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Liz: God that sounds amazing

But I can’t get back to work all debauched

Joe: You’re right

Damn professionalism

But what I want is to bury my nose in your neck and squeeze your ass until it bruises

Liz:

You and I are not going anywhere tonight

Except to my place right after work

****

I end up railing Liz over the armrest on her sofa and leaving those bruises I wanted. She ends up having to throw away her stockings.

We sit half-dressed, eating popcorn and watching an episode of a random comedy show Liz likes. Bobby returns around 9:00 and sits with us, ribbing us gently for our state of undress. Then he asks what’s for dinner, which reminds us that none of us have actually eaten.

I offer to make everyone some sandwiches. Liz melts a little and burrows into the sofa.

I’ve not had a better evening in a long time.

And it’s not lost on me that Bobby seems calmer, much more like himself.

??

Chapter Twenty

Joe

These past three months with Liz have been the happiest I’ve ever been. She and I have spent every night together ever since that thing with Bobby. We vacillate between our two apartments, but Bobby lives with Liz now, and we make sure we’re at her place when she knows he’ll be home so we can all have dinner together, watch some TV, and just joke around.

On the weekends, we run errands and do laundry and cook and fuck. We also go out with Bobby and Trey, and sometimes with Roxie and her friends. During the week, we stay in and fuck some more. I feel like I’m seventeen again and finally have the dream girl who wants to have as much sex as I do—smoking hot and willing to climb me at a moment’s notice.

And it’s fun. Everything we do is fun. Cooking together is fun. Watching TV with Bobby is fun. So fun I wish I never had to leave.

****

My ex-brother-in-law Lance is in town this week for work, and he sent me several text messages saying that he wanted to meet. I don’t know what’s so urgent this time—he’s already told me about Kim’s engagement. Maybe she’s gotten married already, which I suppose is fine. She hasn’t been on my mind at all. I’ve been so wrapped up in Liz, I honestly don’t think or care about anything else.

“Look at you, smiling to yourself. It’s adorable,” Lance says as he approaches my table. He wraps me in a half bro hug, the kind where one arm goes over the shoulder and ends with a slap on the back. “Good to see you, man.”

“Good to see you, too,” I say. “How’ve you been?”

Lance takes off his suit jacket and puts it on an empty chair next to us. The suit is expensive and fits him well, and the accents on his tie perfectly match the shirt. These are clothes his wife helped him pick, and I feel a faint tug in my gut, because that’s what Kim used to do for me. Whatever little I know about fashion, I learned from her.

“I’ve been good,” Lance says. “You know, same old. Work, family. The usual.” He grabs the pitcher before me. “What are we having?”

“It’s Fat Squirrel, a local brew. One of my favorites.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I want a beer.” He raises his hand to try and summon the waitress.

I feel a flash of irritation. He’s just left me to finish the whole pitcher on my own. Granted, I didn’t know exactly what he would drink, but I’ve known him a long time, and beer is what he goes with.

“Since when do you not want a beer?”