I’m lying on the couch, trying to ignore the pain inside me by shooting balloons with monkeys on Elise’s laptop when she comes in, carrying her phone. “Kat!”

“What?” I mutter, watching as a giant black blimp appears on screen. How appropriate, it fits my mood.

“Kat, you gotta listen to this,” Elise says, dropping her phone into her stereo system. “Derrick’s on!”

“You know I don’t want to hear-” I start to shoot back, but before I can, Derrick’s voice fills the room. It’s raw, different than anything I’ve ever heard on the radio before. No, I’ve heard this voice . . . but only when he’s just talking to me. I close my mouth, listening to every word.

“Okay, that was our opening break . . . Toni Braxton’s Another Sad Love Song,” Derrick says. “Now normally I’d start off the show with an introduction, a few laughs, maybe a little innuendo to get things rolling. But right now . . . well, this isn’t The Love Whisperer talking. For those of you who are looking for some advice, maybe something closer to what we normally do here, tune in next hour. This hour, this is just me . . . plain ol’ Derrick King trying to fix something that happened last night.”

“You see,” Derrick continues, “last night was something that I never planned. Those of you that tuned in heard me give permission for certain racy recordings to be played on the air. Let me be clear. At no time did I authorize that. Folks, I didn’t even know I was being recorded. What you heard last night was the highly edited versions of private conversations between me and the woman I love more deeply than I can ever say.”

“Do you believe him?” Elise asks.

“Shh!”

I turn my attention back as Derrick keeps going. “I was betrayed by a now former coworker who put spyware on my phone when I wasn’t looking. This person, and I’m not naming names due to pending legal action, but this person then took intimate private phone calls and video chats and spliced them together to create what she wanted. Fuck it, let’s be plain. Who knows how many people heard it live, no need to beat around the bush. Kat, I didn’t know about the recordings. I left the studio yesterday because my dad’s in the hospital. What happened last night I had no part in. Last night I missed your phone call because I left my phone in my car when I rushed into the ER. I damn near puked when I talked to Jacob this morning and he told me what had happened. I . . .I’m sorry.”

I stand up, walking toward the radio. “Derrick . . ..”

I can hear the honesty in his voice, the raspiness as he speaks. “Kat, I never wanted to hurt you. You’ve been through so much, and all I wanted in our lives was to keep making you happy. You’ve told me so many things, and I’d never do what happened last night even to an enemy . . . let alone to the woman that I love. Please, I know you’re angry. I’m angry too. Call me. I sorta broke my phone when I found out about the software, but they got me a new one and it’s clean, I promise. Same number, it’s sitting here in front of me. If you don’t want to do that, call the show. I’ll put the whole damn rest of the show on a mixtape if I need to. I love you, Kat. Call me.”

“I need to go to him,” I say, turning to Elise. “I don’t want to do this over the phone. I have to look him in the eye.”

“Not like that you aren’t,” Elise says with a tiny smile. “No offense babe, but you smell like stale wine, along with a shitload of sweat and other general yuckiness. And you’re still in your pajamas.”

I look down, and pull my pajama top off. Elmo drops to the floor, and I rush to the shower. “Lend me some clothes!”

“Got some sweats . . . not much else for this weather, you’re too damn short!” Elise calls from her bedroom. “Good enough?”

“Good enough!” I say, scrubbing quickly. I hit the major areas, and am jogging out the door exactly six minutes later, Elise’s phone still broadcasting Derrick’s voice.

