Page 26 of The Arrangement
I waved my hands at them, trying to stop their assault. “Yeah, yeah. I think it’s just seeing you guys all cuddly and disgusting that has me annoyed. I am a pansexual, dedicated dater. You’d think I would have found someone by now. But I keep striking out.”
“Maybe you’d be better served narrowing your field a bit,” Simon advised.
“Eh, I’ve decided to pursue another project.” With a smirk, I nodded toward Sebastian. “I’ve taken a page out of Sebastian’s book and come up with an interesting arrangement, I think.”
“Why does that entire sentence send chills through me?” Byron shuddered against his lover.
Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “A page out of my book? What do you mean?”
I shifted to the edge of my seat, leaned forward, and rested my elbows on my knees as I told them about my interesting encounters with Liam and some highlights from my past with the asshole before launching into my wicked plan of tormenting him over a series of dates.
“That is not like my plan at all. My goal was never to torment Byron,” Sebastian growled. He turned his head and kissed the top of Byron’s head.
“I can’t say I’m a fan of this plan,” Byron murmured. “Pierce had mentioned something about you running into an old childhood friend when we saw him last week. I think you should have taken his advice and stayed away.”
“Screw that!” Parker laughed. My gaze snapped to him to find him grinning. He placed a kiss on one of Declan’s hands and returned to his perch on the arm of the chair. “I say if Rome isgoing to make a donation to the museum, which will inevitably save this dick’s job, he should get something out of it.”
“You mean other than the knowledge that he’s helping to save and support an institution that serves to educate both children and adults in the area?” Declan chimed in.
Parker groaned. “Yes, yes. Other than that. I’ve got a few exes I wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire. If I felt compelled to do something they would end up benefitting from—even indirectly—I’d need something to wash the bitter taste out of my mouth.”
“Besides, it’s not like Rome is saying he’s going to make this guy do anything illegal,” Simon added. The younger man narrowed his eyes at me and lifted one eyebrow. “You’re not, right?”
“No! Of course not. I won’t ask him to do anything illegal or anything that could jeopardize his job. It’s just pissing him off. Forcing him to do something he finds distasteful—namely, ‘dating’ a man. Especially ‘dating’ me.”
“But are you sure he’s homophobic? Couldn’t it be a misunderstanding?” Byron inquired.
“Not to mention, it’s been twenty years,” Sebastian added. “People do change, particularly from their childhood.”
“Yeah, I know. I mean, he’s not said anything specifically to make me think he is homophobic now, but he also hasn’t said a single word of apology for what happened. Not even tried to explain why he stabbed me in the back and never talked to me again.”
Declan grunted. “Did you ask him?”
I reclined on the sofa, frowning. “Not…really.”
Okay, so maybe I wanted an apology and an explanation, but I was also scared to go poking around for one because I was afraid to discover that he wouldn’t give me one and he was as horrible as I thought he was. There was some safety in existing in this gray area of ignorance that I wasn’t entirelyready to give up. In this gray zone, I could still hope that this was all a misunderstanding, and somewhere under all his geeky awkwardness, he was the friend I’d adored for years.
“We’ve had one date and have four more to go. It wasn’t painful for either of us,” I pointed out.
“What did you do for your date?” Simon shifted on the sofa, putting one leg on the cushion as he turned toward me, leaning against the arm. He was dressed in a slouchy dark blue sweater and a pair of tan slacks, still appearing so much like a college student and not what I’d expect of a professional and celebrated concert violinist. Not that I had even the faintest clue what one of them would look like.
“Liam took me to this place that has vintage pinball machines and other classic video games. Even Skee-ball. We ate pizza and played video games. Talked a lot of trash.”
Parker snorted. “Sounds like you had a great time. How about your date? He have fun?”
“I think he did. He laughed and seemed to loosen up.” A slow, wicked smirk twisted across my lips. “At least he did until I pretended I was going to kiss him good night. He almost fell out of his car trying to get away from me.”
Parker cackled like a loon while Sebastian and Byron groaned.
“I think maybe you should trade in one of your dates for some answers about what happened all those years ago,” Simon suggested.
“You think?”
He nodded. “Torture can be nice, but I think you might be more fulfilled if you can walk away with some answers about what happened that day when you were kids. Good news or bad news, at least you’ll have that knowledge. And if it’s bad news, you know you’ll never have to see him again.”
Simon made a pretty good point. Maybe I could argue for that to be our last date. Just sit down and talk about what happened. Try to keep an open mind. Not walk in full of anger. At least, I’d try not to. That was easier said than done.
“Besides,” Simon continued, as a strange expression twisted his soft features, “you’ve got the benefit of a captive audience. If he wants you to donate the money that will save his job, he has to meet with you and talk. He can’t keep running away.”
