I waited for a bit, then decided I wasn’t reading him correctly. “Well, I guess we’ve got to get going, but again, thank you. Very much.”
This time Allan did grab my arm. He let go quickly when I turned back around. His blush was in full force, and his gaze darted between Noah and me again. “Um. I don’t mean offense, but I thought I’d put it out there. Especially if your boyfriend already knows. But if you two are ever looking for company, I’d be interested.”
Beside me Noah snorted.
I narrowed my eyes at Allan. “Company?”
He bobbed his head. “Yeah. You know, if you ever need a third or something.”
“A third?” It hit me, and my eyes popped open. “Oh. Oh, right. Company. Thanks, Allan. We’ve gotta go, but I’ll let ya know if something comes up.” I turned around, grabbed Noah’s hand, and started walking away.
Allan’s excited voice piped up from behind us. “Really? That would be great! See you guys soon.”
We were barely out the doors before Noah lost it. He laughed so hard I thought he was going to rip his pants. He bumped my shoulder. “Oh my God, Randall. That was awesome! We’ll let him know if something comes up? For being such a slut, it sure took you long enough to figure out the kid was wanting a three-way.”
“Hey, be nice.”
He kept laughing. “Well, come on, babe. For someone who has had as many threesomes as you have, you were a bit slow on the uptake.”
“You don’t know I’ve had threesomes.”
He laughed harder.
“You’re a bitch.” I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. “Besides, you missed the main point of the conversation. He said he thinks I’m innocent.”
“Sweetie, I bet if you ask Allan, that was not the main point of that conversation. However, that was nice. Nice enough maybe we should give him what he asked for.”
“Hey!”
Cue more laughter. “You know I’m kidding.” Noah wrapped his arm around me, not caring that we were in the middle of Pioneer Square or that I was the most talked-about Seattle gay man of the past five years. He held me, his strong body still trembling slightly from laughter. He pulled back so he could look me in the eye. “You know, I was going to wait a bit, but I was thinking during that tour, about what you said to Kayla.”
I searched my memory for a second but had no clue. “What’d I say?”
“Just about not being able to afford an investigator.” He suddenly looked nervous, somewhat like Allan. “I’d been thinking about it anyway, but wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”
“What?”
He hesitated again, then blurted it out. “I think we should move in together. We’re never apart, anyway. Doesn’t make sense to be paying two rents.”
My brain blew a fuse. “Move in together?”
“Yeah.”
I moved my mouth, but I couldn’t form words. Which made sense as thoughts weren’t exactly firing either.
“You don’t need to answer right now. Just think about it.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
RETURNING TOmy apartment the next day, I felt like I was entering a completely different place than the one I left before this all started. Not everything had changed, by any means. Actually, very little changed. But I felt like me. A new me. I felt alive.
Noah was real. His love for me was real. His expectations for me were real.
Despite all the drama and rumors, I too was real. I think I’d forgotten that. That I wasn’t what they suggested online. I was more than a photographer. More than Bailey’s uncle, although being her uncle was the most important thing to me. And though I wasn’t certain what the next steps were going to be, for the first time in a week or more, I felt strong enough to take them. That was miracle enough.
In a show of faith, or stupidity, the first thing I did when we got back was hop on the computer and check my work e-mail. It was nearly two weeks since I last checked. It was too painful. Full of accusations and condemnations from strangers. In the mental space I was in, it was fairly easy to identify them by the subject line or lack thereof and delete them before their dark words could work their way into my heart.
I was moving so quickly I nearly deleted one I shouldn’t. But the name jumped out at me. Samuel Travazza. The subject line simply said, “Annual Photo Shoot.”
