Page 109 of Gross Misconduct

“How do I look?” Jack comes out of the bedroom dressed like I’ve never seen him. He wears a crisp shirt that’s a blinding bright shade of aquamarine tucked into gray slacks and shiny black shoes. This for a man whose normal wardrobe consists of jeans and old hockey T-shirts. He cleans up very nice.

“A-plus,” I say. “It can double as your Halloween costume.”

“Funny.” He pulls me into a kiss.

On top of it being Halloween today, it’s also Jack’s first day as a licensed real estate agent. When he accepted Cary’s trainee agent offer a few months ago, he was excited but unsure. He worried that the high would wear off. Instead, Jack took to the business as quickly as he took to hockey. He loves getting to talk to people all day and the thrill of closing a sale. He diligently studied for his licensing exam for months, with me as tutor. The future is bright for him.

“What time is trick-or-treating?” he asks as he puts bread in the toaster.

“Five, but we want to get to Carmen’s by quarter to.”

“Not a problem.” He checks out his shirt in the mirror. In addition to learning the real estate ropes from Cary, he’s also taken sartorial advice from him.

The toast pops up, and Jack smears it with a layer of butter. “The girls are going to look so cute as dual Moanas. Take lots of pictures.”

“That reminds me, we need to do some work on the treehouse this weekend to convert to an ocean paradise.”

Naturally, as soon as the ice castle tree house was finished, the girls were overFrozen. They’re currently obsessed withMoanaand want nothing to do with ice. They’re all beach all the time. I told them we’d transform their tree house, which means painting it a turquoise blue like the ocean and putting a fake palm tree inside. I’m sure every parenting guide would tell me not to placate the girls like this, but they’re only young once. And slapping a new coat of paint on a treehouse is a minor ask.

We had lots of movie nights in the treehouse this summer and even moved up an old loveseat. Stars twinkled in the sky as Jack and I cuddled, the girls nestled between us. It feels like we’re becoming a real family. I want to make an honest man out of Jack, and I’ll bet he feels the same.

“The big question is what is your costume going to be?” I put my arms around Jack as he eats his toast. I kiss his neck. “A fireman? A ghost? A vampire?”

“I’m not dressing up.”

“You should. This is your first time trick-or-treating.”

“I am not trick-or-treating tonight. I am accompanying your two precious daughters, and if I happen to get any candy, it’s a happy accident.”

“People will love your story. You were so busy playing hockey that you never got a chance to trick-or-treat on Halloween. They’ll happily give you candy.”

“Silence.” He spins around and puts his hand over my mouth.

I plant a kiss on his palm, tasting the toast crumbs and butter.

Jack pushes me against the counter and lunges his tongue deep into my mouth.

“Stop being so sweet to me, Griffin.”

“Never.”

Jack grinds against me, his hardening dick tenting in his chic pants. “Do you think we have time for a quickie before we go to work?”

Before I can answer that, someone knocks at our door.

“Who’s coming here at this hour?” Jack tries to look out the front window.

“It’s the police,” yells the officer from outside.

Jack’s eyes bolt open in panic.

“We should answer it,” I say. I hold Jack’s hand as we go to the front door.

An officer wears sunglasses to block out the shiny morning sun. He walks inside without being asked. “Jack Gross?”

Jack raises his hand. “Yes, officer?”

“You’re under arrest.”

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