Page 1 of His Surrender
Chapter 1
Jay
“How many sexual partners have you had in the last month?” the nurse asked as I sat in the doctor’s office that Tuesday afternoon.
Where I’d once been embarrassed by such things, I shrugged it off now. With my level of sexual activity, I’d made sure to get tested every four months. It was smart.
“Fifteen,” I answered, having already prepared for the question. “And yes, all were with condoms.”
She nodded and marked it on the computer, showing no signs of judgment. Not that I would’ve cared if she had. I’d been in there enough times for her to be used to it. After asking me a few more questions, she finished up the tests and said she’d call when they had the results.
“Thanks,” I said before leaving and getting in my car. I’d gone to the doctor on my lunch break and had to get to the courthouse by one o’clock.
Arriving at the courthouse, I hopped out of my car and shivered at the cold air nipping at my skin. Winters in Arkansas were normally mild, but even so, January was the coldest month. With a frown, I pulled my jacket closer around me and walked faster. I hated the cold. The sun was out, though, which helped my mood.
“You okay, Foley?” Emery Cross asked once I was inside the building, away from the biting chill.
“You can wipe that smirk off your face, asshole,” I muttered, glad no one else was within earshot.
Emery worked as a defense attorney, whereas I was the prosecutor. We went head to head many times in court, some cases minor while others were more high-profile like the Jeff Ritter case we worked the previous year where Ritter had been found guilty of murdering his wife. Though on opposite sides, Emery and I remained good friends. He understood me in ways no one else did.
“I’m an asshole for showing concern?”
“It’s the way you asked it, Cross. You know damn well I hate this time of year.” I stepped closer to him. “How’s the kid doin’?”
Just like that, the humor in his eyes vanished. I smiled. He’d started dating an eighteen—now nineteen—year-old last year named Cason, and I enjoyed pushing his buttons about it.
“He’s not a kid,” Emery said before taking a deep, steadying breath.
“I know,” I said, winking. “I just like giving you a hard time, darlin’.”
He scoffed and turned toward the courtroom door. “Let’s go inside.”
“After you.”
As I followed him, I couldn’t help but check out his nice ass. With black hair, piercing blue eyes, and a body made for sex, Emery had the power to bring even a playboy like me to his knees. On my knees in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in the floor of his office… yeah, we’d fucked pretty much everywhere.
But that was over now.
Emery had found someone he loved who loved him back, and I’d never get in the way of that. Plus, I liked the kid. Cason was spunky, easygoing, and adorable as hell. If anyone was going to steal my best friend’s heart, I was glad it’d been him.
The hearing that afternoon was for a man who’d flipped his car in a ditch while driving drunk. Fortunately, he hadn’t done any serious damage to himself or anyone else, but the Jaws of Life had to be used to get him out of the car. Emery and I had worked out the details back and forth and had come to an agreement. The defendant would plead guilty to the charge of driving under the influence in exchange for a no-jail-time sentence of six months’ probation, mandatory AA meetings, and to pay a small fine.
Once it was over, Emery’s client shook his hand and thanked him for everything. He’d be assigned a probation officer soon and start the AA classes. My job there was done. If I made it back to the office in time, I’d be able to sort through the massive stack of paperwork on my desk I’d been meaning to get to all week before my meeting at the end of the day.
“Foley,” Emery called after me once we were outside.
Shivering at the stupid frigid temperature, I stopped on the courthouse steps and turned to him.
“Cason wanted me to ask if you’d come over for dinner tonight,” he said, his cheeks already turning pink from the cold wind.
“Doyouwant me there? Or is it just something Cason wants?” I grinned at his annoyed expression. “Come on, Cross. Tell me you want me.”
Emery rolled his eyes. “Are you so full of yourself that you have to hear me say how much I want you to come over? Your ego can’t get any bigger.”
“My ego can’t, but something else sure can if the moment is right.”
“You’re unbelievable.” He took another deep breath, something he did often around me, before smiling. “Be at my place around seven. Unless you have a hot date.”
