Having to pack for a new city is no small task. Essentials, like my laptop, wardrobe, and half-a-dozen cheap and tawdry paperbacks, are already brimming over the drab brown shipping boxes that fill my apartment. My cat, Jinx doesn't get off easy, with a house sitter, but gets to ride upfront with me all the way to Miami Beach. Hell, if I must go, then so does he. "I can't believe you're going to Miami," Grady frowned.
He sat on my floor among piles of clothes. It was four thirty now, and despite the past few hours of packing, I was no further ahead than when I started. "Believe it," I snapped back.
It had been a week since I was blind-sided with the news that I was now the Miami correspondent for the new magazine. Jaden, my editor, fixed up this plan and, with the added help of his boyfriend's catty remarks, I'm sent packing. "You're a triple threat Joey." "Attractive, smart, a writer, and Jaden likes the way you kiss," Grady said. "That's a quadruple threat, and look where it got me." "A ticket out of town," I said, walking into my bedroom.
If I closed my eyes for more then a second, I could hear Jaden's boyfriend, Garret's voice in my ear, saying, "I'm sure he will miss you, but to me, you're quite forgettable." Having that replay over in my head didn't help much, as I lay in bed. Sure Miami, for a single guy, sounds exciting, downright fabulous, even for a weekend away with the guys. Under the guise of a career move, so a relationship stays intact, is a whole different proposal.
Was I really that guy, the one who you keep under lock and key, when your boyfriends are around? The wicked city vamp, who gets dirty looks and causes whispered gossip? Tossing the pillow over my head did nothing but blank out the city noise coming through my window, not block out my thoughts. "Hey," I said into the phone, only to hear the same word repeated back. "Why are you still up? It's," Will said, leaning over to check his alarm clock, and continued, "three a.m." "Look, Will. I know what I did was very out of character for me, but that doesn't make it right." "Joey, you don't have to apologize to me. My relationship ended cause Marc cheated, not because you kissed your editor." "I know that," I whispered. "I was just disappointed, it's not a game, we aren't twenty-three anymore, running around without consequences." "Hell, we aren't even twenty-five," I snorted. I heard Will laugh, and with that giggle, I knew he forgave me. "Think of this as a chance to explore a new city, find yourself," Will said. "Alone?" I asked, as a lump stuck in my throat. "It took me a long time to realize that we are never really alone, just waiting until we find what we are looking for." "And have you found that, Will?" "Yeah, I find myself in Luke's headstrong determination, in Grady's innocence, and in your wit." "Triple threat, huh?" I grinned. "That's right, Joey".....
