Nine-tenths of the Law

by L. A. Witt

  “Then what was he doing here? What were you two doing in here?”

  “Honestly?” I ran a hand through my hair. “The same fucking thing you and I are doing right now-arguing. About us, about you two, about him and me.” Sighing, I shook my head. “The only reason I brought him in here was to keep it out of sight of my customers and my employees. I wanted to do it privately because I didn’t need them to hear it, not because I was hiding anything from you. I mean, I-” I stopped.

  “What?”

  I glanced at the clock above the projectors. It was only a quarter past four. Nathan wasn’t supposed to meet me until six. Furrowing my brow, I eyed him. “What are you doing here so early?”

  He pursed his lips and shoved a hand in his jacket pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and slid it open. “I came early,” he said, quickly pushing a few keys”, because of this.” He handed me the phone.

  On the screen was a text message: Don’t believe me? Suit yourself. J.

  I scrolled down, anger churning in my gut as a photo appeared on the screen. It was grainy, barely focused, but unmistakable: The Epidauran’s marquee. Though the lettering was difficult to make out, it was obviously the current feature films. The films I had just put up that morning.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered.

  “Look at the next photo message,” he said.

  I did as he asked and my blood ran cold.

  Oh, you planned this one, Jake, I thought. You planned every last bit of it, you fucking bastard.

  The picture was one of me. I was leaning against the projector-room window, my eyes closed and my jaw set. Jake had taken it from the perfect vantage point, sitting in front of me and pointing up. The look on my face-an expression of frustration, I knew-could easily be misconstrued as a look of arousal.

  Cursing under my breath, I thrust Nathan’s phone back to him, hoping he’d take it before my fury sent the damned thing flying across the room.

  “So you were the one he was texting the whole fucking time.” I ran a hand through my hair, struggling to keep my temper in check.

  “You didn’t answer your phone when I called.” The accusation in his tone set my teeth on edge.

  I took a long breath through my nose. Nathan wasn’t the object of my anger; more than before, I understood why he was suspicious. “No, I didn’t, you’re right. I heard my phone go off, but I was trying to get rid of him. If you hadn’t been in the lobby when I came down, I was going to call you as soon as he was gone.”

  When I met his eyes, skepticism was written all over his face. I wanted to be pissed that he had the nerve to be suspicious of me, but I didn’t envy the position he was in, trying to decide who, if anyone, to trust. Words were one thing, but Jake had played us perfectly and managed to concoct some incriminating photos to go with it.

  “Nathan, that’s the God’s honest truth.” I took and released a breath. “There’s nothing more I can say to make you believe me, but there it is.”

  He regarded me silently for a long time, seeming to search my face for something. Maybe confirmation, maybe something to betray the fact that I was lying. Since I wasn’t lying, I knew he’d find nothing to indicate that I was, so I held his gaze without flinching.

  Eventually, he dropped his gaze, his shoulders slumping slightly as he leaned against the window, just inches from the place I’d stood when that damned photo was taken.

  “What is he trying to do, then?” he asked without looking at me.

  “He just can’t stand the thought of the two of us being together,” I said. “I mean, that had to be a blow to his ego. It always stings to see your ex with someone new, but two exes together?”

  Nathan laughed softly and his eyes finally met mine again. “I think his ego needed it, quite frankly.”

  Some of the tension shook itself out of my shoulders as the hostility between us faded. “Exactly. So I guess I can see why he’d try to play us against each other like that. God forbid we be happy together while he’s still single and miserable.”

  “That sounds like Jake,” he muttered.

  I pursed my lips. “He said a few other things, too.”

  Nathan cocked his head, a silent go on.

  I watched my own wringing hands, wondering if I should even go there. I didn’t believe Jake, did I? So why bother? Why bring it up at all? It was bullshit, I was sure of it. At least, I thought I was sure of it. I was pretty sure. Every other word that came out of Jake’s mouth was a lie, so this must have been too.

  Nathan cleared his throat, reminding me of the silence between us that I was expected to fill.

  Taking a breath, I looked him in the eye. “He told me you cheated first.”

  “He what?” Nathan stared at me in disbelief. “He really said that?”

  I nodded.

  Nathan threw up his hands. “Jesus fucking Christ, he really is a goddamned piece of work.” He muttered something under his breath, then shook his head. “He’ll come up with anything to play us against each other, won’t he?”

  “So, what he said about you cheating,” I said. “It’s all bullshit?”

  He laughed. “Oh, fuck yeah, of course it-” He stopped and looked at me, lips forming an unspoken oh. Letting out a long breath, he chewed his lip and nodded. “Point taken.”

  “So you believe me?”

  “Absolutely,” he said. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Well, he did send you pictures.”

  Nathan shrugged, then put his arms around me and kissed me lightly. “Yeah, but…” He shook his head. “Fuck, I should have known. He’s always been a manipulative bastard.”

  “That he is.” I kissed him again, but the instant our lips met, a slamming door downstairs caught my attention. I quickly stepped back, separating us a second before Dean and Max came into the projector room.

  They both halted, eyes darting back and forth between us.

