Nine-tenths of the Law

by L. A. Witt

  “Fuck, yes,” I moaned.

  “I said-” The growl suddenly dropped to a moan. “Oh, fuck…” He pushed himself up, grabbing my hips again and thrusting harder. “Oh, fuck, I’m gonna come, oh, Jesus Christ…” A violent shudder abruptly halted his voice. He made no sound-no growl, no whimper, no breath-until his body collapsed over mine. He caught himself on trembling arms and finally managed a sigh.

  We didn’t speak as he got up to get rid of the condom. Then we lay in silence, both staring up at the ceiling. Every inch of my body ached, and I was certain there would be a bruise or two to show for it in the morning, but I didn’t care. This was exactly what I needed. I smiled to myself.

  Fuck you, Jake.

  Chapter Four

  We’d barely caught our breath when Nathan sat up, inching toward the edge of the bed and away from me. He didn’t look at me as he ran a hand through his hair. The stiffness of his posture forbade me to touch him, the narrow gap between us forming an icy barricade that made me wonder if I’d imagined everything we’d just done together. If we’d ever really touched at all.

  “I should probably go.” His voice was flat, devoid of anger or affection.

  Disappointment knotted in my stomach alongside all the uncomfortable emotions that had started the moment we met. I knew from the beginning that this would end before it really started, but that didn’t make it any easier when it happened.

  Wordlessly-as we’d done almost everything from the beginning-we got out of bed to get dressed. Nathan found his clothes between the bed and the door. I just grabbed a pair of boxers.

  I flipped on the hall light and led him back into the living room. My cats glared at us from the sofa, eyeing Nathan as if to demand an explanation of this stranger on their turf, but he didn’t seem to notice them.

  He cleared his throat. “Well, I…” He hesitated for a moment before finally looking me in the eye. “Sorry we had to meet the way we did.”

  I shrugged. “Can’t be helped.”

  “Yeah.” He paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess it can’t.”

  We exchanged casual goodbyes, like two acquaintances parting ways after a five-minute conversation. When we reached the point at which a handshake was usually customary, we didn’t look at each other. Didn’t speak. Certainly didn’t extend a hand.

  Then, without another word, he was gone.

  The deadbolt issued a click of finality, announcing that the evening’s events had ended. He was gone. It was over. Everything was over.

  Exhaustion caught up with me, and I leaned against the door. I sighed, trying to understand the confusing cacophony of thoughts that ran through my tired mind.

  Jake was gone. Nathan had walked into-and out of-my life and I couldn’t decide whose departure was responsible for the heavy, sinking feeling in my gut.

  I went into the living room and sat on the couch, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. I’d fully expected a sleepless night, but this wasn’t what I had in mind. An all-nighter with Jake usually left me completely exhausted, but it was well worth it. Every time. Every damned time he made me feel things I’d never before imagined, and all the while, Nathan slept alone.

  I groaned aloud as guilt twisted in my stomach. It didn’t matter how many times I told myself I didn’t know, that I couldn’t have known, it killed me now that I did know.

  Leaning back, I put my feet on the coffee table and stared at the ceiling. Hopefully Nathan had taken my apologies to heart and didn’t hold it against me like I held it against myself.

  Either way, it was done, and now that it was, I had the thrilling task of getting over it. I let out a breath and closed my eyes. Pity. He’s an incredible kisser and-stop it, Zach.

  A furry head bumped against my hand, and I absently scratched the cat’s ears. He purred and flopped down on the cushion beside me. I looked down at him. It was Plato, my Himalayan, and even his rather undignified position-flat on his back, paws sticking out in every direction-couldn’t draw any humor out of me.

  Homer, my orange tabby, hopped onto the other side of the sofa and cocked his head at me. He was just out of reach, his way of telling me he didn’t want to be petted, but he wanted something.

  “What?” I had long ago stopped feeling ridiculous when I spoke to my pets. At least it kept the silence at bay and they didn’t talk back.

