Page 132 of Salacious Park Avenue Prince

I wasn’t nearly as concerned about the strength of the alcohol as I took a long sip. “Okay, you’re right. That is strong. Let me find you a water.”

As I went to go do just that, Caleb snagged my arm, halting me. “No, no. Don’t go. I need you here.”

My heart swelled at the confession. I loved that after all this time, I was now a source of comfort for him. “Moral support?”

“That and, um, well… Just come with me.” Caleb put his full glass back on a waiter’s tray as he started to lead me through the gallery, and I had to remind myself this might’ve been the first time I’d been here, but it definitely wasn’t Caleb’s. He’d been over the damn moon when Claudia, the curator of the gallery,called asking if he’d like to be the featured artist of this exhibit. Ledger Gallery was apparently one of his favorite haunts in Chelsea.So as we weaved through the crowds, I wasn’t surprised to see him wave at a few of the people we passed by.

“Quite the celebrity here, aren’t you?” I said.

Caleb grinned but said nothing as we continued on toward our parents and some of the guys who were milling about nearby.

“Ah, there he is,” Richard said as we approached. “The man of the hour. We were wondering if we’d have to send out a search party.”

“Not a chance,” I said, squeezing Caleb’s fingers in support. “I wasn’t about to let him miss the biggest night of his life.”

“Way to not make me stress even more.”

The first dinner back at our parents’ had been an interesting one. Having to break it to them that their sons preferred to be lovers? No big, incestuous deal at all. Thank fuck they were more open-minded than I'd given them credit for—well, Dick, anyway. Mom had always been a little outside the box. It seemed like even as strange as the situation was, they’d been so frustrated by our fighting over the years that if we wanted to be together, they weren’t going to stand in the way. I was actually pretty impressed by that, considering the crowd at the Elysium was a bunch of gossipy rich bitches who would find the whole thing too scandalous.

Even more surprising? They hadn’t even noticed we’d replaced their table.

“Darling,” Mom said, moving forward to kiss Caleb’s cheek. “You have nothing to be stressed about. Your work is magnificent.”

“On my laptop,” Caleb said with a sigh. “This is totally different. No one’s ever seen my work quite like this.”

“You mean printed, framed, and fucking fabulous?”

“Travis,” Mom admonished, but her small smile softened the blow.

“I’m sorry. You mean printed, framed, and fabulous.”

“Much better.”

I rolled my eyes, and Caleb shrugged.“Well, yeah, but what if no one likes them?”

“Would you stop that?” I bumped into his shoulder. “Everyone is going to love them. And if they don’t, fu—” I glanced at my mom. “Forget them.”

“Travis is right.” Richard clapped his son on the shoulder. “No matter what happens tonight, you should be proud that you were asked.”

I could tell by the halfhearted smile Caleb forced that unless he sold every single photo tonight he would be nothing but disappointed, so of course I had my credit card on hand in case I had to make that happen.

“Caleb.” A willowy woman in a pencil skirt, sky-high stilettos, and prim Victorian blouse stopped beside our group, flashing a confident smile in Caleb’s direction. “Well, don’t you scrub up just fine.”

Better than fine, if you asked me. But since I was minding my Ps and Qs tonight, I decided not to correct her.

“Hey, Claudia. Is everything ready to go?”

“It sure is. So I’m glad I could track you down. We’re just about to unveil your feature.”

“Oh God.” Caleb put a hand to his stomach, and I quickly looked around for some kind of bucket in case he tossed his cookies. Hell, maybe I could just use one of those vases we’d passed on the way in.

“Don’t be like that. Everyone is going to love your work.”

He blew out a long breath and then nodded. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

We followed Claudia to one of the closed-off rooms with a crowd gathered by the doors already. Caleb’s hand bumped against mine, and I squeezed his fingers before letting go so he could join Claudia.

“Ledger Gallery is proud to present the first collection by a new, incredible, and talented photographer, Caleb Reeves.” It wasn’t just applause that met my ears as she opened the doors to the exhibit, but also whoops and shouts from our friends somewhere in the crowd.

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