  Dean cleared his throat. “Do we, um, should-”

  “Let’s go,” I said to Nathan, nodding toward the door. To my employees, I said, “Projector One should be working this time. Break it and-”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Max said, waving dismissively. “Break it, and you’ll break us.”

  “Exactly.” With that, Nathan and I left, heading down the dark stairs toward the lobby. Just before we reached the door, he stopped me with a hand on my arm.

  “I’m sorry I doubted you,” he said, barely whispering.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I would have, too.”

  “I still should have known,” he said.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay,” he said, lifting my chin with two fingers. “I won’t. What I will do, though…” His lips were almost close enough to taste. “…is make it up to you when you get home tonight.”

  I shivered. “Promise?”

  “You’d better believe it.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  The next morning, while Nathan was in the shower, I went into the kitchen to put the coffee on. I could barely think or see straight enough to do that simple task, but between yawning and rubbing my eyes, I managed. It didn’t help that my cats were doing figure eights around my feet, voicing their demands to be fed right now.

  “If you trip me and break my neck, you’re going to starve,” I muttered as I pulled their food out of the cabinet. They ignored my logic and continued squawking while I spent a few minutes searching for the can opener before I realized that these cans didn’t require one.

  Cursing to myself, I opened the cans and fed the relentless little beasts. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this tired.

  I was exhausted, but last night was worth it. Well worth it. Nathan and I had settled everything in the projector room, then spent all night in my bed making sure we were on the same page. Sleep wasn’t high on the priority list. I knew I’d be paying for it today, but didn’t care at all.

  Something beeped and caught my attention. I looked around, trying to figure out whe
re the sound came from. It sounded distant, muffled even, but familiar.

  Another beep. This time it sounded like it came from the living room. I wandered in there, craning my neck as I listened for it again. As I did, I picked up some of the clothing scattered between the front door and the bedroom, smiling to myself as the memories gave me pleasant chills.

  A shirt slung haphazardly over the back of the couch made me shiver. I was surprised one of us hadn’t ended up bent over that couch.

  The lone button on the carpet didn’t surprise me. I couldn’t say whose shirt it was from, but it probably wasn’t the only one that wound up separated from its stitches.

  When I picked up a pair of jeans that had almost made it into the bedroom before being discarded, the beep caught my attention again. I dug into the pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Tossing the clothes on the foot of the bed, I flipped my phone open.

  Three missed calls. One voice message.

  Who the hell called me that late? I glanced at the alarm clock. It was a little past nine. Or that early?

  In the instant I pressed the key to show the missed calls, before the LCD screen changed, I knew. I was halfway through muttering “you son of a bitch” when Jake’s number appeared on the screen. He was long since deleted from my contacts, but the all too familiar sequence of numbers may as well have spelled out his name.

  I debated listening to the voice message, but really didn’t care to hear what he had to say. However, he was going to hear what I had to say.

  The shower stopped. Nathan would be out shortly, so I took the phone into the kitchen and out of earshot before I hit “send” and made what I swore had better be my last contact with Jake.

  The phone rang on the other end. Then again. And again.

  “Don’t you dare ignore me,” I said through grinding teeth. “You called me, don’t even-”

  “’Ello?” He sounded groggy. Disoriented. I hope I woke you up.

  “What the fuck do you want?” I said.

  “I-what? What is-oh.”

  I could almost see him blinking himself awake, then freezing as he figured out who was calling and why.

  “Oh, did I wake you up?” I said, laying the sarcasm on as thick as I could. “Terribly sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Zach, it’s never too early for you to call.” He sounded so smug, the words almost sing-songed across the line. “Did you get my voice message?”

  “I got it,” I said. “I didn’t listen to it, though. In fact, I have no intention of listening to it.”

  “But, Zach-”

  “No, shut up.”

  He fell so silent I thought the line had gone dead, but there was just enough movement and faint breathing on the other end to tell me I still had him on the line.

  I took a deep breath to bring my temper back under control. “I don’t know why you called, and I don’t care. All I know is that you tried to play Nathan and me against-”

  “Hey, I did no such thing,” he said. “All I-”

  “Did I not just say ‘shut up’?” I snapped. “I saw the messages and photos you sent him. I saw the way you tried to make it look like you and I had been up to something in the projector room when you left yesterday. If you weren’t trying to play us against each other, then what were you doing?”

  He said nothing. For a moment, I thought he’d been stunned into silence, but then he said, “Oh, am I allowed to speak now?”

  “Don’t play games, Jake. I know what you were up to. I know-”

  “If you know, then why are you asking?”

  I mouthed a silent string of profanity into the air. Just stay calm. Don’t let him think he’s getting to you.

  “Zach, honestly-”

  “I’m really not interested, Jake,” I said. “You have no business-”

  “I have no business doing what?” The sudden hostility in his voice surprised and amused me. “And what about the two of you? You two have a lot of nerve fucking each other just to rub it in my face.”

  “Are you serious?” I said with a sharp burst of laughter. “You think this is about you?”

  “Oh, come on, why wouldn’t it be?” he said. “Why else would the two of you get together?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe we have some common ground.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Me.”

