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Meg opened the door. “Can I help you?” she asked primly.
“Yeah, is Will there?” came a familiar voice.
“Come on in.” She stepped back, and Spence and Pax walked into our apartment.
Spence was busy scoping out everything that was old and crumbling about the place, trying to cover his surprise. But Pax zeroed in straight on Will. And me, sitting on his lap.
“Holy shit,” he yelped. “Excuse my language, ladies,” he added to Meg and Emily. “The two of you…you really are…fuck. I thought there was something in the air, and believe me, there’ve been rumors, but you’re like, together.”
Spence whirled from his inspection of the apartment to gape at the two of us. “Will, are you serious? Your cousin?”
“Yes,” Will said calmly. “I don’t think you’ve said hello to Andie yet.”
Spence blinked. “Hello, Andrea. Looking beautiful as always.” His eyes flicked down to Will’s bathrobe wrapped around me.
I discreetly tightened the belt. “Hi, Spence.”
I’d told Will I wasn’t ashamed of us, didn’t want to hide anymore. I would never have chosen Spence and Pax as the first people — outside Meg and Emily — to announce our relationship to, but I straightened on Will’s lap, summoning every last shred of my dignity. I tried to own the situation the way he was.
“Very beautiful,” Pax added, like he couldn’t help himself. “I knew it,” he added to Spence out of the side of his mouth. “I told you, there was something going on.”
“That’s enough.” The casual command I remembered was back in Will’s voice, full force. Spence and Pax both flashed apologetic grins. Apparently, even if he was disowned from the Randolph fortune, Will could still carry authority.
“What’s going on with you?” Spence sat down gingerly at the table. “Have you completely flipped out?”
“No, I’ve come to my senses,” Will replied.
Meg and Emily stood by the stove, watching with rapt attention as Pax pulled up the other chair, straddling it with an attempt at a soulful look.
“Listen, Will, your mom gave us the address here, but we would’ve come ourselves. We need to talk.”
“Can we have this conversation in private?” Spence put in. “No offense to the lovely girls present.”
“No,” Will said calmly. “They live here. We’re in the middle of breakfast.”
Emily took this as her cue to scrape the scrambled eggs onto plates, handing them around to Meg, Will, and me. “Um…” She eyed Spence and Pax.
Pax held up his hand. “Don’t worry about us. We already ate.”
Spence looked around the kitchen, and for a minute, I saw it through his eyes. “This doesn’t have to be your life, man.”
“Is that all?” Will sounded cool, distant. I’d never been a fan of Spence and Pax, but I felt a pang at their sudden, identical hurt expressions.
“No, it’s not all,” Pax said suddenly, sounding determined. “We’re here to say that we’re your friends. Okay? We’ve known each other practically since birth and that doesn’t end now. We don’t care what anyone says about you. And believe me, they’re saying some crazy shit. They all think you’re certifiably insane for leaving your family and dumping Maddie. But we don’t give a damn about that. Or that you’re in a relationship with your cousin. Is it a relationship, by the way? Or just a…a…” He waved his hand.
“It’s a relationship.” Will’s voice was still cool, but his arm around me had relaxed.
“Congratulations.” Pax held his hand out to me. Feeling like this was a dream, I shook it. “Wishing you all the best.”
“Even if no one else wants to be friends with you, we do,” Spence said.
A slow, incredulous smile was spreading across Will’s face. “I really can’t get rid of you, can I?”
“Nope.” Spence grinned broadly. “We came to make sure you’re not living in some shithole with rats crawling over you, but also, let’s hang out.”
“I don’t have employment yet,” Will said lightly. “We won’t be hanging out in the style you’re accustomed to.”
“Fuck that. Your dad’s shutting you out, right?” Pax dug in his pocket and slapped three business cards on the table. “A present, from us to you. These people hate Richard’s guts.”
