Page 56 of Joey

Ani’s eyes widened, and Ethan could barely keep himself from chuckling at her. “Seriously?”

“Yep. Why not? I’m staying with him, and regardless of where we end up, I might as well do the job. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. But I’ll give it my best go.”

Ani threw her arms around him and held him in a vice grip. “You’re bloody amazing, Ethan. You won’t regret this, I promise.”

“Won’t regret what?”

Joey’s voice sent shivers down Ethan’s spine, and he glanced over his shoulder as his boyfriend walked over to him. As Joey’s arms slid around his waist and his head rested on his shoulder, Ethan closed his eyes and sighed.

“Ethan’s agreed to the job,” Ani said, pumping a fist in the air.

Joey turned Ethan to face him. “Really?” His expression showed he was teetering on the edge of hope.

“Really.” Ethan cupped Joey’s face. “I want to be with you, and this is a job I know I can do and will enjoy. Why not?”

Joey kissed him, stealing every bit of air from his lungs before pulling back. “I love you.”

Ethan grinned. “I love you. So, where do I sign up?”

“I’ll sort the paperwork for you,” Ani said.

“I need to let Meredith know,” Ethan said. “I don’t think she’ll be too surprised about it.”

Joey tightened his hold on Ethan. “I’m so glad you decided to join us.”

Ethan was, too. He shared a glance with Ani, who nodded towards Joey, and Ethan looked away. He would bring up David’s email soon.

Ethan’s phone rang, and he disentangled himself to pull it from his pocket. He frowned at his dad’s name. “Hey, Dad. How are you?”

“I’ve been better. Your mum’s taken poorly. She’s okay, but she’s staying overnight at the hospital.”

Ethan’s heart skipped several beats. “What’s wrong with her? What happened?”

“She had a fall. She caught that uneven slab in the back garden and broke her arm. The doctors aren’t worried. They’re only keeping her here because they found her to be dehydrated.”

Ethan settled the more his dad said, but he needed to see her for himself. “Okay. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“No. She wouldn’t want you to bother yourself. You know that. I just wanted to let you know in case someone else told you and didn’t have all the information. I didn’t want you worried.”

Ethan snorted. “Yeah, like that’ll happen.”

“It’s not us you need to worry about.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Have you heard from Kole lately?” his dad asked.

“Not since I came down here. Why?”

“You might want to call him or Christi.”

Ethan’s heart picked up again. “What happened?” he asked for the second time.

“Someone attacked Kole during one of his tours.”

****

Chapter 16

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