“Folks, to everyone listening, I have this advice for you. Check your computers, check your phones. What happened to me . . . well, I didn’t even know spyware like that existed. It’s invisible and they don’t even need your phone password to install it, just your number. But you see, even knowing that, I don’t regret having phone sex with a woman I care deeply for. I don’t regret the video chats either. I do regret that what was loving and private between us was broadcast by someone jealous of my position on this show. I do regret that my sweet Kat, who is one of the kindest, most precious people in the world, was made to sound like something she’s not through the magic of sound editing. Guys, you never heard the important parts of our calls. You didn’t get to hear that, in between the sexy playful talk, we exchanged words of love, of commitment. You never got to listen as she joked with me about us breaking the closet barrier right after that last sound clip where she called out my name. So protect yourselves. If you want to have phone sex, that’s fine. You want to naughty chat, that’s fine too. But protect yourself.”

We peel ass through the city, heading toward the studio. When I get there, Elise struggles to keep up with me as I rush in the front door. “Where’s Derrick?”

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist says, “but Mr. King-”

“Goddamit, I’m Kat!” I yell. “His Kitty Kat!”

The receptionist’s eyes flash in recognition, and without another word, she leads me down a short hallway to a studio, where she knocks on the door. “Derrick? You have a visitor.”

I step into the studio, where Derrick cuts off his most recent monologue mid-sentence. “Excuse me everyone, we’re going to cut to some music. Uh . . . Kat’s here. Wish me luck.”

In another connecting booth, an older, slightly balding man in a suit throws some switches, and Nirvana’s ‘All Apologies’ starts playing.

“Kat,” Derrick says, but before he can say anything more I collapse into his arms, holding him close. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m so sorry too.” I cry, burying my nose in his shirt. He smells a little funky too, and is going on a couple days growth of untrimmed beard for sure. Somehow, those two little details tell me that everything he’s said is the truth.

Derrick holds me close, “Kat, I know I hurt you—"

“No . . . she did,” I reply, looking up at him. “Yeah, I was furious at you last night, but I should’ve trusted that something wasn’t right. It wasn’t like you to do that, but it was hard to trust my heart over my own ears. It brought up old issues and insecurities, and I just fell back into that dark place so fast, but it was so much worse because it was you and I love you so damn much. But I heard you just now, it wasn’t your fault and we were both hurt by her actions. It wasn’t our fault. Where is she?”

“I love you too, Kat. She’s been fired, and both me and the station have retained lawyers,” Derrick says. “Illegal wiretapping, invasion of privacy, I don’t fucking know what you call it but it’s damn sure illegal. She’ll never work in radio again, and might do jail time. Quincy, the station manager, says he’ll back me in whatever I want to do.”

I nod and settle deeper into Derrick’s arms. “Okay, we’ll deal with that. But I’ve got more important things to worry about now that I know it wasn’t you.”

“Like what?” Derrick asks, and I reach up, cupping his face.

“Tell me what happened with your dad,” my eyes imploring here, the concern shining genuinely.

Derrick nods. “He’s gonna be ok, but he had a major heart attack and it was pretty serious for a while last night at the hospital. It was scary.” He shrugs as if even saying he was scared isn’t okay, but it’s obviously the truth. “He’s my dad, and I thought I was gonna lose him.”

I wrap both arms around his waist, hugging him tight. “I’m so sorry, Derrick. I know that must have been terrifying. I’m glad he’s gonna be okay though.”

He smiles a bit, his eyes crinkling at the corners, “I told him about you, by the way.”

The fact that he was thinking about me at all with everything going on with his dad warms my heart. He was lost last night, unaware of the storm raging on the radio and in my heart, but even in his dark moment, he thought to tell his dad about me. “Really?”

He kisses the top of my head, “He can’t wait to meet you.”

He turns to the producer, who gives him a single finger. “One minute, then let’s get out of here.”

I wait as Derrick slides behind the mic, leaning forward and looking at me, his eyes gleaming. As soon as the little red light on his board lights up, he speaks. “Love Whisperer fans, there are times when I don’t know if I’m reaching anyone with my show. But tonight, I know the most important person was listening and I reached her, and she reached right back out to me. So, we’re going to flip the show over to one of our Best of the Love Whisperer shows, because I’m taking the love of my life to see my father. Until next time.”

