“Um… okay,” he replies apprehensively. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I assure him. “It’s just something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay…” He doesn’t sound any more at ease. “Well, I’ll be home in, I don’t know, five, ten minutes. How close are you?”
“You’ll beat me there, but only just. I’ll see you in a bit.”
We hang up, and about fifteen minutes later, I’m driving down his block. Bodhi is waiting outside when I pull up, a look of worry on his face. I park my car behind his, and neither of his roommates seems to be home. Turning off the car, I climb out, locking it behind me.
“Hey,” I murmur, pulling him into me for a bear hug. “How was your day?”
“It was okay.” Bodhi buries his face in my neck, his hot breath causing goosebumps to rise. “I got a lot done.”
“That’s good.” Leaning down, I seal my lips to his in a soft, sweet kiss. We keep it PG since we’re in his front yard, but it makes my chest swell nonetheless.
“So, what did you need to talk to me about?”
“Come on, let’s go inside.” I can tell he’s nervous, and I don’t want to make him worry any more than necessary, but this isn’t something I want to discuss where anyone else could potentially hear.
He huffs, and I swear I catch a slight eye roll as he leads the way into his house.
“Where are the guys?” I ask.
“Camden is visiting Vaughn up in Rhode Island, and Elias went down to his mom’s for the weekend. He’s moving down there next week, but he was bringing some of his shit now.”
Bodhi told me about Elias moving out a few weeks ago, but I didn’t realize it was so soon. He’s going to be working for his stepdad, I guess, who works in the oil industry.
“I gotta be honest,” I drawl. “I did not picture Elias working anywhere near oil.”
Bodhi laughs. “Yeah, me either. But it’s apparently office work. Not like in the oil fields. We’ll see how long it lasts, though.”
“Is he excited at all to move back home, or no?”
“Fuck no.” The sweet sound of Bodhi’s chuckle washes over me. It’s a sound I’m still not used to hearing all that often. He didn’t do it much before treatment. “He can’t stand his stepdad for whatever reason. I’m pretty sure he’s planning to move out on his own as quickly as possible.”
“Is he still going to do the stuff he was doing for work up here?”
Going into the kitchen, Bodhi comes back out with two waters, handing me one and opening his, downing a few large sips. “He’ll do his cam work, for sure, but he probably won’t have the time to do the VIP parties he usually does. We’ll see.”
Suddenly, I’m nervous as hell about talking to Bodhi about this. He’s in such a good mood, and I know this is going to be hard for him to hear. As if reading my mind, he clears his throat before asking, “So, what’s this you gotta talk to me about?”
Sighing, I say, “Let’s sit down.”
“I’d just like you to know, you’re freaking me the fuck out, Jules.” He says it with a lightness in his tone and a small chuckle, but the nerves radiate off him in waves.
We sit on the couch. It’s now or never. I drag in a deep breath, holding it momentarily, before exhaling. “I hired a private investigator after everything came out about Charles.”
Bodhi’s eyebrows shoot straight up. “You did?”
I nod. “He needs to be properly punished, Bodhi. What he did was wrong. It was sick and inexcusable.”
He chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment, nervous eyes flitting between the coffee table and me. “Did… did you find anything?” he asks softly.
“He called me today with some news. It’s why I came down here to tell you.” Grabbing his hand, I continue. “A few years back, a young man tried to press charges against Charles for sexual assault. Unfortunately, the case was dropped before it could make it to court. When my PI looked into it, it showed that the young man dropped the charges.”
“Why?” His voice shakes and the single word is nothing more than an exhaled breath.
“That’s what I’ve been wondering. I found out about this a few days ago, but it wasn’t until today that my PI was able to speak with the guy who dropped the charges. He’s nineteen now, but he was seventeen at the time.” My heart is beating so hard in my chest, the dread of having to put Bodhi through all of this after everything he’s been through. “The guy told Mike, my PI, that Charles allegedly threatened him.”
