CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR #2
“I appreciate that,” Thad said. Graham squeezed his hand. “But there’s a little bit more to it, ma’am. Uh, Angela. You work for the district attorney’s office that prosecuted me.”
He hadn’t realized that until earlier this week. He’d looked up Graham’s mom online and found the connection. That had been a nasty shock.
Angela winced. “Oh. Was I—”
“No,” Thad said hastily. He wasn’t sure if he could have handled it if she had been the prosecutor for his case. “No. You weren’t the one who tried the case or even worked on it, that I’m aware of, anyway. It was your former boss, Gus Abbott.”
Angela’s lips thinned into a disapproving expression. “I always felt Gus was overzealous in his prosecution. There’s never been a formal enquiry, but I’ve long suspected he was more concerned about closing cases than getting justice. Do you feel you were unjustly imprisoned?”
Thad sighed. “That’s … difficult to answer.
It’s complicated. I’d be happy to speak to you about it sometime, although I will say I don’t have any interest in trying to dig through the past and legally appeal anything.
I just—I want you to know I’m—I’m not a violent man.
The assault in prison was to protect someone else and—”
She nodded. “I’m aware the environment in prisons often leads to people being in no-win situations.”
“Yes,” Thad agreed, surprised by how readily she’d understood. “Yes, it did feel that way.”
She pursed her lips. “I am also aware much of our judicial system in this country needs to be revamped. I don’t know how much Graham has told you about my work, but I campaigned on a platform of restorative justice and that’s a sincere commitment of mine.
I have plans to work with various community leaders to find alternative ways to address crimes instead of incarcerating the people who commit them. ”
Thad nodded. He’d found some of her campaign speeches online. It was probably the only thing allowing him to sit down today and meet with her without having a panic attack.
Well, and Graham’s support.
He turned to look at his boyfriend and found him looking back, smiling softly.
“Thad’s one of the best people I know,” Graham said quietly, not looking away from him. “And I love him. I hope you’ll give him a fair chance and get to know him. If you do, I know you’ll love him too.”
Thad blinked, overcome with emotion.
“Well, you better bring him to the wedding then!” Cory said cheerfully. “Please tell me he’s going to be your plus-one.”
“Oh yes,” Graham said turning back to face his sister. “Definitely.”
“Assuming everyone is fine with that,” Thad added.
“I don’t know,” Brody said, frowning. “I need to know about your sports teams before I agree to this, Thad.”
Thad laughed, limp with relief because for a second there …
“Uhh, well, big fan of hockey,” he said. “Obviously, I root for the Harriers.”
“Obviously,” Brody said like that was a foregone conclusion.
“I guess I do have one more confession,” Thad admitted. “I’m a huge Manhattan Vortex fan.”
Brody sat back, shaking his head. “I dunno, Cory. I’m not sure how I feel about having this guy at our wedding. A New York basketball fan? That’s where I draw the line.”
Everyone laughed and the anxiety eating at Thad all morning ebbed away.
“Fuck, I love you,” Thad whispered to Graham while everyone else was talking over one another, arguing about sports teams.
“I love you too.” Graham leaned in and kissed Thad’s cheek. “And see? I told you this would be fine.”
“You were right,” Thad said, leaning into the touch. “You were definitely right.”
After the video chat with his family, Graham manhandled Thad onto the couch and pulled him close. They needed to be at the O’Shea house for their informal Thanksgiving open house this afternoon, but they had a few hours to kill first.
“You doing okay?” Graham asked Thad because he still looked a little vague and confused around the eyes. Like nothing was quite sinking in yet.
“Yeah.” Thad dragged a hand over his face, his whiskers rasping against his palm loud enough Graham could hear it. “I think so. Still a little bit in shock. But I’m okay.”
“You’re telling me,” Graham said with a laugh. “You didn’t have to find out your dad was bi and had a crush on his racquetball partner. What the fuck?”
Thad laughed. “Yeah, fair. I owe him for the distraction there.”
“It did break the ice,” Graham agreed. “And I fuckin’ love Brody.”
Thad grinned. “He seems great. Cory does too.”
“Yeah, they are.” Graham hesitated. “And Mom?”
Thad let out a heavy breath. “I—I have to admit it’s hard to break out of the mindset that anyone working in the prosecutor’s office is anything but the enemy but I think she and I could find some common ground.
