Page 72 of Holding On to a Hero
Lacosta: I’m happy to help the CBI any time. But now can you please tell me what exactly you’re investigating that you need my alibi for?
Agent Wainwright: An attempt was made on the life of William Graham, sir.
Lacosta: William—Will? Will Graham? My ex-boyfriend?
Agent Wainwright: Yes, sir.
Lacosta: Oh, my god, is he okay?
Agent Wainwright: Yes, sir. He’s fine. We’re just trying to find out who might have wanted to kill him.
Lacosta: But why would I be a suspect? That was like five years ago, or more, and Will and I parted on good terms. I mean, he broke up with me, but I totally understood since I was in the closet, and he deserved…oh, my God, you think I want to kill him to hide the fact that I’m bisexual? Is that it?
Agent Wainwright: We are speaking to all of Mr. Graham’s significant others, sir. If, as you say, people can verify your whereabouts on the dates in question, then you have nothing to worry about.
Lacosta: Well, I would just like to go on record that, even though I’m not shouting from the rooftops about being bisexual, it’s not a secret nowadays. If it goes public it’s not going to ruin my chances in the election. My campaign knows about it; my wife certainly knows about it. My parents knew about it when I was a teenager, for Christ’s sake.
Agent Wainwright: But you were keeping it a secret when you were dating Mr. Graham?
Lacosta: Yes, I was young, and I listened too much to my father, who swore up and down that I’d never make it in politics if people found out I dated men as well as women. After he died I kind of woke up to the fact that the world had changed and voters weren’t concerned with my personal life as long as I did what I promised I’d do after I was elected. [Laughs] Not that my mom didn’t cry for joy when I married a woman. But I think she was more worried about how my bisexuality would affect my political chances than any sort of homophobia on her part. Luckily these days she’s focused on traveling and her grandchildren. When I told her I was planning to run for governor it was the first time she didn’t bring up my sexuality in relation to my election chances. It’s such a relief to not have to worry about conforming to someone else’s standards, you know?
Agent Wainwright: I see. Can you think of anyone who might have a reason to harm Mr. Graham?
Lacosta:No, not at all. He’s a great guy. Everybody likes him. And he’s a hero! Did you hear about how he saved those women when a boat ran into a dock full of people?
Agent Wainwright:Yes, sir.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Cole
Dave seemed much happier after getting some petting and then some chicken. After eating he curled up on one of the pillows. Which then rendered it unusable for us humans, given that Dave was still extremely dirty.
Will, however, was clean and moving more easily after his bath. The room didn’t offer any chairs where Will could easily sit upright to eat, so Jason sat against the headboard and we positioned Will between Jason’s legs. Jason was still wearing his jeans, but none of us bothered to mention that Will still wasn’t wearing anything at all.
Jason decided Will needed to relax completely, so he captured Will’s wrists in his hands and held them at Will’s waist. I sat next to them and fed all three of us. French fries and chicken strips required a lot of finger sucking. And kissing.
By the time we’d finally finished the food, Jason’s face was tense with arousal and my dick was straining to get out of my jeans. But Will was about to fall asleep.
I cleaned up the takeout containers and Jason helped me peel the bedcovers down from under his and Will’s legs. Then I pulled on Will’s feet to stretch him out flat and Jason eased out from behind him. Will made some protesting noises, but once we had a pillow under his head and a sheet and blanket over his body, he was out almost instantly.
Jason and I stood together, embracing each other and gazing down at Will’s sleeping form. “I’m so happy we’re all together again. No matter why it happened.” I whispered to him.
Jason hugged me tighter. “We’ve been putting our relationship to the test with all the stress we’ve been under, not to mention the forced togetherness. Heading back to Austin, drawing the shooter out, that’s going to be even harder. If we want Will to be part of this relationship, we’ve both got to be better about nurturing it.”
I couldn’t look at him. He was right. I’d been acting like a brat, but I wasn’t the only one. “We’re both going to have to do better, you’re right. We have to show Will that we can be mature adults.” I turned to him. “I promise to try to stop acting like a spoiled teenager—” I put a finger over his lips as he started to interrupt me. “But you also have to stop acting like I’m a spoiled teenager. I’m an adult, but up until youfinallyagreed to consider my plan you’d been making all the decisions about where we were going and how we were going to get there. And you haven’t been giving me any say in it.”
He deflated in my arms and nodded. “You’re right. I’ve just been in bodyguard mode. I’m sorry. For the record, your plan scares me to death. But it’s better than anything I’ve been able to come up with.” He moved so our lips were almost touching.
“Yeah?” I spoke against his mouth. “Maybe you should have consulted me before now too.”
He closed the distance and gave me a slow, emotionally-charged kiss. “I love you,” he whispered against my lips.
“I love you too.” We pressed our foreheads together and turned our heads to look at Will. “Well,” I sighed, “I guess it’s time to go to sleep.” Jason chuckled and we went around the room, turning the lights out. Jason set an alarm but I decided I’d rather not know how early he set it for.
But it wasn’t the alarm that woke us.
“No, please. I’m sorry. I couldn’t.” Will’s voice was tortured.
