Adam woke up early, old habits dying hard even when he didn’t exactly have to get up for work that morning. He usually got up early, did yoga in the living room of his apartment, and then took a shower and headed into the office. It took him a moment to remember where he was, the early morning sun slipping in through the cracks in the curtains and waking him up as surely as any alarm clock.

He turned his head slowly, trying to get his bearings. He was in a large bedroom, in a very comfortable bed. There was someone in bed with him, their legs intertwined, and Adam apparently had his head on the person’s chest.

Adam saw the person’s face and everything came rushing back. Luke. Luke’s bedroom. Last night, they had—they’d had sex twice. Three times, if you counted the handjob on the public dance floor.

Oh, shit, Adam had let Luke give him a handjob out in public. Before they’d had sex in the men’s restroom.

How the hell had they not gotten arrested?

Luke looked incredibly peaceful in sleep. Adam hadn’t realized how many worry lines were etched across Luke’s face until he saw them erased. Whatever Luke was dreaming about, it wasn’t giving him any of the stress that his waking life did. Adam yearned to reach out and trace his finger along the lines and ridges of Luke’s face.

Dear God what was he, a lovestruck teenager?

All of the doubts that he’d abandoned last night came rushing in again. He couldn’t do this. He had a job, and he’d made a promise in that job. There were rules. He had to see this through.

He really didn’t want to, though. He wanted to say fuck it to the Harpers and officially side with Luke. But if he did, it would possibly be his law license at stake. People would want to know why he was dropping the case. They might find out how much time he’d spent with Luke. And even if they didn’t, Nash would be sure to get pissed at him for refusing the case. He’d question Adam’s work ethic and his dedication.

He just didn’t see a way out of it.

Besides, he had to help Luke, and continuing to work for the Harpers would actually help Luke more than dropping them would. He could purposefully sabotage his side of the case. All he had to do was go overboard on painting Luke as a villain. The judge would declare it ridiculous. He’d make himself and the Harpers look worse by going hard after Luke, and so nobody would think to question Luke over the particulars of, say, his childhood arrests and his financial difficulties until recently.

It was the perfect plan. Adam would sabotage things on his end, and Enid would make Luke look amazing on her end, and it would all work out.

Adam’s stomach rumbled. He was tempted to wake Luke up, but he just looked so peaceful. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Instead he slid out of bed and looked around the room, hunting until he found a pair of sweatpants and a shirt that fit him pretty well. They were both too big, but at least they weren’t swallowing him up.

When he came downstairs, it was to find Seth sitting at the kitchen table. The kid was very intently reading a history book and taking notes.

“Starting on homework already?” Adam asked.

Seth looked up at him. Adam could definitely see the family resemblance between him and Luke, but he also suspected that Seth had a lot of his mother’s features in him as well. He looked gangly, and awkward, and not at all built like Luke, who had a naturally bulky frame.

Just a kid. How could the Harpers pull him into the middle of a custody battle like this?

“Where’s Luke?” Seth asked.

“Still asleep.” Adam remembered Luke’s promise to Seth the night before. “If you help me though, I can make you those pancakes.”

Seth grinned. “Awesome.”

Adam hadn’t made pancakes in years, but it wasn’t too hard to remember. It wasn’t like this was filet mignon or anything. Seth helpfully showed him where the ingredients and utensils were.

Once they poured the batter into the pan and there wasn’t really much else to do, Seth’s curiosity apparently couldn’t be contained any longer. “So, are you two boyfriends?”

It was a good thing that Adam wasn’t drinking water or anything, otherwise he would have choked. “Um…”

“Luke needs one of those,” Seth admitted. “He’s lonely.”

“How can he be lonely?” Adam replied. “He’s got you.”

Seth beamed at him. “Yeah, he does.” The kid leaned in, conspiratorially. “Luke thinks he’s taking care of me, and he is. He does a real good job... but I’m also taking care of him.”

“Oh?” Adam asked. He was desperate for more information, but didn’t want to pry and scare Seth into silence.

Seth nodded. “He doesn’t eat the way he should, so I gotta help him,” he said. “I gotta make sure he gets enough sleep too. He paces a lot, at night.”

“Why would that be?”

Seth shrugged. “I think it’s the phone calls. My grandparents call. Luke doesn’t know that I know, but I eavesdrop.”

“You’re pretty bold about admitting to eavesdropping,” Adam warned him. “I could take that as an admission of guilt.”

“But would it be admissible in court?” Seth replied. “You have a witness statement but no evidence.”

“I could put you on the stand and cross-examine you.”

“You couldn’t break me,” Seth declared. “I’ve been practicing on kids in school.”

Adam laughed. “And I’m sure you’re psychologically scarring all of them.”

Seth beamed at him, obviously pleased. Adam sobered up—Seth might very well end up on the witness stand soon. “If you really were to go to court,” he said, “like... for your brother, and you were asked if you liked living with him, would you be okay with that?”

Seth nodded. “I know my grandparents want me to live with them, but they never even came and visited when I was little. Also, my mom realły didn’t like them. She called them a lot of things like…” Seth peered around to make sure Luke wasn’t sneaking up on him, then lowered his voice. “She called them assholes.”

Adam laughed again. “Yup, they are.”

“I want to live with Luke,” Seth said, and he sounded a lot more serious than before. “So the court has to go with that, right? I mean, they won’t find anything about Luke being a bad parent. He’s just a big brother, but he’s trying really hard to be a parent, and he’s doing a good job.”

“He is,” Adam agreed. “And I think, if you say that in court, there’s no reason why you can’t stay with your brother.”

Seth happily went back to watching the pancakes cook. As Adam flipped them off the pan and onto a plate for him, he realized another reason why he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t jeopardize what Luke had with Seth. Seth said that Luke needed a boyfriend but really, didn’t he deserve time with just his brother, without someone else muscling in?

No, he had to go and do what he could to make sure that Seth stayed with Luke. Adam’s own feelings didn’t matter in this. Seth’s and Luke’s did. He wouldn’t win anything by staying, if he even wanted to stay. He did, and he didn’t... because as much as he wanted it, the idea also scared him. He’d only just met Luke. How could he cause such an upheaval in both of their lives when they’d only spent a day together?

He would go home to New York, and he’d represent the Harpers, and he’d manipulate it so that it fell in Luke’s favor. He could just tell Nash that the facts were against the Harpers from the start, that was all.

It would be fine, he told himself. Just fine...even if his heart said otherwise.