  “Get over yourself. You may be the reason we met, but trust me, the only time we ever did a thing to get back at you was the first night.”

  “What?” His voice was suddenly almost shrill with fury. “So you admit it, then. You’re fucking him just to fuck with me.”

  “The first night, yes,” I said, trying to keep my grin from reaching my voice. “That was all about you, my friend.”

  “So it-”

  “Every night thereafter has been about us, though,” I said, the humor leaving my tone. “ Me. Nathan. Nothing more, nothing less. You don’t even fit into the equation except when you come sauntering in and try to pull a stunt like you did yesterday.”

  “You should be thanking me,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re getting into with him.”

  “Oh, please,” I said. “And I suppose you fed him the same line when you tried to convince him that I was still fooling around with you behind his back? Christ, Jake, you did a perfectly fine job of fucking up whatever it was we had. I don’t need you throwing a wrench into this relationship, too.”

  “Your relationship?” He sniffed sarcastically. “Right. Is that what you call it?”

  “Going by Webster’s definition, yes,” I said. “In fact-” Hands on my hips made me jump. I turned my head and Nathan met my lips with a gentle kiss.

  “In fact what?” Jake snapped.

  “Look, I don’t have time for this,” I said. Nathan wrapped his arms around my waist and I put my hand over his as he nuzzled my neck. “I really don’t have time for you. That’s why I called.”

  “You called to tell me you don’t have time to talk to me?” He snorted.

  “I called to tell you that if you show up at my theatre again, I’ll call the cops.”

  He snickered and I was sure he was rolling his eyes. “Oh, please, you wouldn’t-”

  “Try me,” I growled.

  Nathan kissed the side of my neck and whispered, “I’d love to.”

  I pressed my lips together to smother a laugh. He kissed me again, then released me and went to the counter to pour himself some coffee.

  On the other end of the line, Jake exhaled hard. “Whatever. I didn’t think you were the type, I really didn’t. Going after another man’s ex like that? That’s cold.”

  “What? Jesus, who the fuck do you think you are, anyway?” I snarled. “If you had any claim to either of us, you lost it the day you decided to cheat. We’re both done with you, and it’s none of your goddamned business what-or who-we decide to do now.”

  “You have no right to-”

  “Save it,” I said. “I have every right to date anyone I damn well please without your permission.”

  “Not when-”

  “Look, you’re the idiot that let him go.” I looked at Nathan, and he smiled at me over his coffee cup as I went on. “And that’s why he’s standing here in my kitchen instead of yours.”

  Jake was silent for a moment. Then, “What? He’s there now?”

  “Yes,” I said matter-of-factly. “Standing right here in front of me, drinking coffee, after getting out of a shower. Don’t know why he bothered taking one, considering I’m nowhere near done with-”

  “Fuck you, Zach.” The line went dead.

  I shook my head and put the phone on the counter. “What is that man’s damage, anyway?”

  Nathan kissed me lightly. “What did he want?”

  I shrugged. “Hell if I know. He left a message that I have no intention of listening to. When I called him back, he started trying to make me feel guilty for having the audacity to get involved with you.”

  He clicked his tongue and
shook his head, a disapproving look on his face. “Jesus, Zach, you’re such a bastard. Picking up and moving on after he cheated on you.” Another click of his tongue. “How could you?”

  I grinned and put my hands on his waist. “It’s not my fault. You’re the one that showed up at my theatre and kissed me like that.”

  Obviously trying not to smile, he said, “Kissed you like what?”

  “Like this.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The following night, we left our cars at Nathan’s house and walked to a restaurant a mile or so away. Though the weather was iffy when we left-grey clouds gathering above the city, the telltale smell of rain-we didn’t bother with jackets or umbrellas. This was, after all, Seattle, and a little rain never killed anyone.

  When we came out of the restaurant, the pavement was wet, but the rain wasn’t coming down anymore. Still, we were in no hurry. Our fingers loosely intertwined and we talked about whatever came to mind, strolling down the mostly empty street.

  About half a mile from his house, he’d asked me about the problems I’d had recently with some employees. I opened my mouth to answer, but a distant rumble cut me off. It was faint, so faint I couldn’t be sure I’d heard it.

  I craned my neck in its general direction, then looked at Nathan. “Did you hear that?”

  “Yep. Thunder.” He glanced up. “Looks like we might want to head back in.”

  Though I nodded in agreement and walked quickly beside him, I secretly wanted to stay out in this as long as possible. I’d never admitted it to a soul, but I found something deeply erotic about thunderstorms. I’d never told anyone because I couldn’t quite explain it. Storms were powerful, primal, and it had long been a fantasy of mine to get caught out in one with someone.

  And if the weather cooperated, there was a good chance that just might happen now.

  We continued down the sidewalk toward Nathan’s house, but the storm was closing fast. Each time the thunder rolled, it was closer. Louder. Occasionally, I caught a flicker of lightning out of the corner of my eye. As the thunder intensified, the lightning also became harder to ignore, especially as the ozone in the air grew stronger, mixing with the smell of rain, drowning out the usual odors of car exhaust and civilization, giving the city a deserted, otherworldly atmosphere.