Page 76 of The Prodigal Son

I clear my throat.

“I mean…unless you want me to,” he adds.

“I hope you’re alone,” I say, my voice tight and deep.

“Well, Lola is with me, but she’s used to it. She just made a vomit face, though, so I don’t think she enjoyed that.”

I can’t help but laugh again. I still can’t properly form words after he saidthat, though. It’s only been two days since I last had him naked, but maybe it’s the withdrawals that have me reacting this way.

“I miss you,” I mumble. “Only six more days.”

“Book a one-way instead of a round trip and just come with me for the rest of the tour. I’ll keep you hidden. I promise.”

“I wish I could,” I reply sadly.

“I know you do.”

There are sounds in the background and voices telling me he’s no longer alone.

“I gotta go,” he says despondently. “We have some press interview to do.”

“Okay. Call me later then,” I reply.

“I will.”

The line hangs in silence as unspoken words linger between us. Words normally used at the end of a phone conversation between two people who care very much for each other.

But we haven’t said it yet and I’m not about to say it first over a phone line.

“Bye, Jensen,” he mumbles after a moment.

“Isaac, wait,” I call. He pauses, so I quickly add, “I did like it.”

With that, I hang up.

Smiling, I wait, staring down at my phone. Then, just as expected, a moment later, I get a text from him.

That was so hot.

It makes me laugh as I turn my attention back to the sermon I was writing.

“Have a good night, guys,” I say as I walk down the hallway from my office to the door. There are still people working, but I’ve finished my sermon, signed all the forms I have to sign, and replied to all the emails I need to.

But there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that keeps others here far later than me. Community outreach, Biblestudies, charity organizations, and so on, and so on. There’s a sense of pride when I leave the office each night, knowing that we’re a part of somethinggood. That’s what got me into this. Maybe it was an atonement for what I’d done with Eternal Harmony. Maybe it was trying to fix my own relationship with the church, but being here and making this place something amazing fills my soul with a richness I can’t get anywhere else.

“Jensen, wait,” a voice calls from behind me as I reach the door to the employee parking lot. I pause and turn to find Pete, one of the band members, jogging down the hall toward me.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he mutters uncomfortably. “We were about to start rehearsal, but…there’s a guy sitting in the pews that I think you should see.”

My brow furrows, and I bristle internally as my mind runs through different scenarios and options.

“Is he showing signs of aggression?” I ask.

Pete shakes his head. “No, not at all. It’s just… Come see.”

Walking behind him, I clutch my bag tightly in my hand, squeezing the leather handle and reminding myself to breathe. Pete opens the door, and I stare down the aisle at the back of a gray-haired man’s head. Hesitantly, I walk down toward him.

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