Page 25 of Hot Set

Brandon wasdefinitelynowhere near Virginia.

Jonathan frowned. “He didn’t tell me he was going out of state.”

“I think it was a last-minute kind of thing,” Mark replied, smiling sympathetically. “He found a really good deal on used equipment and decided to go for it.”

“He doesn’t have enough cameras?” Jonathan asked, waving vaguely to the set.

“Not like these,” Mark said. “They’re special, and Brandon’s getting a great deal on them. Like, it’s a steal.”

Jonathan narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “He hasn’t been answering his phone,” Jonathan said.

It wasn’t hard to imagine why. I barely knew Brandon’s father, but he sounded overbearing, like a man who didn’t take no for an answer.

“It’s probably bad reception,” Mark said, shrugging. “I think he’s in a rural part of Virginia. I can’t remember exactly where he said, but…I think it was rural.”

Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “That sounds just like him. We’re supposed to have lunch Saturday.”

Mark shrugged. “Sorry. He didn’t mention that to me. I don’t know if he’ll be back by then. He’s working really hard on this project, as I’m sure you know.”

Jonathan looked like he’d tasted something very unpleasant. “You’ll let me know if you hear from him.”

It should’ve been a question or a request, but Jonathan made it sound like a demand… or a threat. As polished as he was, Brandon’s father was clearly a control freak.

“I will,” Mark replied. “I’ll have him call you.”

“Good.” Jonathan glanced at me. “Nice to meet you.”

Jonathan turned on his heel and walked away with a clipped, quick pace. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

“He’s…” I trailed off. “Eccentric.”

Mark shook his head and returned to his linework. “He’s out of his mind,” Mark said. “When Brandon was an undergrad, his dad wasalwayscoming to university functions and barking out orders.”

I joined Mark at the canvas once more. “Really?” I asked.

Mark nodded. “He is thereasonparents are no longer allowed at freshman orientation,” Mark said. “He showed up and tried to register all of Brandon’s classes for him and managed to piss off every single one of the advisors.”

So, Jonathan was definitely not a man to be crossed. I wondered whatelseBrandon’s father tried to get involved in. Did he care about Brandon’s sex life? I gulped and imagined this man knowing I’d been involved with his son. The plots of dozens of thrillers and horror movies swarmed through my head. Jonathan seemed like the sort of person who’d make his son’s loversdisappear.

“A couple of Brandon’s classes, too,” Mark continued. “Any time Brandon got a bad grade, Jonathan was right there in the professor’s face. Apparently, Jonathan justrefusedto believe that professors telling him about his son’s grades was a FERPA violation, no matter how many times he was told differently.”

“FERPA?” I asked.

“It’s…” Mark waved vaguely. “It has to do with student privacy. Professors aren’t allowed to discuss students’ grades with their parents unless there’s expressed written permissionor something. Try telling Brandon’s father hecan’tjust order or money his way into something. Like talking to a brick wall.”

Great. Simply great.

“And Brandon’s dad is… funding this movie,” I said slowly.

Who knew for how long?

Mark raised one eyebrow. “That’s how it’s worked between them for a while,” Mark said. “Jonathan funds Brandon’s passion projects, and Brandon…tries to find himself. I suspect Jonathan’s patience is running out, and when it does, I suppose Brandon will have to figure out what to do.”

Poor Brandon. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be at the whims of an over-zealous, super-wealthy father. My mother, bless her heart, had always been fine with anything I wanted to do. Even if it involved makeup and art history in some nearly impossible hope of joining the FBI art forgery team.

I thought of Brandon in the early morning hours, when his father had texted and called, demanding to speak to his son immediately. I thought of the way Brandon’s hair had been tousled by the way he’d run his fingers through it and the way his blue eyes had been so imploring and needing. And I thought of falling onto his sofa and of having sex together, and my heartbeat quickened, beating so loudly that I heard the echo of it reverberating in my head. It was an irrational reaction for a one-night stand, a minor lapse in judgment.

I wasn’tgay, after all. I wasn’t really attracted to Brandon.

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