Sleep tries to pull me under, and Law’s breathing evens out, but before I can drift off, a vibrating noise fills the quiet space. I figure it’s one of our phones, and when it stops a minute later, I close my eyes again. But the vibrating comes back.
Slipping out of bed carefully so I don’t wake Law, I find the culprit in the form of Law’s phone and Anders’ name blinking at me.
“Hello?” I whisper into the phone.
“Law?” Anders voice sounds strained. “I fucked up. I’m fucked up.” He breathes hard.
“Anders,” I say louder. “It’s Reed. Law’s asleep.”
“Shit. Umm. Never mind. Don’t tell him I called.”
Before I can get him to tell me what’s wrong, he disconnects the call.
So, it starts already. What am I supposed to do here? Law’s had a long night and needs his rest, but I don’t like the way Anders sounded. Law only told me hours ago that Anders will always be his first priority, but if Anders doesn’t want him knowing …
No, there’s definitely something wrong.
“Law.” I shake him, and he grumbles but doesn’t wake. “Lawson. It’s Anders.”
He bolts upwards. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. He told me not to tell you, but he said he fucked up and then realised he was talking to me and not you, so he hung up.”
Law slumps down in bed and lets out a loud breath. “Okay, I’m up.” His eyes stay closed.
I snort. “Looks it.”
With a groan, he climbs out of bed and rummages for his clothes.
“Want me to come with you?”
He hesitates.
“If you think it’ll be better to go alone, that’s okay. You can borrow my car.”
“Shit. I forgot mine’s at home. And no, I want you there. I don’t know what’s going on, but if he’s freaking out, it might be a good idea for you to see why I need to disappear sometimes. Anders won’t like it, but he can do this one thing for me. I don’t want you to resent me for picking him all the time.”
“I won’t ever do that.”
Law crosses the room and brushes his lips against mine. “We need to go.”
I throw on whatever clothes I can find and follow Law into the parking garage under my building. “Did you want to drive? I don’t know where you guys live.” The one time I dropped him home, he told me to pull over on the busy street and he jumped out fast so I didn’t hold up traffic. All I know is it’s close enough to the dojo for Law to walk to and from work.
“Yeah, I kinda did that on purpose.” He holds out his hand, and I throw him my keys.
Law’s silent on the drive, but when we turn onto the street of the dojo, he pulls into a four-storey apartment block. “If we can find a visitor’s spot in the carpark it should be okay. Otherwise we’ll need to find street parking which is a bitch.”
After he finds a spot okay, and we walk up three flights of stairs, Law stops outside apartment 3B and turns to me.
He’s antsy and wrings his hands. His eyes have that worried look shining right at me. “Depending on what state he’s in, this might get ugly.”
“I can handle it.”
Leaning in, he kisses me softly. “Thank you for wanting to be here, but if it’s too much, I understand.”
I stop his hand from reaching for the doorhandle. “Don’t you get it? Now we’re doing this, your issues are my issues. I’m not going anywhere, even if he’s in there naked, wielding a knife and promising his life to Satan.”
The door swings open and Anders stands there, his eyes red-rimmed and with a scowl on his face. “Satan doesn’t love me. He’s only using me for sex.”
“What’s going on?” Law asks.
Anders’ gaze turns to me. “You ratted me out?”
“Your phone call was—”
Anders steps aside to let us in the apartment. “I’m fine. I just—”
The loudspeaker in their living room belts out “Detroit Rock City.”
“KISS?” Law asks. “You’re so not fine.”
“I realised something,” Anders says, “and then I called because I didn’t know what time it was, and I told your boyfriend not to say anything, and then—”
“Yeah, because saying ‘I’m fucked’ and then hanging up isn’t going to raise some flags,” I say.
“Your friend. Cody, Bodhi … whatever his name was—”
“Brody. And I’m so telling him you forgot his name. His ego won’t like that.”
“Yeah, him. He filled me in about the kid and what you two did for him a few weeks back.”
“That fucker,” Law mumbles.
“No,” Anders says. “I needed it. I needed to hear what you kept from me, because I know exactly why you did it. It made me realise how much I’ve put on you, Law. It ends. Tonight. I’m done leaning on you and needing you, and I’m going to do better.”