Page 82 of His Temptation

“Fuck off.”

He was laughing when I disconnected the call.

A few minutes later, my phone dinged and I looked away from the document I was reading to check it.

Damsel:Hey, I got a lawyer thing for you.

He then sent a meme that said,A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.

I snorted and replied.

Me:I’m on good terms with many of the judges. Also, shouldn’t you be working?

Damsel:It’s slow today and I can’t stop thinking about you.

My chest warmed. I never expected to feel so strongly about Cason, but it was unstoppable.

The outing with him the day before had been the best day I’d had in a while. We had hiked the trail, then grabbed the ice chest from the car and went to a picnic table overlooking a valley and ate. Once we were finished eating, we went inside the nature center and checked out the museum. I’d even held his hand.

Me:Do you want to come over again tonight?

I had slept beside him for so many nights that I hated the thought of not doing so.

Damsel::)

Taking that as ayes, I set my phone aside and prepared for the appointment with my new client. A woman had hired me for her son, who had been picked up for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. With his record of past charges, the prosecution was coming down harder on him.

“Please just keep him out of prison,” the woman begged me once she had arrived for the meeting. “He’s a good kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“My job isn’t to determine guilt, Mrs. Jacobs,” I said, holding up a hand. She was a sobbing mess, and I couldn’t blame her. Her son was facing five years or more. “I’ll do all I can to get him the best deal possible.”

After she left, I compiled a list of discovery I needed to request from the prosecution: police reports from his latest arrest as well as the past ones and any available video footage from the gas station he was picked up at.

I had just enough time to grab something quick to eat for lunch before I had to be back at the office for my next appointment.

***

Cason smiled as he sat at my kitchen table looking over his textbooks for his first semester of college.

He’d gone to the campus bookstore earlier that day and picked up the books he needed, supplies like a new flash drive, and a hoodie with the school name printed on the front. He was excited to be a University of Arkansas Fort Smith lion.

I stood behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder as I looked at his books.Introduction to Law,Police Systems and Practices, andCourts and Criminal Procedure. He also had two general courses, college algebra and English lit.

“You’ll have a busy fall semester,” I said. “Fortunately for you, I know the professors for three of your classes.”

“I don’t want special treatment.” Cason turned his head and kissed the inside of my wrist. “Plus, you can’t exactly tell them we’re together when they ask how you know me.”

We wouldn’t be a secret forever. At least, I hoped we wouldn’t be. But he was right.

“I can say you’re Ryan’s best friend.”

“That’s still special treatment.” His brown eyes playfully narrowed. “I’ll be fine on my own.” He returned his gaze to the books. “I’m excited. I’ll be the first one in my family to go to college.”

“I’m proud of you.”

Cason had grown up in a rough environment, and his home life was tough with a mom who couldn’t stay clean and who dated piece-of-shit men. And yet, he had turned out amazing. He’d worked hard and was going to make something of himself, refusing to fall victim to the hand he’d been dealt in life.

“Ryan encouraged me to go for it,” Cason said, tracing the edge of the law textbook. “I was doing well in school when we became friends, but I didn’t think I could get into college. That was something I wanted but felt was unattainable. He then said I was the smartest guy he knew, and if I didn’t apply for college, he’d kick my ass.”