Page 80 of Havoc
“Seventy-five,” Alijah replied.
“One hundred thousand,” Erin said. “I’m trying to see why Lawrence is so whipped,” she joked.
“You think you can handle that?” Remy teased.
“I like challenges,” Erin responded. A few chuckles filled the room as the auctioneer pronounced him sold.
Cruz, Kieran, and Paetyn went in that order. Alijah won Cruz, and Chayse won Kieran and Paetyn while joking she wanted to see what that dynamic would be like. They’d all gone for the same price, far less than the women had gone for the previous year, but Remy wasn’t surprised. It would have seemed abnormal for it to be the other way around. Their partners did spend forty to fifty thousand more than the others who’d bid and won.
Once they were all in the waiting room, Lawrence asked Alijah to text him about the four of them going out and catching up. Fromhis peripheral, Remy could see Paetyn teasing Chayse about something, and she and Erin were laughing while Cruz shook his head and Nik raised a playful brow.
The group said their byes a few minutes later in the parking lot and went their separate ways.
“Keys, please,” Lawrence stated, holding his hand out.
Remy pulled his keys from his pocket and handed them to his boyfriend. Lawrence opened the passenger side door for him, and he raised a brow but humored him. When they pulled out of the parking lot, he didn’t know where they were going but was sure he’d enjoy it.
Lawrence sat across from Remy as they waited for dessert to come. He’d planned a few things for them to do that evening after the auction. He hadn’t seen Remy in over a week, and it was the longest he’d gone without doing so since they started dating. The beginning of the year was busy for his boyfriend. He recalled the previous year being so for Alijah, with her being a little stressed about it, and her upcoming wedding at the time.
While he wasn’t as busy as Remy, he did have a few contracts he’d closed on and a couple of meetings with potential clients. One required him to travel, and he’d been gone for two days.
“What do you have planned when we leave here?” Remy asked.
“You’ll see,” Lawrence responded.
Remy reached across the table and took his hand. “Do you know how much I’ve missed you?”
“As much as I’ve missed you.”
“Enough to stay with me this weekend?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Lawrence responded. He’d planned on them going back to his apartment once the night was over, but he had more items at Remy’s than his boyfriend did at his. So, it made sense.
Their server returned with their desserts, which they shared. Lawrence hadn’t been able to decide between two. In the end, he ordered one, and Remy ordered the other so he could have some of both. Lawrence knew he could have ordered two desserts forhimself, but he wouldn’t eat all of it and didn’t want to be wasteful.
“When is your lease up?” Remy asked as they waited on the check.
“In a few months.”
“Do you plan to renew it?”
Lawrence studied him briefly. He had planned to renew it. The building he lived in was nice and affordable, and he enjoyed the amenities, but he knew why Remy was asking. Or at least he thought he did. So instead, he asked, “Should I?”
“No,” his boyfriend responded without missing a beat. “You shouldn’t, but I’m not trying to pressure you. It’s your choice.”
“It’s my choice, but you haven’t asked me anything,” Lawrence teased.
Remy chuckled. “Will you move in with me?”
By the time his lease was up, they would have been together for over a year, and he didn’t see the harm in doing so. If nothing else, he’d realized he wasn’t a fan of going more than a few days without seeing the other man. Living together would fix that, and it was the next logical step.
“I will.”
When the bill came, Remy reached for it, but Lawrence quickly took it from him, reminding him that he’d planned the night, meaning he was in charge. That included paying whether the other man liked it or not.
Once they were back at the car, Lawrence opened the door for him again, and when he was pulling out of the parking lot, Remy turned to him.
“You’re treating me like I’m bottoming tonight, baby,” he joked.
