Page 66 of Besties
At least after we saved his son.
“CrossBow would have been a betterchoice for this,” Richie grumbled as we lugged the last of Jeff, Nico, and Dennis’s stuff into the Milwaukee apartment I never got a chance to live in.
Dennis stood in the middle of the living room and did a turn, taking in all the features he could see. Then he went to peer out the window at the river that was awash with lights. “This place is… incredible. Are you sure the person who lives here won’t mind?”
Richie gave me a smug smirk. “I’m sure he’ll be okay with it. I heard he’s living with someone else now and is insanely happy.”
Well, I couldn’t argue that. Yeah, Richie’s place was a postage stamp compared to this one, but it had something that I was finding I couldn’t live without.
Richie.
The man who spooned me, giving me his warmth. The man who reminded me every day that I wasn’t the same person I was six months ago. The man who helped keep the memories of my failures in life and love at bay. The man I would do anything for, because I knew with absolute certainty he’d do anything for me.
After we left Dennis, Jeff, and Nico, reminding them of the security in the building and to latch the doors—not that we needed to, because Nico already had it all planned out—we headed back to Boston.
“Are you sure they’re going to be okay?” I asked, because I was nervous as hell.
“Yeah, they’re good.” He grinned. “I… may have some people watching them.”
It took me a moment to figure out what he meant. “You did not call CrossBow,” I chastised.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I might have reached out to them for information. When I explained what was going on, the person I spoke with, Michael, said he’d heard of Teaching Time. We got to talking, and after giving him details, he offered to speak with Dr. Josh Malone, who is my idol.”
“Youhave an idol?”
His cheeks pinked. “Dr. Malone is a legend. His inventions are groundbreaking, and he doesn’t sell them to Apple or Microsoft or anyone like that. An article I read says that he gave proprietary use to CrossBow for his revolutionary pad computer. That’s where he has his research labs, you know. He’s an incredible man, and I—sorry.”
“Why?” It was good to see him so excited. This was my nerd, and I wanted to hear him geek out for me. “Tell me more.”
“You’re not interested in this stuff.”
“I’m interested in whatever you want to talk to me about. I might not understand it, but if you’ll be patient with my questions, I’ll always want to hear what you have to say.”
His eyes sparkled. “Really?”
I just knew there was more trauma in his life that he hadn’t shared. Fuck all those people who made Richie doubt himself.
“Always. Now, tell me more.”
“Okay. Dr. Malone is a literal genius. He’s one of the youngest doctors ever, and he uses his money for amazing things. He created a college scholarship that’s named after him, he helped build a wing of a university research lab, and so much more. After Michael found out I was a fan, he offered to hook me up with the guy. When Dr. Malone said hello, my mind shut down. I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I sat there stammering.”
Damn. I wish I had been able to see that. Richie in nerd mode was one of my favorite things. His entire focus was there, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Wanna see his eyes glaze over and watch the cutest little smile cross his face? Make a reference toStar Wars.
“He was so polite and patient.” Richie sighed. “Okay, he put me on speaker and went back to work until I found the words I wanted to say, but then he mostly listened to me. When I explained who I was, then he got a little more involved. We started talking about the things we were doing to make the programming suite even better, and he tossed out some ideas that I hadn’t even considered. He offered to send us some programs to incorporate into our products to make an even more cohesive package. I was flabbergasted, because the things Dr. Malone makes are like the holy fucking grail. His gear is cutting-edge and he never hands it out to for-profit businesses.”
I couldn’t help the snort that erupted from me. “You know that’s a lie, right?”
He frowned. “What is?”
“You reinvest nearly everything into the business, keeping just enough for necessities. You’re not making a profit off this, because you’re doing it for the love of learning and teaching. I read something online once about Dr. Malone. He gives away things to schools and hospitals and the like all the time. Don’t be so surprised.”
“When Michael told me Dr. Malone had actually tried Teaching Time and talked about how amazing it was, I couldn’t have been more flattered. Not only did he ask about making a donation, he said that the things he was sending would help incorporate modules together, so that if Jimmy and Cindy are excelling in what they’re using, they could also check out other areas they’re interested in to see if they can bring up those grades too. I never considered that, and I’m anxious to get to work.” He sighed. “At least if we have a business to get back to.”
“Why isn’t Dennis going to the police now that Jeff isn’t in as much danger?”
“Because he doesn’t know who’s in charge. He told me that the guy who called him made the threats and informed him what he needed to do, otherwise….” The words didn’t need to be said. “I know the police could catch the middleman, but there’s no guarantee it’ll lead to those in charge. The founder of CrossBow, Gary, said they had their own issues with the police recently, and he suggested we proceed carefully.”
“But the police—”
