19

Spencer Cypress

As soon as the black car pulled up in the driveway, I walked out of my house and walked to the driver's side.

"Whoo! And I thought Pasadena was hotter than hell's ass."

"Phoebe!" I said. She flicked her brown-blonde hair to the side and put on her sunglasses.

"Spencer! Ugh! Come here, babe. I miss you too much." She hugged me. I caught a whiff of her strawberry perfume.

"Thanks, again, for agreeing to take us." I told her.

"Of course. We should head back right now before rush hour. Where's your boyfriend?" She asked, scanning around the area.

"He should be here soon." I said. Graham walked out of his house with his luggage in hand. I saw him pet Juniper one last time before closing the door.

"Holy... Are you living next to Zane Phillips?" I heard Phoebe mutter.

"Back off." I said to her. Graham walked over and stood next to me. "Uh, Graham, this is Phoebe Acacia. Phoebe, this is Graham Birch." I said.

"Nice to meet you," Phoebe said. Even through her shades, I could see her eyeing down Graham.

"Hi." Graham softly replied.

"Well, let's get going now! My boyfriends are waiting for me to come back with Tocaya." She said.

"Boyfriends?" Graham asked. I grabbed my luggage and took it to the frunk of the car.

"She has a few boyfriends. Ya'know, poly." I said to him. He blushed and nodded. I also placed his luggage away.

Phoebe began to drive us away from the house. I checked the cameras and made sure the pet sitter knew when to come to feed Holly.

"Oh, baby. Your hair is getting frizzy." Phoebe mentioned.

"Get off my hair. I've been stressed as hell." I replied.

"So, are you moving back to LA when all of this ends?" She asked. I could see Graham from the back seat looking at me.

"Still don't know." I said.

Graham had a smile on his face.

"Oh, I got those Swedish candies you like." Phoebe signaled to the glove box. I pulled out a bag of sweets she had bought.

"Lifesaver." I muttered. I gave a handful to Graham.

We arrived in LA a few hours later. Phoebe dropped us off at the Ritz Carlton before she left. Graham looked like a fish out of water as he stood amongst other people.

"Let's get checked in." I told him. He simply nodded. I noticed him fiddling with his fingers. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm just nervous. What if they hate me?" He asked.

"They won't." I told him. He stood nervously as I got our hotel keys.

Once we were settled, I handed Graham the menu for room service to look over while I set up my laptop and took out my papers.

"'Kay, I need to organize these files. You go ahead and eat in the meantime." I said.

"Is that all you want me to do? Do you need anything else?" He asked.

"Sit there, eat, and be handsome." I said. He nodded in agreement. He watched me while he ate, sometimes giving me some of his food.

Night came and it was time to turn in. And then the realization hit me, we were going to have to share a bed. Curse Phoebe. She booked this room and definitely did this on purpose.

"Look, Graham. As much as I like you and wish for nothing more than for us to be all touchy-feely, that'll be for some other time." I told him.

"I-I wasn't planning on doing anything!" He retorted with a blush on his face. "But could we, perhaps, cuddle?" he asked while looking down.

"Cuddling is fine. But if I feel a third arm, we're going to have problems."

I got in bed and watched Graham slowly get in with hesitancy.

"Sorry. I haven't laid next to someone in a while." He muttered.

"I'm not going to bite you, Graham." I said. I scooted a bit closer to him and let him place his arms around me. My face became squished in his pecs.

"Uh, Spencer? I think you're licking me." Graham said.

"No!" I replied. He chuckled, causing his chest to move. And strangely, that helped me fall asleep in his arms.

I was awoken the next morning by grunting coming from the middle of the room. I sat up and saw Graham doing morning exercises. His face and chest were sweaty. It was certainly a view.

"You're awake?" He said. He walked to my side of the bed and planted a kiss on my cheek. "I ordered breakfast. I hope that's okay."

"Good idea." I got off the bed and stretched my body. "I have a meeting with my lawyer in a bit. Shower and get dressed." I told him.

Graham slicked his sweaty hair back. I had to cough and look away.

My lawyer was in the lobby of the hotel waiting for me. He gave me a handshake.

"Mr. Spencer. Shall we get to business?" Bertie asked.

"Yeah. I guess." I replied. "Graham, you sure you don't want to go back to the room? It's gonna be boring."

"No, I want to join!" He replied. I introduced my lawyer to Graham, who is my partner.

"Let's get down to it, Spencer. I think the case could swing in our favor. However, there is a chance that the defendants may throw some curveballs."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Keyaki! Hand me the folder." Bertie's assistant handed him a manila folder. "They will try to bring up the Christmas party thing from two years back."

He showed me the folder of a conversation I had with my ex-boss. This was one of the pieces of evidence that makes me worry about the case.

"Also, while we've dealt with Gunner Cycads by sending him the cease-and-desist letter, others in your ex-boss' circle have been making noise. We can go after them, but that process will also take up a lot of time."

I let out an exhale from my nose. "They are just as guilty as Fergus Manchineel. And when a basket of apples is rotten, you must throw them all away."

"Got it." Bertie said. He and his assistants worked to the side while I read over the documents. Graham placed his hand on my thigh to stop me from shaking it.

"You're strong, Spencer. You can do this." He whispered to me.

"Thanks." I replied.

Bertie then turned around with his phone on speaker and placed it in front of us.

"What were you saying, again?" Bertie asked.

"I heard from a friend who works for a PI company that Fergus Manchineel hired someone to follow your client, Mr. Cypress." The man on the phone said.

I could feel Graham's hand freeze. I could also feel myself growing cold and sweat started to form on my forehead.

"How long did the tracking go on for?" Bertie asked.

"The records for that have been sealed. But the initials show that Mr. Manchineel hired one of our best, and his rates are quite pricey."

"Thanks, Linden." Bertie hung up the call. He gave me a worried look. "I don't know what they got on you, but they will definitely try to use it in court."

I looked down at Graham's hand, then back up. "Could my relationship with Graham affect the trial?"

"Possibly. I can try to discredit any evidence, citing that it was taken out of context, but I think you should also prepare for this instance."

My lawyer wrote down a few questions that they might ask and told me to look over them. We ended the meeting.

Graham and I returned to my room. The entire time, he was silent and didn't talk. But he held my hand tightly. It wasn't until we got inside our room that he hugged me.

"Graham?" I asked.

"I can't believe someone was following you and I didn't know." He muttered. "Someone could've hurt you and I would've been useless to stop it."

His fingers began to dig into my skin on my back. I patted his shoulder for him to look me in the eye.

"Graham, you're doing a good job. I'm safe, aren't I?" I asked. He nodded. "Be my savior. Protect me from those evil people."

He then kissed me on the lips. "I'll be your knight in shining overalls." He said.

"That's my man." I laughed.

I knew that the trial was going to be a hard battle. I was going to have to face people that have hurt and betrayed me. And yet, I think I'll be able to look them in the eye without running this time.

Because this time, I have someone in my corner to defend me and stand with me.