s name appearing in his notifications.
A quick peek at Josh showed he was distracted by a logo he was working on for a local produce store, so Riley grabbed his phone to see what Garrett had to say.
He hated hiding things from Josh, but he was trying to protect him.
GARRETT:You gotta tell me where you found this document. I don’t need to know HOW, but where was it? It’s not in any of the police archives and all traces of the accident have been wiped from the system.
RILEY:Fuck, that’s weird, right? I found it in a database on your captain’s server.
GARRETT:Captain McUseless? That makes no sense. He’s a nepo hire that doesn’t do shit around here. Wtf was he doing with it?
Riley snorted. Garrett had complained about his boss—actual name Captain Graham McHugh—onmultiple occasions. They’d wondered how he’d gotten his job as the captain of Cherrywood’s police department until they found out he was the nephew of New Jersey Governor Neil McHugh. That had to be the only reason he’d been able to keep his job all these years.
GARRETT:Well, things are weirder than I thought, but I’m gonna do some more digging. I’ll be in touch.
Riley sent his thanks to Garrett and put his phone aside.
Josh was still entrenched in his design and hadn’t noticed Riley texting, thank goodness. Once Garrett helped him make sense of this, he’d fill Josh in on everything. For now, he didn’t want him to worry when Riley didn’t have an explanation.
He took a moment to watch Josh work, his brow furrowed and the tip of his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. Damn, he was cute.
Riley loved how light and positive Josh always was. It was one of his favorite things about him. But when it came to work, he was more like a machine, refusing to quit until he got something just right. Sometimes it was difficult if they disagreed on a design, since Josh was a perfectionist and always had a way to make things better. Like how he made Riley’s life better.
Riley stifled a sigh so as not to distract Josh and hisscreen full of fruit.
“How’s that logo coming? Is it still completely free of any hidden erotic produce?”
Josh chuckled but kept his eyes on his screen.
“Going well. Still tweaking it a bit, but there’s something off. The logo mark is great, but considering the organic nature of the shape, I don’t think a display handwritten font works. It’s making it look childish instead of professional. That’s what’s causing the dissonance.
“If we swap the font to a modern sans serif, match the width to the logo mark, and space it the height of the text… There! That's better. I could still see playing with the font weight a bit, maybe sending the client a few variations so they feel like they contributed. If they ask, though, I think the bold in that font is the right choice.”
Riley couldn’t help but smile at Josh’s explanation. It was amazing how many people they’d interacted with over the years who thought he was as dumb as a rock, while he was anything but. He’d struggled with math and history, always battling with memorization. He did a little better with English, but where he really shined was in artand design. Riley had some skills, but he wasn’t the artist Josh was. Riley helped with design on occasion, but he mostly handled the business side of Jollywood Graphics, as well as maintaining some of their clients’ websites.
It’s what made them such a great team, since Josh couldn’t handle the business aspect and Riley wasn’t as skilled in art. Josh had an eye for design that always made their clients happy. And when they had a disagreement or miscommunication with a client, Josh had a knack for smoothing everything over. It was like everyone he interacted with was a little bit happier afterward. Riley was so lucky to have him.
“It looks great,” Riley rasped, realizing he hadn’t said anything for a while. “I think the client is gonna love it.”
I think I’m gonna love you.
24
THE SECRET NUMBER FOR Riley and Josh’s shopping trip was three, despite Riley begging for them to increase it now that Jollywood Graphics was bringing in good money. It was a hard habit for Josh to break.
It was something they started doing in college when they were trying to save every dollar they could in preparation for starting their own business. The number represented how many items they were allowed to get that weren’t already on their shopping list. It had kept them from indulging in things they didn’t need over the years, and they’d saved enough to have a decent cushion in case they were hit with some big cost they hadn’t foreseen. Or if they decided on a spontaneous road trip.
Since they were taking on more clients and had a steady stream of income thanks to the websites they maintained, they could probably spend a bit more on food, butit would only go to waste.
