Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Without slowing, Tor shoved the rest of the way in, not stopping until his balls bumped against Jule. Then he pulled out and pushed inside again. “Jesus, so good.” He straightened his arms, flattened his palms against the mattress to brace himself, and drove in harder.
“Like that.” Jule gripped Tor’s shoulders and pumped his hips in concert with Tor. “You’re perfect. Do me just right.”
Tor lowered his face and kissed him while he punched in and out of his body. They moved together, grunting and moaning and calling out each other’s names until Jule couldn’t hold back any longer. He fell over the edge, shouting and coming and thrashing so hard his teeth clicked.
Above him, Tor trembled and stilled, losing himself inside Jule’s body.
“Damn.” Jule straightened his twitching legs.
“Uh huh.” Tor collapsed onto him, face buried in his neck.
They lay together, gasping for air, skin slick with sweat. “How long till we can go again?”
Tor raised his head until their eyes met and then he laughed, Jule joining him. Whatever else was waiting outside, in that moment, alone in his bed with Tor, everything was right and he was happy. That was enough. It had to be.
Chapter 15 – Age 30
“No.” Jule shook his head.
His client opened his mouth.
“No,” he said again.
“But—”
“Seriously, no.” Jule’s phone buzzed, but he ignored it.
“If I pay Dan, he’ll change his story,” his client explained.
“Are you going to smoke that whole thing yourself or are you going to pass it around?
He frowned. “Huh?”
“I’m saying you must be on something right now because how the fuck do you think that’s a good idea when Dan’s the one who went to the cops in the first place? And where are you going to get the money to pay him when we both know you’re broke?”
“A buddy of mine has a great plan. He’s working at this pawn shop on McDowell and—”
“Stop immediately.” Jule rubbed his temples to stave off the headache this conversation was certain to give him. “Do not finish that sentence and do not move forward with that plan.”
“But my buddy works there. He has a key. He’s allowed to be at the shop and handle the merchandise so it’s okay if we—”
“No. Him working there does not make it okay.” His phone buzzed again.
“I didn’t finish explaining what we’d be doing.”
“You’ve said more than enough, Carl.”
“Are you sure we can’t—”
“I’m sure,” Jule said.
“Then how am I going to get the money to pay off Dan?”
He rubbed his temples. “You won’t, which is good because that’s a dumb fucking idea.”
“Isn’t it your job to figure out a way for this to work?”
“No, it is not my job to come up with a way for you to bribe a witness. It’s my job to give you the best defense possible, which will be exponentially more difficult if you commit another couple of crimes trying to cover up the one you’re already charged with.” His phone buzzed for the third time. He picked it up and looked at the screen. Phoenix Police Department. He sometimes dealt with law enforcement in his cases, but they didn’t usually blow up his phone.
“How are you going to do that when Dan already fucked me by talking to the cops?”
“Dan took the police to a location where they found evidence of a crime. He described details about that crime and the details matched what they found at the scene,” Jule said.
“Exactly!”
“Did Dan provide any proof that you were part of the commission of that crime?”
His client blinked.
“Could Dan have committed the crime by himself or with someone else and still have those details and that evidence in his possession?”
He stayed quiet.
“Alright so I’ll do my job and you’ll stop planning a cover-up that’s going to be worse than the underlying crime.” His phone buzzed again. “I need to wrap this up. Someone really needs to talk to me.”
Jule’s grandparents were already seated at the round table when he entered Chief Montez’s office. He gave them each a hug and shared surface level information about his life while they waited for the meeting to start. His mother was the last person to arrive. She gave a quick but sincere apology, explained that she’d been in an important client meeting an hour away in East Mesa when the call came in, and then took a seat beside Jule.
“Now that you’re all here, we can get started,” the chief said.
He had endured half a dozen meetings about his father’s murder with Chief Montez over the years and they’d all gone essentially the same way, which was nowhere. Even before it started, he knew this one would be different. For one thing, he had never been summoned to the chief’s office with no notice. But that aside, the chief’s facial expressions and energy were totally new. He didn’t look resigned or disappointed. He didn’t appear to be bracing himself for raised voices or pointed remarks. He looked relieved, maybe even happy.