Spencer Cohen Series, Book Three (The Spencer Cohen Series 3) (11 page)

I nodded again and gave him the best smile I could manage. “Thank you for being here.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Doctor’s orders, remember? He said you needed supervision for the next two days. I’m making it my civic duty.”

“I’m civically grateful.”

Andrew smiled. “You hungry?”

“I am, actually.”

He handed me his phone. “Lola called me. While you were talking to Lewis. I didn’t want to interrupt. She and Gabe are coming over, but can you call her? She’s very worried. And so is Emilio. He’s downstairs pacing.”

“Is he really?”

“Well, okay, maybe not pacing, but you’re his best friend, Spencer. Let them help you. They love you and they need to help you right now. Don’t let them think you don’t need them, because they need you.”

I nodded slowly. “Okay, I get it. I’ll go see him.”

Andrew grinned and stood. He held out his hand. “Come on. I’m going to grab some dinner for all of us while you talk to Emilio. Lola’ll be there soon.”

He started to walk to the door but I pulled him back. “Stop.” I slid my arm around him and pressed my forehead to his. “Thank you. Andrew, you have no idea how grateful I am for you.”

He put his hand on my cheek and kissed me. “And I am grateful for you.”

* * * *

When I walked into Emilio’s shop, he was standing next to the curtained cubicles, talking with Daniela. As soon as they saw me, their conversation stopped, and Emilio strode over and hugged me.

“Thank you,” I whispered before he let me go.

“No problem.” He pulled back and clapped my shoulder. “How are you doing?”

“Better.”

Andrew spoke then. “I’m just gonna go grab a few things for dinner. We’ll eat here, right?”

Daniela nodded and put her hand on his arm. “We would like that, very much.”

We watched him leave, and Emilio said, “He’s a good man.”

I blew a breath out through puffed out cheeks. “He really is.”

“You look exhausted. Come, sit down,” Emilio insisted.

I all but fell into the sofa in his waiting room, and Emilio and Daniela joined me. “I spoke to my brother, Lewis.”

“And how was that?” Emilio asked. “How was he?”

“He’s not doing so great. But I think we cleared the air between us.”

Daniela smiled warmly. “Oh, Spencer, that’s wonderful.”

I nodded and let out a long breath. “Yeah it is. He wants to see me. Well, he wants me to fly to Sydney.”

Emilio frowned. “Will you?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

Lola and Gabe arrived then, and Lola hugged me and I held her just as fiercely. She was tiny, but by God, she was strong, then Gabe hugged me too. So I recounted my conversation with Lewis for her as well, and by the time I’d recounted Andrew’s gentle lecture about me not pushing my friends away, he came through the front door of the tattoo shop with a carton of beer under one arm and a grocery bag in his other hand.

“Jesus,” Gabe muttered, jumping off the chair to help him.

“Wasn’t so bad,” Andrew said as Gabe relieved him of the carton of beer.

“He can carry twice that,” I said with a smile. “He’s ripped as hell under that sweater vest.”

Andrew jokingly narrowed his eyes at me. “Because I go to the gym while your lazy ass is still in bed.”

I shrugged. “True.”

Then Andrew said, “I had to go into that import grocery store two blocks over to get dinner.” He held up the grocery bag. It didn’t look like it would feed six people… He reached into the bag and pulled out a jar of Vegemite. “Vegemite sandwiches”—he looked right at me—“in honour of Archie. I heard Lewis say they were still his favourite.”

I refused to cry, but I stood up and walked over to him and hugged him so fucking hard he squeaked. “You’re squashing the bread.”

I pulled back and kissed him softly. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Anything.” He breathed in deep. “And if this Vegemite tastes like crap to us all non-Australians, we can order Chinese food.”

Emilio shut the shop for the night, and we sat around his waiting room eating Vegemite sandwiches and drinking beer. They hated every bite but choked them down anyway. I savoured every mouthful; the taste of my childhood brought with it fresh memories. We talked, we laughed, and I recalled a story or two of me and my brothers from when we were kids.