  Homer’s head cocked the other way. Then he yawned.

  “Bedtime?”

  Both cats immediately jumped to their feet and onto the floor, thundering toward the hallway. There, they paused and stared at me, each with a look that said nothing if not, “Aren’t you coming?”

  At this, I finally managed a half-hearted laugh as I stood. They trotted down the hall ahead of me as I turned off the lights and headed into the bedroom. Both sprang onto the bed and took their usual places-Homer by the pillow, Plato in the middle of the bed-and glared at me as I shoved them aside to make room for myself. At least it was just me tonight. They were less than thrilled whenever they had to sleep elsewhere because I had company.

  I sighed again. Somehow I doubted they’d have to worry about anyone encroaching on their nocturnal territory anytime soon.

  I flicked off the light, nudged Plato a little farther onto the other side of the bed and didn’t sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Dylan, my business partner, eyed me over the top of his glasses as he came into our shared office at the back of the theatre the next day. “Long night?”

  Oh, you could say that. I leaned back in my chair, tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it while I avoided his inquisitive expression. “Just one of those days.”

  He chuckled. Though we never discussed intimate details of our relationships, he’d met Jake a few times. He’d probably long ago put two and two together when I’d say I was going out with Jake, then showed up bleary-eyed and clinging to a coffee cup the next morning. Most likely, he thought I’d been up all last night with Jake-and it wouldn’t have been the first time, by any means-but I let him keep thinking it. I just didn’t feel like explaining anything, let alone the truth.

  My date was a bust because his boyfriend showed up. Then I took his boyfriend home, we fucked, he left, and I don’t know which part of last night I regret the most. Is the coffee ready yet?

  As Dylan told me about the latest issues with ticket sales and employees, my mind was anywhere but there. Strangely, my lying, cheating ex wasn’t on my mind either.

  I knew I should be trying to get over Jake, but I was too busy being hung up on Nathan. Even when I tried to think about Jake and the way things went down, my thoughts shifted direction as soon as I got to the part when Nathan dropped onto the bench and into my world. Maybe it was just my mind’s way of changing the subject. Avoiding Jake because it hurt too much. Rebound A.D.D.

  Or maybe, just maybe, I really was that hung up on Nathan.

  There was no point in letting myself obsess over Nathan. I had no way to contact him. I didn’t know where he lived. It was probably a safe bet that he wanted nothing to do with me. And really, how awkward would it be to date my ex-boyfriend’s ex-boyfriend? Besides that, what did we have in common besides Jake?

  At least I knew the sex would be insanely hot. That thought made me shiver, and I narrowly missed the baseball on its way down. It hit the floor and rolled toward the other desk.

  “You sure you’re okay, Zach?” Dylan asked, cocking his head as I leaned down to pick up the dropped ball.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, sitting back and putting my feet up on the desk again. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, what were you saying? About-” About what? I realized I hadn’t heard a single word he’d said.

  He laughed and shook his head, leaning back and lacing his fingers behind his head. “That man’s going to be the death of you, Owens.”

  I tossed the baseball up, giving myself something to look at besides him. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore.”

  “Oh, really?”

/>   The ball went up again. As long as I didn’t look at him, I wasn’t obligated to answer the questions that were, I was sure, etched across his face. It was simple enough to explain, especially if I left out the part about going home with Nathan, but I just couldn’t be bothered with pretending I was all broken up about Jake. I probably should have been, but the fact remained that I wasn’t, and if I showed just how apathetic I was about it, that would raise even more questions that I didn’t feel like answering.

  His chair creaked and he was probably about to speak, but the office door opened.

  Dean, one of our employees, leaned on the doorknob. “Uh, hey, guys, can I bother you for a second?”

  “You can bother us anytime you want,” Dylan said. I glared at him. Don’t encourage him.

  “What’s up, Dean?” I said.