She seems open-minded and as long as her talk about restorative justice isn’t only lip-service, I respect that. ”
“It isn’t,” Graham assured him. “But I get if you need a little bit of time before you can trust that.”
Thad gave him a faint smile.
“Do you need to talk to Harlan now?” Graham asked.
Thad squinted at the ceiling for a moment. “Nah. I think I’m okay. We have an appointment next week. I’ll email him to let him know how the call went though.”
Harlan had promised Thad he would leave an hour open for an emergency session this morning, if necessary. Honestly, Graham felt like the conversation had gone well, but it was good Thad didn’t feel like he’d need to talk through it with his therapist.
Thad reached behind him, fumbling for his phone on the coffee table.
“A little left,” Graham told him as he missed it by about six inches. “No, your other left, dumbass.”
Thad grumbled but finally snagged the phone. “He tells me he loves me, then calls me a dumbass.”
Graham laughed. “What? That’s not a good pet name? It’s definitely a term of endearment in locker rooms.”
“In locker rooms, sure. For boyfriends? No,” Thad said, squeezing his hip, but he was smiling as he typed something on his phone with his left hand.
Graham studied Thad’s face while he did it, his own smile widening when he realized there was a lot more silver sprinkled in Thad’s stubble and hairline than he’d ever seen before.
“What?” Thad asked, squinting and sounding suspicious when he finally dropped his phone on his chest.
“When did you stop dying your hair?” Graham brushed his thumb across the salt-and-pepper hairs along Thad’s jaw.
“Oh.” Thad shot him a crooked grin. “I was wondering when you’d notice.”
“So …” Graham prompted.
“A week or two ago. I ran out of dye and I thought … you know, maybe I’d give it a try. See how I like looking my age. See how you like me looking my age.”
“It’s kinda hot,” Graham admitted.
Thad side-eyed him. “Yeah? We’ll see what you think when it’s all grown out and I look like an old man.”
Graham shrugged. “I still bet I’ll find it hot.”
“We can hope.”
“You’re growing your chest hair out too, aren’t you?” Graham said, trying to undo a button on Thad’s shirt one-handed. It wasn’t going well. “You seemed kinda stubbly in the shower this morning.”
Thad lifted an eyebrow. “I was considering it, yeah.”
“Do it,” Graham said, finally working one open. “I want to know what you look like with fur.”
“You’re weird,” Thad said but his tone was affectionate. “Your whole family is.”
Graham shrugged. “I suppose.”
“No, I kinda like it,” Thad said. “You’re less perfect than I thought at first. Less … cookie-cutter.”
Graham made a face. “I never claimed to be perfect.”
“I know. But you seemed so … you’re the fucking golden boy, you know?”
“I am?”
“Oh, come on,” Thad said with a laugh. “You are. You had a five-year plan and you and your parents have the perfect family look. The attractive, successful couple who had two attractive, successful kids. Hell, you probably had a golden retriever or a yellow lab named Buddy growing up.”
“She was a Chesapeake Bay retriever,” Graham protested, his tone almost prim. “And her name was Sassy.”
“And now you have that mangy old thing.”
Graham glanced down at Murphy, who slept on the other end of the sectional. “He can hear you, you know.”
“Can he?” Thad asked doubtfully. “I’m starting to think he’s going deaf.”
“Well, even if he is, I love him,” Graham said stubbornly. “And you should consider yourself lucky because that means I’ll love you when you’re a half-deaf, mangy old thing too.”
Thad snorted. “So, like … ten years from now?”
Graham rolled his eyes. “Sure. Says the guy who can out-bench me any day of the week.”
“That’s true. You are kind of a wuss though. I’m not sure that’s saying much.”
“Hey!” Graham protested, laughing. “Rude.”
Things devolved from there and it wasn’t long before Thad had rolled him over and pinned him to the couch cushions.
Graham hadn’t fought hard to get the upper hand. Or at least that’s what he was telling himself.
“I love you,” Thad said huskily, his tone turning serious. “I know I joke a lot, but I want you to know. You—you make me hopeful about the future. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a future. And that’s because of you.”
“It’s not all because of me,” Graham protested, a little winded from the earlier wrestling and Thad’s weight crushing the air out of his lungs.
“Shut up and take the compliment, baby,” Thad muttered against his mouth and kissed him.
Graham smiled against his mouth and kissed him back.
They were a little late to the Thanksgiving celebration at the O’Shea house that afternoon.
Graham didn’t care.