And as I looked at my friends, sitting with me, sharing my grief, and helping me heal, I thought, this is what family is. This right here. It didn’t get any better than this.

And the next morning, I lay in bed thinking, and when Andrew woke, he found me staring at the ceiling. He asked, “You okay?”

I turned my head and gave him a smile. “Yeah. Andrew, I wanna go back to Sydney.”

“What?”

“I want to see Lewis.”

He blinked and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay.”

After I’d let him wake up a bit, I said, “I want to go today. Or tomorrow. I don’t want to put it off any longer. It’s been years since I’ve seen him. And last night got me thinking: I have this here. I have a family in my friends here. Emilio and Lola are the best brother and sister I could ever ask for. And you… well, you’re not a brother because that’d be weird considering what we did last night. But Lewis has no one. He said he’s alone. He’s detached from my parents; he lost his closest brother. Andrew, he was so upset…”

Andrew patted my chest then rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed. “I’ll make some phone calls.”

I was a little confused, but he went to the bathroom and came back to the bedroom. He sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, phone in his hand. “How many days will we be gone?”

We?
“Um.” I sat up and scratched my head. “We?”

He looked from his phone to me. “Well, I just assumed… Do you not want me to come with you?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t given it any thought,” I said with a shake of my head. “But yes. If you can, that is.”

“Well, I have a lot of vacation time accrued at work. So that won’t be a problem.” He frowned. “Is this moving too fast? Is going away together this early in our relationship a good idea?”

“I have no clue.”

“I just don’t want you to go through that alone.” He held out his hand, and I took it without hesitation. “Are you sure it’s okay if I go along?”

“Yes. Of course, yes. I would like that very much.” I squeezed his hand. “I don’t care if it’s too soon in our relationship. I know this trip won’t be easy; there will be memories and demons and…” I inhaled deeply. “I would appreciate it very much if you were with me.”

He looked at me for a long moment, like he found me to be peaceful to look at. Then he went back to thumbing through his phone, and when he found what he was looking for, he showed me the screen. “There’s a flight tonight at ten? I guess that’s so we arrive at a half-decent time.”

I booked two tickets, and Andrew left to make arrangements and get organised and packed. He promised to see me back at my place as soon as he was done, and with a lingering kiss at my front door, he left.

I shot an email to Lewis giving him flight numbers; then I went downstairs and told Emilio. He was shocked. That much was clear. Without taking his eyes off me, he put down the papers he was holding. “You’re coming back, right?”

“Of course!”

He exhaled loudly. “Okay then. Good.” He smiled, relieved. “You told Lola yet?”

I pulled out my phone. “Not yet. Wish me luck.” Emilio chuckled and went back to his papers while I waited for Lola to answer.

“Hey, Spence,” she answered warmly. “How you doing this morning?”

“I’m surprisingly okay. What are you doing this evening, around eight?”

“Um, nothing. Why?”

“Well, I was hoping you could drive us to LAX?”

“Why? Why would… where are you going? Are you going to Australia? Spencer, please tell me you intend to come back.”

“Yes. Of course I am. Emilio wondered the same thing.”

“Well, of course we would. And Andrew didn’t?” she asked. “Oh please tell me you’ve told him you’re going. And for the love of Jeff Buckley, please tell me you told him you were coming home? Spencer?”

“I’m coming back! And of course I told Andrew. He’s coming with me!”

“Oh,” she said with a relieved sigh.

“I was kinda hoping you could drive us?”

“Sure I can. Is he ready to meet Cindy Crawford?”

“Well, I figured if he’s brave enough to endure a trip in Cindy Crawford, then we can survive going away together.”

There was a beat of silence. “Spencer Cohen, don’t think for one second that Australian accent works on me. I am deeply offended.”

I smiled when I answered, “You’re the
best
best friend I could ever ask for.”

