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think your situation is as dire as you believe."
    "Besides, nothing unfathomable is going to happen to you," Alan said softly. "But if something did happen, you could get through it together."
    "He still wants you," Sergio said. "I haven't missed the way he looks at you whenever you attend the monthly meetings with the associates."
    Roman knew Sergio was right. As much as he avoided looking in Derrick's direction, he could still feel that intense amber gaze focused on him, silently asking for an explanation. Tempting him to stop running and pick things up right where he'd left them a year ago.
    "I can't go there," Roman murmured. "I can't."  
    "Did you read the intake sheet for the case he submitted?" Sergio asked. "You have to."
    Roman shook his head and turned toward the door. "I'm not interested."
    "It's the kind of case you love, Roman," Alan told him. "A real challenge, from what I read."
    Roman shrugged. "Let another lawyer thrive on defending it."
    "Tyler Coleman's being accused of child molestation," Sergio oh-so-helpfully informed him. If it wasn't because he didn't want to look like a petulant child, Roman would've covered his ears with his hands. "By a fifteen-year-old who also claims he witnessed Tyler Coleman having sex with Derrick Swain in a public area at the Coleman Safe House."
    Roman's entire body froze on the spot. His mind reeled from images of Derrick having sex with somebody else to mental calculations of the distance between him and the door. A few more steps and he would've been safe in the corridor.
    He knew Tyler Coleman from his extensive social work to help gay homeless kids in New York City. Even if the kids came from out of state, they were sure to find the Coleman Safe House's doors open. The place was a much-needed haven for youth mostly facing negative family reactions to their sexuality, and a cause Roman donated to regularly.  
    Up until the second he was told Derrick might be involved with him, Tyler Coleman had been one of Roman's favorite LGBTQ activists. He admired the guy for standing up to bigots and homophobes and helping teenagers overcome rejection at the hands of the families that were supposed to protect them. But now he just wanted to make him disappear off the face of the earth.
    "I heard they were living together," Alan informed. "Derrick and Coleman, that is."  
    "Did you, really? It must've been a while ago, because I heard he got engaged to some court reporter when gay marriage was declared legal in the state. Derrick got engaged. Not Coleman," Sergio said.
    A bitter chuckle escaped Roman at the affected casualness of Sergio's tone. He understood the good intentions behind his friends' manipulative ways, but he couldn't deal with it. Not when he was so painfully aware of how life had taken him and Derrick in different directions.  
    "What if I told you guys I might be over my little infatuation with Derrick?" Roman asked softly, his eyes fixed on the corridor. It was quiet as usual, as only the three senior partners of ABC and their respective assistants were on the thirtieth floor.  
    "Are you, now?" Obviously Sergio didn't believe him.
    "I could be," he tried again.
    "Even if you were, he's still an employee of this firm, and let's not forget there's a possible indecent exposure charge floating around," Sergio added. "You know that accusation won't magically go away. If I know DA Dennis Lovett at all, he will use this situation to his advantage. He has a hard on for you, Roman. You were a pain in his ass when he was still trying cases before his inauguration as District Attorney. I lost count of how many cases he lost to you, but, I can assure you, he hasn't. And now that he's running for Attorney General…" Sergio rubbed the back of his neck. "He's a homophobic Republican counting on the vote of religious zealots to win that seat. Election is in a month. Prosecuting an alleged child molester will give him the media exposure he so desperately needs. Whether you want