Forbidden: King (The Four 4)

Eden would probably have a new girlfriend by then, and—okay, I really didn’t want to think about that right now.

On our way upstairs, Casey said, “I bet Eden took this bad. Like, really, really bad.”

“Of course he did. You know how he is about breaking the law. It’s like the tiny baggie of weed incident, times a hundred.”

“And you’re going on a road trip with him. You know it’s going to be a never-ending two-thousand-mile lecture, right?”

“Yeah, it definitely is.”

After an awkward pause, Casey mumbled, “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” and I nodded. He looked like he was still trying to make sense of what had just happened, but he and I would be okay. I was sure of that.

I said goodnight and hugged him again. Then I went into my room and shut the door behind me, grabbed my laptop, and climbed onto my bed. I needed to take down my website, but before deleting the page, I paused to take a look at its start screen. It included the heading “Professional Escort” along with a cluster of black and white nude photos of me. I’d hired a photographer and tried to make them seem classy, but let’s face it, they were still nude photos. None of them showed my face or my junk, but my ass and the rest of me was on full display.

It was humiliating knowing those pictures were part of a packet that had been distributed all over the police department, but I really only had myself to blame. I’d chosen to post them on the internet, and I’d been naïve enough to think they wouldn’t come back to haunt me, since they’d seemed fairly anonymous. Little did I know.

Once my website was down, I sent an email to my friend Jasper, letting him know I was leaving San Francisco for a while. I also told him everything I knew about the sting operation. Even though he’d retired from the business, it occurred to me he might have other friends who were sex workers, and he should warn them that they were at risk of getting arrested.

Next, I did an internet search and sent an email to a local advocacy group. They worked on behalf of sex workers in the city, and I thought they should know what the police department was up to. Since the sting had been going on for a week it probably wasn’t news to them, but I wanted to be sure. I hated what the cops were doing, and I hoped that email would help other people in my position.

After that, I texted Josh and Darwin to let them know I was going back home for a while. Josh replied: Aw, we’ll miss you, Seth. So will Nana and the rest of the fam. Be sure to keep in touch, and we’ll look forward to seeing you when you come back. Hope it’s soon.

I was already so emotional that his message almost made me cry. But I needed to keep it together, because I had some work to do.

After I plugged in my phone and changed out of my nice suit, I turned my attention to my belongings. It didn’t take long to pack. All I really had were my clothes, which had more than doubled in the last six months, a TV and game console I’d recently bought myself, and four boxes of odds and ends. Once I added my stuffed Scooby Doo to the pile in the hallway, that was about it.

I set aside an overnight bag and my backpack for the drive, and then I looked around my room. Casey and I had been given George’s two furnished guestrooms when we’d arrived in the city, because we’d been too broke to buy a lot of stuff. Meanwhile, Eden had bought furniture and converted another room in the house into a bedroom.

Now all signs I’d ever been here were gone, just like that.

I got ready for bed, and then I turned off the light and curled up in bed with my hand on my tattoo. It was still early, and sleep was going to be impossible anyway, so I just stared into the darkness and replayed my conversations with Eden and Casey over and over again.

A few hours later, I heard Eden return from work. He came straight upstairs, overshot his room, and stopped in front of my door. Since my light was out, he probably assumed I was asleep. After a pause, I heard him backtrack to his room and shut the door.

Good. I didn’t have the energy for any more talking. Not tonight.

I shifted a bit and returned my hand to my tattoo, automatically seeking comfort in my constant companion. Ironically, that little dragon was what had stirred up all this trouble in the first place.