"Good." Derek drank his coffee. "Then I want to meet him properly. Not just as your friend who happened to show up."
Footsteps sounded behind me. Joel appeared in the kitchen doorway, hesitant in a way I'd never seen him. His eyes found me first, checking, and I nodded.
"Derek, this is Joel," I said. "My—" I stopped. Boyfriend was too small. Partner was too formal. I didn't have a word for what he was. "Joel."
Derek stood up and extended his hand. "Good to meet you. For real this time."
Joel shook it. "You too."
"There's coffee," Derek said. "If you want some."
"Thanks." Joel moved to the counter.
Derek watched him for a moment, then shook his head. "Gotta say though, I don't know how you pulled this off. He's like an LA nine and you're... you."
"Wow. Thanks." Joel sat down at the table with his coffee. "A nine?"
"An LA nine," Derek said. "That's like a ten everywhere else."
"Do you even know who I am?"
"A figure skater?"
"I'm a three-time world champion. I've been on the cover of—" Joel stopped, catching my grin. "You're winding me up."
"Little bit." Derek was smiling now. "But seriously. Red's punching way above his weight class here."
"Oh, he's not much of a puncher," Joel said. "More of a catcher."
It took Derek a second. Then his eyebrows shot up.
"Joel." Heat crawled up the back of my neck. "What the fuck."
Derek laughed, the real kind, startled out of him. "He got you there."
"I hate both of you," I said.
Joel's hand found mine under the table. Derek caught the gesture but didn't comment on it.
We spent the morning pretending things were normal.
Derek came back from the hospice around eleven, quieter than before. Dad was having a bad day, he said. Didn't recognize him. I nodded and didn't ask for details because I already knew what that looked like.
Joel made coffee and burned it, like he always did. I drank it anyway.
Around noon, my phone buzzed with Ro's name.
"Hey," I said. "What's—"
"Photos." His voice was flat. "Someone took photos of me and Chase. On balcony."
I sat down on the edge of the couch because my legs had stopped cooperating.
"When?"
"Last week. We were outside. Did not think anyone could see." He went quiet, and I could hear Ukko whining in the background. "Tabloid runs them tonight. Agent called twenty minutes ago."
"What are you going to do?"