“I’ll be there for dinner. Just in case you didn’t follow, you’re buying.” She sniffed. “And I love you too.” The phone went dead in my ear.

I slid my phone into my pocket, and somehow, I lost track of time. I got busy helping Emilio, then Daniela. I ran some errands, made some calls, and after I’d ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner, I took a phone call from Helen Landon. Firstly, she wanted me to know how very sorry she was to hear the news of my brother and wanted to know if there was anything at all she could do. After I had told her I was okay, she wanted to give me a lecture—gently, but still a lecture—about taking her son overseas and taking proper care of him, then she lectured me about taking care of myself because the last time she saw me, I was in hospital. Lastly, she asked me if I was still interested in helping her at the Acacia Foundation, finding at-risk LGBTIQ people.

She had mentioned one girl in particular, and I would assume each case was time sensitive. “I’ll be away almost a week,” I explained. “We have return tickets for five days. I’m not sure if I’m any help right now. Otherwise I would love to. It’s something that would mean a great deal to me.”

“The offer stands for when you get back. We can discuss details then.”

Daniela answered a knock at the back door, and Andrew walked back in with her. “He’s talking to your mom,” Daniela said to him.

Andrew stared and then held out his hand for my phone. I grimaced. “Uh, Andrew’s here. He wants to talk to you.”

He took the phone and put it to his ear. “Mom. I said not to call him!” He listened and mumbled a few responses while me, Emilio, and Daniela looked on, trying not to smile. When he was done, he ended the call and gave me back my phone. “I’m sorry.”

I kissed his cheek. “It was a nice surprise.”

He sighed. “You ready? I’ve been to work. Got approved vacation time for eight days. I figured a few days off when we get back can’t hurt. I don’t do jet lag very well. I organised with Sarah to check on my place. She’s coming here to pick up my keys; I told her it’d be okay if I left them here?” he looked at Emilio. Emilio nodded, and Andrew kept on talking. “I’m packed and ready, passport, I had to google what the weather was like in Sydney this time of year… Why are you looking at me?”

I checked my watch. “Oh. I kinda lost track of time.”

He stared.

“I organised Lola to drive us to the airport. That counts, right?”

He looked at me like I’d just spoken in tongues.

“I’m taking that’s a no.”

“I’m trying really hard not to say something awkward or offensive. You know I struggle with saying the wrong thing.” He looked at Emilio and Daniela. “I tend to ruin things by saying the wrong thing, and it’s something I’m working on. Like now.” He looked back at me and ran his hand through his hair. He let out a long breath. “We’re leaving here in just over an hour, Spencer, to fly half way around the world. I know it’s not under the best circumstances, and I’m trying to be understanding, but I’m stressing out because I’ve never left the country with half a day notice before.”

I put my fingers to his lips to cut him off. “I ordered pizza. Should be here in ten.”

“Spencer.”

I gave him my best smile. “Don’t stress. She’ll be right.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Your
Australian
won’t work on me.”

I chuckled. “Lola said the same thing.”

“She’ll be right?” he repeated. “Who is she?”

“No one. It’s just something Aussie’s say. As in everything’ll be fine.”

He mumbled something that sounded like needing a lobotomy, and he let out a long suffering sigh. “What kind of pizza did you order?”

He really was too easy. Pizza arrived, as did Lola, and we spent an hour or so talking about our trip. Andrew stood up, his patience worn thin, and packed up the empty boxes. “I’ll take these out,” he said, disappearing through the back.

“He’s nervous,” I whispered to the others. “I didn’t expect him to come with me, but I’m so glad he is.”

“Take him upstairs,” Lola said. “Finish getting ready, and I’ll be up in ten to get you.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks. I um, I haven’t packed anything yet. So if you hear him yelling…”

“Oh, Spencer,” Lola said.

“‘Oh, Spencer’ what?” Andrew said, walking back in.

“Nothing,” I answered, quickly getting up and walking over to him. “Come on. Better get organised.”

