Page 18 of Baby Love

“No, but Daeng can be pretty charming.”

“Don’t worry about me,” I say.

P’Park’s a good dancer—which I already knew, of course. I never slow-danced like this with him, though, unless you count that dance to “Cry to Me” in Dirty Dancing, but that was different—more like a seduction while mostly standing still. Now our bodies are pressed together as we both sway to the music, and it feels more intimate than the kisses we exchanged yesterday during rehearsal because we’re us, not Khao and Boom. Even more surprising is how safe I feel with P’Park while in the middle of a crowd. His big hands hold me gently but firmly against him, and it’s so easy to just forget everything else.

When the song ends, we return to the table, and I nearly miss a step when I look up and see Daeng and Aod in the middle of a heated kiss.

They pull apart when we take our seats, and Aod looks a little disoriented, like he forgot where he was for a minute. P’Park must be right about P’Daeng—he’s already got Aod enamored with him.

“Can we leave, P’Park?” I ask, feeling uncomfortable with the amount of people entering the bar and the way P’Daeng and Aod are looking at each other.

“Of course.” P’Park places some money on the table to take care of the bill, and, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, says goodnight to P’Daeng and Aod and escorts me through the throng.

Outside in the fresh night air, I say, “Sorry. It was just suddenly too much.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad to get away from all the noise.”

“Do you think Aod’s okay staying with P’Daeng?” I ask, looking back at the bar.

“I’m pretty sure Cream warned him about Daeng’s reputation the other day. I’m sure if he doesn’t want the attention, he’ll tell Daeng.”

I think about Daeng sleeping around at work. “Is P’Daeng gay or bisexual? Aren’t most bl actors straight?”

Park shrugs. “There are lots of straight guys in the business, sure. But when you think about it, what better job for a gay man than playing in a boys’ love series? And I wouldn’t be surprised if a few straight actors fool around with Daeng sometimes.”

“Has he come on to you?” I ask.

“A while back, when I first started in the business.”

I can’t bring myself to ask him if he took P’Daeng up on it. Could that be the reason P’Park dislikes him so much now? Because P’Daeng used P’Park for sex and then ignored him?

As though reading my mind, P’Park says, “I never slept with him.”

Relief washes over me. I don’t like imagining P’Park slept with P’Daeng.

“You want to go somewhere else?” P’Park asks me when we reach the car.

“Don’t you need to get back to Anya?”

“She’ll be asleep by now on Auntie’s couch. I know of a bar that won’t be as crowded as that one. Want to try it?”

I nod, secretly pleased that he wants to stay with me. “Sure.”

Chapter Eight: Park

The second bar isn’t as crowded as the first, and Spin seems to feel a lot more comfortable. So comfortable, he has a little too much to drink as we sit and talk, laughing while reminiscing about university. The big smile he keeps flashing at me is cute as hell, especially as he’s listing to one side in his chair.

“Let’s dance,” he says, almost falling as he attempts to hop off his seat.

I catch him and keep him close to me as we wind our way around tables to the dance floor. He’s adorably irresistible like this, and since I’m starting to notice that, if I leave him on his own even for a minute, people seem to gravitate to him. He’s had two women and three guys come onto him in the past three hours, and right now another guy is looking him over. I give the jerk a look that lets him know Spin is off limits, and the guy turns away. Now that I know Spin practically raised his sister, I feel certain he’s able to take care of himself, but I don’t think he’s used to drinking so much. I think it’s because he trusts me, and that makes me even more determined to keep him safe.

Drunk, Spin’s a lot less inhibited than he was at the other bar. The way he’s swaying his hips to the beat is getting me hard, and I hope to hell he doesn’t notice because I don’t want to come off like I’m trying to get him into bed.

“Thirsty?” I ask him after a few dances.

He nods, and I stop at the bar to get us something to drink.

When I hand him a bottle of water, Spin pouts. “Water?”

---