Page 62 of Besties
“No, they need us—all of us—on their side. It’s why we have such stringent hiring practices. We employ the best so we can be the best.” He ran a thumb along my jawline. “It’s why I had to have you here, even if we never got together.”
He thought I was the best? I mean, sure, he’d said it, but….
“Yeah, Max. I wanted you here, with us. Making the world a better place by educating it. Why? Because when we were in school, you learned to love discovering new facts. It became fun for you, just like the module. That’s the kind of person who needs to be here, working in the trenches, so to speak.”
The insane need to push him down on the desk and kiss him senseless rode me hard. And the desire to ride him hard was there too. But this wasn’t the time for that. Right now, it was time to find out who was trying to hurt Richie.
And make them pay.
“Thankyou again for agreeing to meet with me,” I said to Jeff Kramer.
I glanced around the apartment as he led me to the living room. It was a nice place, but a little messy with half-empty pizza boxes littering the floor, soda cans strewn about, and dirty plates and glasses covering the tables. The slate gray walls were offset by pictures in various sized and shaped frames. If what I was looking at was an encapsulation of Jeff’s life, the man who looked like an older version of him played a huge role.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you out.” He hiccuped. “It’s just… I keep thinking he’s going to walk through that door, pull me into a hug, and tell me it’s all a dream and everything is okay.”
And it showed. Jeff’s life had probably stopped the day his father disappeared.
“Nico, my boyfriend? He’s been keeping the place clean. I just haven’t had… I couldn’t find….”
And now the tears came. My heart went out to him. The depth of his feelings for his father, plus the absolute faith he had in the man, let me know in more than words how wrong we’d been about Dennis Kramer.
Jeff peered up at me. “He’s a good man,” he promised. “He was always there for me, never once refused to tell me he loved me. I don’t know how this happened, but Dad didn’t do it.”
That was where he was wrong. Dennis had played a part, but which one I couldn’t tell. Not yet, anyway.
“Tell me about your dad.”
Jeff sneered. “Why? You and everyone else has already tried and convicted him, haven’t you?”
I had, and unfairly so. “I thought I did, but now I’m not so sure. The picture you’re painting goes against everything I’ve heard from his clients.”
His eyes narrowed. “What did they say?”
So I told him the things I’d heard, his mouth dropping open as I spoke.
“No. No way, that’s not my dad,” he shouted. “He isn’t perfect—believe me, I know—but he doesn’t have a hurtful bone in his body, especially when it comes to gay kids.” He sighed. “Look, when I was maybe twelve, I went to him and told him that I liked this other boy. I was scared and confused, because I didn’t know what to make of it. I’d heard about fags, of course. What kid hadn’t? I wasn’t sure what I expected my dad to do, but what he did I wasn’t ready for.
“He gathered me in his arms and hugged me close. He told me that the only person who could define who I was would have to be me. He said I could listen to everyone’s words, but ultimately I had to make my own choices. We sat down and he told me the story about him in college. How he’d met a guy he fell in love with and how crushed he’d been when it ended, but he said he came out of it stronger, because he’d gotten to know himself better. When he met Mom, he told her he was bi, and she laughed and said she was too. They had a great marriage. They were both so in love, but finding out they both liked menandwomen had me panicked because I thought they might leave each other if they found someone else.”
I’d heard that plenty of times growing up. Bisexual people had no morals. How they’d sleep with anyone or anything. Some guys in school even said being bisexual meant you’d sleep with animals, because you were so depraved. I never believed that crap. And knowing Richie was bi? I’d knock the teeth out of anyone who said something like that about him.
“They sat me down, holding hands, and told me that wasn’t true. Yes, they bothlikedmen and women, but they’d fallen inlovewith each other. They weren’t looking for anyone new. After Mom died, Dad raised me alone for several years, by himself. He didn’t date, he wasn’t interested in anyone, and I felt guilty about it, because I thought he could find someone.”
I knew I shouldn’t. It wasn’t my place, but if something had happened to his father, Jeff had a right to know. “He was seeing someone.”
“Sophie?” He gave a luminous smile when I nodded. “I knew it! He said they weren’t, but I could see the way he looked at her. It was similar to the way he looked at Mom. He has it bad for her.”
“She’s worried too,” I told him. “She hasn’t heard anything in a long time.”
And now the worry creeped back into Jeff’s expression. “Something is wrong,” he said. “He was supposed to go to a game with Nico. Not sure what sport, just that there were balls involved, and not the fun kind.” His cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry!”
I gave him my best grin. “That’s okay, I’ve been known to like a few balls myself.”
He blinked several times. “You’re gay? Or bi?”
“Gay. My… boyfriend is bi.”
And it was weird, especially after listening to Jeff talk about how he was afraid his parents would find other people, but I wasn’t worried in the least about Richie. My faith in him was absolute. No, that wasn’t right. My faith inuswas absolute. I’d never felt this way about anyone else. With them I’d been hopeful, but it never panned out. With Richie I knew we’d go the long run together.