His whole demeanour changed from impatient to excited. He took the stairs two at a time and waited for me at the top, but I took the stairs slower than him, marvelling in the beauty of his arse. “Didn’t I give you a key?” I asked him.

“Yes.” He looked at the door then back down to me. “I can’t use my key to your place when you’re with me. That’d be weird.”

I got to the top landing. “I’d like you to use your key.”

“Will it make you get ready sooner?”

“Yes.”

He fished his keys from his pocket, found the one I’d given him, and simply opened the door. “Happy now?”

I gave him a smiley sigh. “Another first to go on my ‘Because of Andrew’ list.”

Andrew recoiled, he looked at the door, then to me, then to the keys in his hand, and his face fell. “Sorry. I should have realised. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive.”

As I walked past him, I planted a kiss on his lips. “You are completely and utterly forgiven. You’re giving up a lot to come with me.”

Andrew closed the door behind us. “I’m not giving up anything. I want to go with you.”

I emptied my pockets onto the kitchen counter. “Your boss didn’t mind?”

Andrew shook his head. “Nah. Was surprised, but when I told him what we were going for, he said it was fine. I have a tonne of vacation time accrued. Shell was kinda pissed that I was leaving her for a week. It meant that she has to suffer through lunch breaks with Antonio from Production. I told her I’ll buy her a stuffed toy kangaroo to make up for it.”

I walked into my room, pulled my suitcase out from the back of the wardrobe, and threw it on the bed. “And you’re completely okay with travelling overseas for a week with your boyfriend of two months?”

Andrew smiled, but his patience was clearly worn a little thin. “I am. I don’t want you to go through that alone.”

“I’d come back, you know,” I told him. Both Lola and Emilio had initially thought I would stay, and I had to wonder if Andrew thought the same.

His gaze shot to mine. “What?”

“I’d come back. If I were to go to Sydney by myself, I would come back to LA. This is my home now. If that’s what you’re worried about.”

Andrew sighed but somehow managed to smile. “I know that. I’m going with you because no person should go through saying goodbye to their brother alone. You don’t have to be alone now, Spencer. You’re not alone.” He swallowed hard. “And, given the slight chance of seeing your father, I’d like to punch him in the throat, if that’s okay.”

I laughed for the first time in what felt like days.

“So stop asking me if I’m sure I want to fly across to the other side of the planet because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. So finish packing… Or start.” He gaped at my still-empty suitcase. “Jesus, Spencer, have you packed anything? We need to be there, like, soon!”

I literally grabbed three pairs of pants, five shirts, some jocks, and socks, folded them—kind of—and stuffed them into the suitcase. “Toiletries and I’m done.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah, why not?” I reached up to the back of the top shelf in my wardrobe and pulled out a metal safety box. I turned the key and picked out my passport and a black leather bracelet, leaving the other documents and papers, closed the lid, turned the key, and put it back.

“Uh, Spencer?” Andrew said, unsure. “I uh, I don’t think leaving the key in the box is what they had in mind. You know, when they put a lock on it? So you could lock it? And take the key out of it?”

I snorted. “If they wanted, they could just take the whole box. There’s nothing worth any money in there. I figure if the key is in it, if someone broke into my flat, they might take the time to look and see there’s nothing of value in it instead of just stealing the whole thing. They have these specially built places for that kind of stuff these days called banks. Maybe you’ve heard of them.” I laughed at his expression. “I just keep information and documents in there, that’s all. The box is fireproof.”

“Oh. You didn’t need to be sarcastic about it.”

“Yeah, I did.” I pulled my shirt off and tossed it onto the bed and plucked out a clean button down shirt from my wardrobe. He was staring at my chest. Which reminded me. “Hey, you still need to draw me that tattoo.”

He cleared his throat. “I know. I’m working on it.”

“You are?”

“I’ve sketched a few ideas.”

“Can I see them?”

His eyes widened. “Absolutely not. Not until it’s finished.”

“Any clues?”

“Nope.”