After a moment the first notes of Joshua’s song echoed through the pub and Colin got to his feet with a smile. “I should’ve known,” he murmured. He took Joshua’s hand and drew him to the dance floor.
“Isn’t that...” Trent began.
“It’s “We Can Last Forever”,” Nate said, smiling as he watched them.
Colin and Joshua held each other close as they swayed in time to the song they would always considertheirs, the song that had played as they walked down the aisle on their wedding day. “Count on you to remember it was on the jukebox,” Colin murmured into Joshua’s ear. “My head’s up my ass tonight.”
“You’ve got other things on your mind,” Joshua said. He tightened his arms around Colin’s neck and kissed him. “And you should. What you’ve done is amazing.” He shook his head and smiled. “But that’s nothing new. Everything you do is amazing.”
“Humph,” Colin scoffed. “Noteverything.”
When they returned to the table, Nate leaned toward him. “So, are you officially a lawyer now?”
Colin huffed out a breath. “Well, I think it goes like this: when I graduated from law school, I was...” he paused and made faked quote marks in the air, “...alawyer. I become an attorney-at-law and able to actually represent clients once I pass the bar and take my oath.”
“When does that happen?” Joshua asked. “The oath.”
“Not sure,” Colin said, picking up a fresh stout. He took a long swallow before grinning at his husband. “Hopefully nottonight!”
* * *
It waslate by the time they left McCafferty’s. Trent and Jeff walked them to their car and once there, Trent extended his hand to Colin. “Congratulations again, Irish. That’s one hell of an accomplishment.” He leaned closer, poking his index finger at Colin’s chest. “Now get back on those fuckingmachines!”
Colin laughed as he shook Trent’s hand. “I’m alreadyonthem,” he said. “But my physical therapist has been goofing off since he started going steady with some jackass called Jeff and hasn’t given me any new drills!”
Jeff snickered, leaning against Trent’s shoulder. “Yeah, I heard that guy was useless.”
Trent dug his elbow into Jeff’s side, before turning back to Colin. “We’ve got Sophie this weekend,” Trent said, referring to his daughter. “But I’ll call you on Monday and set up a date to look at some new workouts.”
“Sounds good,” Colin told him, then watched as his friends ambled across the parking lot, Trent’s arm tight around Jeff’s shoulders. “Man, I never would have believedthatwould work out,” he chuckled.
“Trent and Jeff?” Joshua asked. “And you’d better give me your keys. You did a lot of liquid celebrating tonight.”
Colin dropped his keys into Joshua’s hand. “Yeah, them. I had my doubts, but they seem happy.”
“People had their doubts aboutustoo if you recall,” Joshua said, laughing as he climbed into the car.
“Jackasses! Ineverhad any doubts!”
Joshua’s face twisted in a dubious grimace as he shot Colin a look. “Right.”
* * *
Colin’s combinedscaled score for both the MBE and the essay portion of his bar exam came to 195.2. All scores were compiled and mailed to applicants a few days after the list was posted. His score placed him in the 97th percentile range of applicants who took the bar exam at the same time and set him up as a much-desired commodity for those in search of top-tier attorneys.
But Colin had decided long ago that his primary goal was to work for the Commonwealth of Virginia out of the Commonwealthy’s Attorney’s office. The clerks, secretaries, bailiffs, and city judges all knew Colin well from his decade of service with the University of Virginia campus police and that office had been holding a spot for him since graduation. All that remained was for him to take the oath which would take place in three weeks when Colin, along with 145 other newly licensed attorneys and twenty-seven reciprocity admittees, would be sworn in via videoconference by Supreme Court of Virginia Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons and admitted to the Virginia State Bar.
“Wow,” Joshua gushed, watching Colin push the vacuum cleaner around their living room. “Chief Justice of the Supreme Court!”
Colin wrinkled his nose. “Big whoop,” he muttered, then nudged Joshua’s leg with his own. “Lift your feet.”
Joshua raised his feet, grinning at his husband. “No naked vacuuming this Saturday?”
Colin shot him a scowl in reply and Joshua laughed. “Hey! I look forward to it all week!” He crossed his feet and rested them on the coffee table.
Colin turned off the vacuum and gazed down at him. “Couple of the justices are beholden to Professor Merritt, and he muscled them into doing it.”
“How doyouknow?”
