Legally His

Chapter 1When my cell phone pinged for the third time, my brother, Ruben Lamonte, who currently sat across from me at the dining room table, gave me the side-eye. Ruben and I were twins but couldn’t really be less alike other than the physical resemblance. And we were fraternal not identical. My brother kept his dark hair short-trimmed, almost a buzz cut. I kept mine shorn in the back, long in the front, and generally dyed it according to my current whim. It was violet now. Ruben always carried a little more weight than I did and I was shorter by about two inches. Besides the two of us at the table, Ruben’s fiancée, Margo, joined us. She looked up from her game piece at the interruption, but then went about her business taking her turn at the board game. I used that opportunity to ignore Ruben and look at my texts. Hey Cade. Followed by, I’d love to see you. And finally, this last one, Call Me. I read the texts aloud. “We just ordered a pizza,” Ruben spoke. His tone was flat, irritated. And I knew why. The texts were from my on-again off-again lover, Sidney Conner. Sidney—not Sid, according to the man himself—was a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. What we had, when we had it, could hardly be called a relationship. Certainly not in the sense of Ruben and Margo or even our older brother, Damian, and his new boyfriend, Arthur. Sidney assured me he had no time for any kind of full-time romantic thing, but he liked s*x and he liked s*x with me. This bugged Ruben. He didn’t like the way Sidney was with me. But part of me also thought it bothered him that both Damian and I were into guys. He said it didn’t, but he often got kind of surly about it. Besides the three Lamonte guys, we had a sister, Pam. We’d lost both of our parents by now, but we were a tightknit sibling bunch. “Oh, give him a break, honey,” Margo spoke up for me. “It’s not like we can’t polish off a pizza without Cade.” She smiled at me. “Been a while since you heard from Detective Heartthrob, huh?” This made me roll my eyes. “He’s not.” He was, actually. Sidney was gorgeous. “Tall, dark, and handsome” described him perfectly. Muscular, too. He had that old-fashioned stony ruggedness. “But yes, it’s been a while.” Two months actually. But I knew he’d been working a case and certainly wouldn’t make seeing me a priority. And despite all that, I was excited to see him. “So tell him you’ll see him. That’s what he wants, right?” “Yeah,” I admitted without looking at my sullen brother. “We’re playing Life. And having pizza. Can’t you see him another time?” That from Ruben, of course. The thing was, Ruben wasn’t wrong. I was busy with them and it would suck to blow them off for Sidney. But Sidney could go another two months with no availability. “Ruben,” Margo said gently. “We do this stuff all the time. If Cade wants to go…” “Fine. Fine. Whatever. Do your booty call.” I made a face at him, but I rose from the table to text Sidney when my cell rang. It was him. “Cade?” “Hey. I was just about to text you back. Was playing Life with Ruben and Margo.” There was only a slight pause. “Can I see you?” I glanced at the dining room table where Ruben was pointedly ignoring me. “Yeah. Should I come to your place now?” “Yes. I’m home. See you soon.” And Sidney hung up. * * * * I would definitely owe Ruben when I went home later, but for now, I was excited to see Sidney. He lived on a cul de sac in a suburb of LA. It was a nice little bungalow-style house, painted off-white with steel blue trim. I was pretty sure that was done before Sidney bought it. I really couldn’t see Mister GQ Detective painting his house. I pulled my little hatchback into the driveway as was my instruction any time I came over. I’d brought a small overnight bag with a change of clothes and a toothbrush should he ask me to stay the night. I never really knew what to expect. A homicide detective was above my paygrade, really. I currently worked at a little bakery my sister, Pam, managed. I was going to classes at Cal State school near home and didn’t have time for a full-time job yet. At the moment, my major was…undeclared. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do other than to play music. My friends and I had formed a band that played, well, sort of a mix of punk and hard rock. We mostly played weekend gigs like weddings and bar mitzvahs. We had booked a bar a while back with live music and we thought we’d done well, but so far, no one had asked us back. As I approached the front door, the curtain fell back, and I knew Sidney was watching for me. It shouldn’t ratchet up my excitement, but it absolutely did. Only a second later, the door opened, and Sidney was grinning at me. I grinned back as that crooked smile with the dimple on one side was too infectious. “Come here, you.” He took my hand and pulled me into his house. “How are you, baby?” Ah, so at least I was getting the playful, affectionate Sidney instead of the brooding one. I was never quite sure which one I’d be facing, but I knew I was more likely to get Mister Brooder when he had a homicide case. “I’m good,” I said lightly. “Now that you’ve contacted me.” He laughed and pulled me close, kissing me deeply. When we came up for air, I ventured, “Case over then?” “It is, yeah.” For a moment, his smile slipped. “We’ve arrested the husband.” “Isn’t it almost always the husband? Or the wife? I watch all those true crime shows on cable. And streaming.” That earned me a sardonic brow. “Yeah, almost. But not always, you know. Those shows are sensationalized.” “Um hm. Still, most murders aren’t stranger murders, are they?” “No.” He grimaced. “Hey, Cade, can we not talk about murders? That’s a pretty damn heavy subject.” “Sorry. I’m just naturally curious. You’ve eaten?” My gaze went to the half-eaten fast food hamburger on his dining room table. “Started anyway?” “I had. Then got to thinking of you.” That made me chuckle. “‘Cause I’m a piece of meat?” The smile slipped again, which was weird. He was in a strange mood after all. “You aren’t a piece of meat, Cade. I don’t think of you like that.” Ruben would argue with him, but I shook my head. “I’m teasing, Sidney. Just a joke, okay?” Sidney sighed and pulled me in for a kiss. “Not in the mood for teasing.” He looked down at my hands, which were empty. “Where’s your stuff? You’re not staying?” “You want me to?” “Of course. Is your bag in the car?” “Yeah, I’ll get it.” Sidney took the car keys from my front pocket. “No, I will. Pour yourself some wine, baby. I’ll be back in a second.” I was, of course, in love with him, though I never said the words. Why would I? But I guess Ruben had a point when he thought I was stupid to come running every time Sidney crooked his finger. He always had bottles of red and white wines available, always chilled as we both even liked the red one cold, so I went to the fridge to see what was available. Though our relationship was casual, I didn’t think he was seeing anyone else. I could certainly be wrong. But I knew for sure he was the only one I was seeing. Which was why two months of not seeing him made me pretty eager, I guess. I found an opened bottle of Pinot Grigio and decided on that. Poured some in two glasses, figuring he’d join me, and put it back. It was that moment he came inside, carrying my overnight bag. “Doesn’t seem like there’s much in here.” He set it on the kitchen counter. “Don’t need much, do I? I don’t wear clothes to bed when I’m here. Just a toothbrush and something to wear in the morning.” He picked up his glass of wine and looked sideways at me. “You could, you know, maybe stay a couple of nights this time.” “A couple?” Even I heard the squeak in my voice. Winced at it. “Yeah, is there any reason why not, Cade?” “Well. No. Except.” I put down my glass and rubbed the back of my neck. “I get up pretty early to work at Pam’s bakery.” “Right. And you do that anyway, so what’s the difference doing that two or three nights?” Three? Now we went from a couple to three? But I kept my cool. “Got school, too.” “It’s not that far from my house to Cal State. You’ve got a couple of afternoon classes after work. You can come back here, take a nap, a shower, and be fresh as a daisy.” He winked. This all seemed weird to me. Not because I wouldn’t want it. Not at all. But that he’d never suggested any such thing before. An occasional night over was all I ever got. This somehow seemed significant. But I was afraid if I acted like it was, if I questioned it too much, he’d pull back on it. “Okay,” I said, my voice easy. “Sure. I have the clothes I’m wearing, and you have a washing machine. No big deal. I’ll plan on it.” And just like that, his smile returned full force and he reached for me. I stepped eagerly into his arms.