Page 71 of The Temptation
I gazed along the line to see Liam drinking a local beer while Byron was sipping something red from a martini glass. “Cocktail, please. Something fruity and sweet.”
Parker rushed off to get my drink, and the thumping music lowered a bit.
“Oh, it must be time for Joy to go to bed,” Chef Donovan stated as he took little round pizzas made on slices of French bread from the oven.
“Does the nanny have her tonight? Or are you and Franks watching her?”
Donovan nodded with a wide smile. “The nanny has the night off, so we happily offered to take her. Master Parker has already said good night. Master Declan FaceTimed with her after dinner.”
“I’m surprised he’s willing to stay the night away from her,” Liam quipped.
“He wasn’t.” Chef Donovan lowered his voice and leaned in close. “Master Parker ordered his fiancé to remain in Charlotte for the night so he could have a boys’ night with his friends and Master Parker could have this party with you. I think Master Declan might have pouted.”
“They need the time together,” Byron murmured as he picked up one of the ravioli. “Sebastian hasn’t gotten to spend time with his old friends in a while, and I think he’s worried about their relationships fading away because they’re all settling down.”
Liam snorted as he used a fork to shovel more meat and toppings onto a tortilla chip. “Not freaking likely. You know how they are. As soon as something goes weird in their lives, they immediately pick up the phone or rush to someone’s house.” He looked at me and smirked. “You have no idea how many times I’ve had to sit on Rome to keep him from checking on Pierce.”
I nodded and hummed sarcastically. “Mmm…yes, I’m sure you sufferedso much. Forced tosit on your boyfriend?”
“Actually, I think it’s kind of adorable how they are in almost constant contact with each other,” Parker broke in as he delivered a pretty pink drink in a martini glass to me.
“Same,” Byron chimed in. “I didn’t have a lot of friends as I was growing up, and definitely not any I remained close with well into adulthood.”
“Rome was my only close friend as a kid, and you all know how that went to shit,” Liam grumbled.
“That’s why I wanted us all together while the four of them were out of town. I thought we could form our own boyfriends’ group. We have to stick together during those times our significant others are being asshats. Who else would understand? Who else could we vent to when they’re being stubborn?”
“Oh, my fucking God, so true!” Liam groaned. He picked up his beer bottle and clinked it to the side of the glass that Parker was holding.
“Or insanely impulsive,” Byron added, clinking his glass against Liam’s beer and Parker’s glass before drinking the last of it.
They all turned toward me, and I swallowed the cheese I’d been savoring. “Um…technically, I’m not a boyfriend. I’m still a fake boyfriend. God only knows what Pierce is going to decide while he’s out of town.”
Parker grinned and tossed an arm across my shoulders, pulling me in close. “Oh, Simon, we know your golden day is just around the corner. Pierce has probably already come to his senses and is trying to figure out a way to win you back after all that he’s put you through.”
“Win me back? Pierce simply has to show up and I’ll be happy to date his sexy ass,” I scoffed.
“No! No!” Byron shouted. “You don’t want to skip the apology part. It’s soooo good.”
“It is kind of fun, even when you’re the one stuck doing the groveling,” Liam admitted. “It lets you tap into your creative side. Or it gives you an excuse to wear an inflatable dinosaur costume in a library.”
“Or it lets you be super romantic,” Parker proclaimed. “I bet Pierce goes the romantic route. He seems like an old-fashioned romantic to me.”
My mind was spinning. They all sounded so confident that Pierce would return to Cincinnati and be determined to make our relationship official. I would be happy if Pierce presented me with a single red rose and asked me out on a date. But something swoon-worthy? I wouldn’t survive it.
After Chef Donovan finished his food preparation, Parker shooed him away to rest for the remainder of the evening while they gathered up all the food to take into the lounge with the bar. Parker made more drinks for us, and we sprawled on the furniture, gorging ourselves on delicious food and gossip.
It was well after midnight when we were all dressed in our pajamas, picking at the scraps of food that remained.
“Trust us, Pierce is going to make you totally swoon. It might take him a couple of days, but it’s going to be amazing,” Parker declared, his words slurring after the many drinks he’d had.
“Plus, he’s got all the guys there to help him,” Byron said. His eyes were closed, and he was clutching a pillow to his chestas he was curled up in a ball in the corner of the long sofa. “I know Sebastian had help from Pierce and Rome. I love that man to death, but there’s no way he organized that giant digital billboard above Fountain Square by himself.”
A soft hum left me. “I heard about that. It was so sweet.”
“Byron was the one who gave me the nudge in the right direction for Declan,” Parker admitted.
Byron grunted. It sounded as if he were half-asleep already. I had no doubt that wonderful bedrooms were prepared for all of us in this big house, but I was stretched out on the other side of the sofa Byron was on. Liam had a love seat all to himself. And Parker was lying on the floor. We were all in different states of intoxication, showing no interest in climbing stairs.