  He gestured over his shoulder. “The middle auditorium’s projector-”

  Dylan and I cut him off with a simultaneous groan as we both stood. There was no need for further explanation. That damned projector broke at least three times a week these days.

  On the way down the hall to the projector room, Dean explained the problems to Dylan, but I ignored them. The problem was that it was an antiquated piece of crap that we had neither the budget to replace nor the equipment to adequately repair. But I could get it running again. Assuming nothing had shorted out and no one had physically broken any irreplaceable parts, it just needed a few tweaks and some threats of violence to get it back in working order for the moment.

  As I pulled out a toolbox and looked over the faulty machine, Dean and Dylan speculated-as they always did-on the various possible solutions. All of which we’d either tried or would have made the situation worse.

  “Fuck, this thing is going to drive me to drinking,” Dylan growled.

  “You already drink,” I said. “Now get out of the way before you break it.”

  “It’s already broken.”

  “And you’re not helping. Move.”

  Cursing under his breath, Dylan moved aside so I could take a look at the faulty projector.

  “How long until the next showing?” I asked.

  “Um,” Dean said. Papers rustled. “Uh, there’s one at three.”

  “What time is it now?”

  “Almost two thirty,” Dylan said.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “Can you fix it?” Dean asked.

  “Probably just needs a little percussive maintenance,” I growled.

  “Percussive maintenance?” Dean asked.

  As I dug a screwdriver out of the toolbox, Dylan said to Dean, “That’s what he calls it when he slams something against the wall.”

  “Wouldn’t that just make it worse?” Dean said.

  You’re obviously not studying rocket science, are you, lad? “Not if it’s done right.” I looked at him over the projector, my serious expression making his eyes widen. Chuckling, I shook my head and went back to work. I pulled my Maglite flashlight out of my pocket, holding it between my teeth so my hands stayed free.

  Dylan fidgeted a few feet away, drumming his fingers on the table. “We need to get that thing back in working order before the Indie Short Festival.”

  I rolled my eyes and took the Maglite out of my mouth. Glaring at him, I said, “That’s why I’m trying to fix it. If you’ve got any bright ideas, do let me know.” With that, I again held the light between my teeth and continued trying to work miracles on the piece-of-shit projector.

  Thrusting his hands into his pockets, he shifted his weight. “We really should replace this damned thing.”

  I held the flashlight in one hand and carefully turned a mostly stripped screw with the other. “If we had the money, I’d be all over that.”

  “If we don’t replace it soon, we’re going to lose a hell of a lot more money.”

  I sighed. He was absolutely right, but with the bankroll fresh in my mind, there was no way around one important fact: We simply couldn’t afford it. As it was, I was seriously considering scaling back hours for some of our employees.

  “Maybe after the Indie Short,” I said. “If we can get enough-”

  “That assumes this fucker is working by then,” Dylan snapped.

  I gritted my teeth. “Maybe we should switch it with one of the others. At least then the main features will have a reliable projector, and we can keep tweaking this one in one of the smaller auditoriums. I’d rather lose sales on a film that’s going to have a smaller turnout anyway.”

  He grunted and gave a single nod. “Probably a good idea.”

  “Well, whatever we do,” I said, “we do need to get it up and running today. Could you hand me that socket wrench?”

  Once the projector was fixed-or at least operational until the next time-I went back into the office and dropped into my chair.

  For a moment, I looked at my desk, furrowing my brow, trying to remember what I was doing before I was called away. Swimming through that lost, “Where the hell was I?” feeling, I absently rolled the baseball back and forth across the desk and-

  Remembered tossing it up in the air.

  Thinking about Jake.

  Thinking about why I couldn’t keep thinking about Jake.

  Thinking about Nathan.

  Exhaling, I leaned back in my chair, put my feet up and stared at the ceiling. I still couldn’t figure out why I was so hung up on Nathan, but after the way he’d fucked me last night, I could think of worse things to do than think about him.

  Such as giving another moment’s thought to Jake.

