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grabbed the newspaper and dropped onto the sofa and sighed as he flipped through the pages. He was having little luck focusing on any of the stories he read so Brandon tried to reflect on the meeting with Noah’s teacher. It was no good. His eyes kept flicking to the front door and his ears kept straining for the sound of Jude’s car. By the time Jude came through the door, Brandon was irritable and restless. Jude waved as he passed and jogged toward the stairs. A few minutes later he was striding into the living room toward the bar.
    “How did the meeting go?” Jude asked as he poured himself a whiskey.
    “As well as can be expected,” Brandon mumbled as he got up and went to the bar. For some reason, he hadn’t felt like drinking until Jude walked in. “Did you turn off the light?” Brandon asked and he saw Jude nod out of the corner of his eye. Jude sighed happily as he dropped into an armchair and slouched. His legs stretched and he crossed them at the ankles as he set his drink on his chest.
    “The meeting?” Jude gestured for Brandon to continue as he shut his eyes and Brandon glared as he returned to the sofa.
    “Ms. Sullivan is definitely a bitch. She was pretty concerned with our living arrangement and kept prying until I explained that Noah’s mother died.” Brandon saw Jude’s jaw twitch but he remained silent. “After that, her biggest complaint was Noah’s habit of singing rude rhymes when he’s in between tasks.” He took a long drink and Jude chuckled as he lifted his glass.
    “But how have his spelling tests been?” He asked and Brandon sighed.
    “He’s got a four in spelling,” he admitted and Jude raised his glass in salute before he took a sip.
    “The results speak for themselves,” Jude declared and Brandon refused to admit that he agreed. Instead he sighed again before he drained his glass. One of Jude’s eyes snapped open and locked on Brandon. “What?” He asked as he watched and Brandon shook his head.
    “Nothing,” he mumbled as he got up and poured himself another drink. “How was your evening? You’re in earlier than I expected.” Brandon turned and leaned against the bar and a large grin spread across Jude’s lips.
    “Fantastic,” he winked as he stretched and folded an arm behind his head. “It didn’t take me as long as I expected to talk the new dog groomer into giving me a tour of his shop,” Jude said before he took another sip. Brandon stared into his drink for several moments before he set it on the bar.
    “You know, I’m going to go ahead and turn in.” He pushed from the bar and was almost to the stairs when Jude called to him.
    “What’s wrong this time?” He asked and Brandon waved over his shoulder as he climbed.
    “Just really tired all of a sudden,” Brandon lied and kept his head down. He knew there was no way he’d be able to get to sleep for hours but he didn’t want to risk Jude pinning him down and searching his body for more signs of drug use. Brandon resisted the urge to punch himself in the face as his nerves twisted and heat pooled in his groin at the thought of being pinned down by Jude and a full body inspection.

Chapter 10
     
    Breakfast was tense. Jude tried to cover for Brandon as Noah lobbed questions at him and rattled on about how he needed a pet turtle. When the nanny came to get Noah to dress for school, Brandon jumped to his feet and fled the dining room. When Jude found him, Brandon was in his office staring out the window.
    “Let’s get it over with,” Jude said and Brandon sighed heavily.
    “Get what over with?” He asked.
    “You’re going to tell me that you’re not pissed at me and that everything’s fine,” Jude predicted as he sat on the edge of Brandon’s desk. Brandon shook his head but didn’t turn.
    “I’m not mad at you,” he murmured as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Jude snorted as he picked up the large rock Noah had brought back from one of their hikes.
    “You could have fooled