Surge

He sat more upright, bringing himself level with me. “You know, I was always the kid who didn’t give a shit if someone talked bad about me. Like, I was, and still kind of am, immune to smack talk. If there was gossip behind my back in the playground or if some jerk got in my face about something, I just didn’t care. Completely unaffected.

“My mom always said nobody can hurt you if you don’t let them, and I’ve tried to keep that mantra close. It actually works, you know.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, but Jay did hurt you. I know he did. I saw it in your eyes, Drake. Back at Uyu. And now even your body is responding.”

“He has. Yeah. But there’s level two, my love. When someone makes it through my aikido evasion, I go through the agonizing process of thinking they can change. Thinking I can do something to make them happier. After all, people only do shitty things because they have a personality disorder or because they’re unhappy. Right?”

“Maaaybe.” I scrunched my forehead together. He was probably right about that, but I didn’t want to validate such a huge statement so quickly and while I was still naked and under the influence of an orgasm.

But what was he saying? He was going to help Jason Fry by burying him? I must have looked confused because Drake carried on.

“Then, there’s level three. Level three is it’s not about me anymore at all. Level three is someone messes with my family. Then, well, sometimes you gotta go nuclear. When this whole lawsuit was first brought up, I thought about myself, then about disappointing you…”

I took his hand in mine. “You could never…”

“Once the shock settled, though, and I spoke with Jacinta, and heard the massive numbers we were dealing with, I realized that RI, everything your dad worked hard to build, one of the biggest things you have left of him, was going to pay for someone else’s lies. And now, I’m pissed. And when the good guy gets mad?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m left with no choice but to bury Jason Fry. I’m officially done grieving.”

I shouldn’t have, but I smiled. I probably looked like a sinister psycho, appearing to smile at the thought of putting this fucker six feet under.

But it wasn’t just the vengeance I thought Drake deserved, it was the fact that he truly saw himself as my family. He was taking over as captain of my ship. He’d been steering for a long-ass time but now he wasn’t just at the helm, he was giving orders.

It was sexy as hell. He hadn’t left one cell in my body unconvinced that I was his top priority. I squeezed his hand. “I’ve never heard anything so romantic.”

Drake laughed. “This kind of feels like I’m in a Quentin Tarantino film now. Bonding over the demise of another. You do have the iconic Uma hair going on.”

I laid my head down on his chest and listened to his heart. I didn’t want to leave this bed. I didn’t want to leave this moment. But work wasn’t disappearing, and I wasn’t in a dream, even though it felt like I was. “I don’t want to go to work.” I whined again.

“Come on, Fairy. Time to put your wings on. In a few days, you’ll be in rainy Seattle, and I’ll get you one of Al’s bloody Marys.”

Sometimes, in life, when things were going just as you always wished they would, it felt like everything before led up to one particular moment. That’s when you knew something special was happening.