  Chapter Six

  On the way up the stairs to Jake’s apartment, I ground my teeth hard enough to make my jaw ache. I had a strange feeling of returning to the crime scene, coming back to the place where I’d helped Jake deceive Nathan. Though I was also being cheated, Nathan was in the picture first. Unknowingly or not, I’d encroached on his territory.

  And this, I thought with a sigh as I stood in front of Jake’s door, is where it happened. I figured time would eventually soothe my conscience. It would probably take less time than it took Nathan to get over this whole thing.

  “Fucking hell,” I muttered to myself as guilt rose in my throat once again. We’d all get over it. Eventually. For now, I had to deal with Jake.

  With my heart in my throat and my other fist balling at my side as if I thought to smack him when he came to the door, I knocked.

  He opened the door and smiled. It was that same damned smile that had knocked my knees out from under me time and time again in the past. Tonight, it just made me want to knock his teeth out of his face.

  “Zach, it’s so good to see you.” He reached for me, but I backed away, glaring at him.

  “I just came to give you your key,” I said.

  His smile fell. “Can we at least talk about this?”

  I held out my hand, the key lying across my palm. “There’s nothing left to talk about.”

  “Zach, honestly.” He put his hands up and shook his head. “There’s a lot you don’t understand.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” I still held out the key. “Like why you would lie to me. And why you’d cheat on someone like him.”

  He snorted. “Please. You don’t even know him.”

  I know him better than you might think, jackass. “Take the key.”

  He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Zach, if you’d let me explain-”

  “There’s nothing to explain.”

  “How do you know that?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Were you sleeping with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “And were you sleeping with him?”

  He set his jaw. “Yes, but-”

  “Did you tell him about me?”

  Shifting his weight, he held my gaze without flinching, looking me right in the eye like the unrepentant bastard that he was. “No.”

  Through my teeth, I said, “And did you tell me about him?”

  “No, I didn’t.”r />
  I turned my outstretched hand over, letting the key fall to the cement patio with a sharp, metallic clang. “Go to hell, Jake.”

  I started down the stairs, but Jake’s hand was instantly on my arm. He didn’t grip it tight enough to hurt, just enough to get my attention. My glare shifted from his face to his hand and back.

  He loosened his grasp. “Zach, please. Can we just talk? For a few minutes?”

  “Why?”

  Releasing my arm, he said, “I just want to talk. Then you can go.”

  “Oh, why, thank you,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Glad to know I have your permission. Good-bye, Jake.”

  “After six months, you can’t be bothered with ten fucking minutes?”

  Narrowing my eyes, I said, “No. After six months of being used, I can’t be bothered with you.”

  “Jesus, Zach,” he said, his lips thinning, not unlike the way Nathan’s had the other night. “You walked out before you heard a damned thing. How do you know he and I weren’t on the way out?”

  I rolled my eyes again. “Oh, really? So what was I? A placeholder? The job you lined up before giving your current one two weeks’ notice?”

  His gaze and shoulders dropped. “Look, I fucked up, okay? I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago. You’re the one I wanted to be with, not him.”

  “So you lied to both of us?” I bit back the anger that threatened to come bubbling up to the surface. “And you think that I’m willing to come back to you after you cheated with me?”

  “I told you, I fucked up,” he said, meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry. I should never have cheated on either of you, but losing you was…” He shook his head. “I’m just, I’m sorry. I want to try again.”

  My single sharp cough of laughter sounded much more sarcastic than I’d intended, but I didn’t apologize for it. “Try again? So do I get to be the unsuspecting boyfriend this time when you get bored with me and find someone else?”

  “No, that’s not-”

  “You’re right, it’s not what’s going to happen,” I said. “Because we’re done. If I can’t trust you, I can’t be with you.” I shrugged, not caring how flippant I came across. I was dangerously close to losing my temper, so if my sarcasm kept it at bay, then I didn’t care if it meant verbally slapping him across the face a few times. The last thing I wanted was a screaming match in his doorway.