Page 88 of Up In Smoke

Something eases in my chest, and I laugh weakly, rubbing my eyes and clearing my throat from where it had clamped up. “I just spoke to my parents,” I say by way of an explanation.

“Ah,” says Adam, nodding. “That’ll do it. Why’d you even call them? Did something happen? Are they all right?”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” I tell him. “I wanted to share some news with them. But I think I’ve finally learned that they just don’t care.”

My friend sighs from across the globe. “You don’t have to explain that one to me, buddy. But I care! Do I get to hear the news? Is it good? Bad? Or is this more of a salacious gossip sort of situation?” He waggles his eyebrows at me, cracking a laugh from my lungs that feels nice after all that tension.

“It’s good news,” I admit with a wince. “But also…maybe a little salacious as well?”

Adam blinks at me. “Well now you’ve got my attention. Go on. Spill.” His expression suddenly becomes serious. “Oh, shit. Is this about Jesse? You both keep telling me he’s fine, but I’ve barely spoken to him since before Thanksgiving.”

“No, Jesse’s great,” I assure him quickly, then take a breath to brace myself. “His recovery is rock steady so far. I’m really proud of him. But the newsisabout him. And me. Me and him.”

I feel my cheeks heating up as Adam’s eyes go wide.

“You and him,” he says slowly. I nod. “I knew it!” He punches the air and grins at me. In the background, I hear his dog bark at him.

Okay. That wasn’t what I was expecting.

“You knew…what exactly?” I ask tentatively.

He laughs and shakes his head. “That you’re together, yeah?”

“Um…yeah,” I admit.

He smirks in triumph. “You were both being so cagey, it crossed my mind that might be what was going on. And you know that Jesse had the biggest crush on you back in the day, right? He thought he was so subtle, but I figured it out pretty much immediately.”

“Okay,” I say, feeling totally thrown. “And you’re cool with it? Because this has kind of been eating away at me.”

Adam puffs his cheeks out and looks like he’s thinking about what to say. “I love you both and I know how responsible you are, Rico. So I’d hope you’d never do anything to jeopardize his sobriety if he’s really doing it this time.”

I laugh, partly in relief and partly from simple joy. “Believe me, I wrestled with that for a long time before anything happened. I would never, ever have taken advantage of him while he was vulnerable, man.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says, a smile creeping back on his face. “So this is serious?”

“Very.” I nod and drop into my armchair, feeling like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. “I…I love him, Adam. We’re in love.”

“Fucking hell,” he says, shaking his head and grinning. “Don’t get me wrong, this is going to be pretty weird for me. But I’m thrilled for you guys. Is my brother there? I want to give him shit for keeping this a secret from me.”

I laugh, incredibly grateful to have such an awesome best friend. “He’s at work right now, but I’ll get him to call you tomorrow while I’m out. Then you two can bitch about me all you like.”

Adam chews on his lower lip a second. “Now I know the truth about this, am I allowed to finally hear what this new job is as well? Because the evening hours have been worrying me.”

“Nah, you’ve got nothing to fret over,” I assure him. “He is dancing at a club, but it’s not like the places in LA. It’s actually really wholesome and the people he works with have his back a thousand percent. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about that, too.” I sigh and scrub my hand over my jaw. “We were going to tell you this news together, so I hope he forgives me. But my parents were…”

“Cruel?” Adam guesses. I nod sadly. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. I’m sorry, dude. Give them space. They might get their heads out of their asses someday. In the meantime, though, I’m fucking jazzed about this bizarre turn of events.” His face goes slack. “Oy vey. Wait. If you two get married, whose best man would I be?”

I chuckle weakly and crook an eyebrow at him. “Um, funny you should mention that. So, you know I was vague about affording Jesse’s rehab stay?”

“No,” Adam says, his jaw dropping. “You did not get married for the insurance?”

“We did,” I tell him apologetically. “It was all a little crazy. But it worked out in the end! Even if we did go about things a bit unconventionally.”

“That is an understatement,” Adam says sardonically. “I take it my folks don’t know yet. Because I’m calling shotgun right now onnotbeing the one to break that news.”

I laugh and sigh. “No, not yet. Jesse hasn’t spoken to them in so long, I don’t think he’d even know what to say. But…I think he’d like to try. Do you reckon they’d be at least open to listening?”

Adam plops down on a park bench and his dog’s fluffy head appears in his lap for a rub. “They never stopped loving him, Rico. They just didn’t know how to handle him. Which isn’t fair on Jesse, but it is what it is. I think if he’s got his shit together like you say, they’d love to work on reconnecting. Besides, you know my mom is going to lose hermindwhen she finds out you’re her new son-in-law. She always wanted to adopt you anyway, and now she’s gotten her wish.”