Derrick tosses the producer a wave as another song starts up. I have to laugh as Smashmouth’s version of I’m A Believer starts playing. As we walk out, I see the receptionist give a little fist pump. “You know all your fans are going to want to find out the details now.”

“They’re going to have to wait,” Derrick says. “Our business is our business.”

“Actually, I was thinking . . . It might do you both some good to get in front of the gossip and address it, maybe do a bit of damage control on air with a special guest . . . chick named Katrina. Might help your reputations, the show and the station. Just a thought.”

“I’ll think about it,” Derrick growls, pulling me close. I wrap my arms around his neck as he lifts me in his powerful arms. Our lips touch, and in the first tender caress of his lips, I know all I need to know.

His tongue strokes over my bottom lip and I open up to him, moaning softly as his hands pull me against his body. I’m exhausted, I barely slept last night, but it doesn’t matter as I press my body against his. I feel a tingle deep inside, but it’s more than just desire . . . it’s my heart.

“I love you,” Derrick whispers when we part to breathe.

“I know, and me too,” I reply. “Come on, take me to see your dad.”

As soon as we make it to the car, Derrick roughly pulls me into his lap, his warm kiss taking the breath out of my lungs in the chilly night air. I moan as he brings a hand up to cup my breast, squeezing gently as he kisses and nibbles down the line of my neck. I reach between us to trace the line of his growing cock in his jeans. Panting, Derrick breaks our kiss, pulling back to rest his forehead against mine. “Make no mistake, you are mine, Kat. Now and always.”

I nod, biting my lip. “Yours forever. And you’re mine too.”

He presses one more quick kiss to my lips in agreement. “Yours too.”

It seems to be the reassurance we both need, and he works to calm the heated tension sparking in the confined space of the car. “Can’t wait to finish this. But first, I’ve got an old man for you to meet.”

* * *

It’s a normal looking hospital room, but the giant of a man sitting in the chair next to the bed certainly isn’t. “Well now, we weren’t expecting you two to stop by,” Jacob says as he gets up. “I figured you’d be at home.”

“Yeah well,” Derrick says, scratching at his head, “Dad, this is Katrina Snow, my girlfriend. Kat, this is my father, Daniel King.”

Daniel sits up, smiling a little, and I see he’s wearing a t-shirt from Jacob’s team. “Check out the new swag,” he says with a grin before looking at me. “So you’re the one that’s making my boy see stars?”

I know I’m blushing but I step forward, shaking his hand. “Maybe so, sir, but he’s the one making me believe in fairy tales, that sometimes they do come true, even if they’re a bit messy.”

“Not messy,” Jacob says, grinning. “Just sometimes a little . . . dirty. And there ain’t a thing wrong with that.”

I smile a bit uncomfortably, it’s more than a little weird to know that my boyfriend’s father and friends have probably heard me say things I wouldn’t want a soul on Earth to hear, I guess I’ll have to get used to it for a bit until all of this dies down. “That’s true. So, are we still on for the game?”

“Actually, I had to turn in the box tickets to get the day off,” Jacob admits, “but we’ve got one more home game before the playoffs. It’s going to be chilly, and I’ll be honest, you’ll have to share the box with some other player’s guests, but it’s a big box. What do you say?”

“I say this old man will be ready for it, but only if you quit hovering about. Go on, you all get out of here,” Daniel says chuckling. “Leave me to heal and rest. And Jacob? Make damn sure you get into the playoffs.”

“You heard the man,” Derrick says, taking my hand. “Dad, we’ll come by sometime tomorrow.”

We leave, and at the elevator Jacob wraps his arms around me, nearly crushing me in a bear hug. “I’m happy for you. Take care of him, okay?”

“I will,” I groan, trying to hug him back but nowhere able to get my arms around his enormous torso. Still, I pound him on the back as best I can, touched that for such a fearsome football gladiator, he’s a big teddy bear inside.