The Winner Takes All (Complete Collection)

45. The Real Gamble

45

THE REAL GAMBLE

Nate

Backstage at the theater in the Luxe Hotel, I check my reflection in the mirror and straighten my tie.

Then I look around for something to do or someone to chat with until the auction starts. But everyone’s busy.

Reese is reviewing the final lineup with the twenty guys who entered the auction. “And then Nate will thank our sponsors, and then he’ll give a shout-out to the animal rescues we’re raising money for.”

“Right. I’m all set,” I say, calm on the outside, but a shaken bottle of cola on the inside.

I need my boyfriend.

Need to talk to him. Now.

We’re supposed to go on stage in ten minutes, and he isn’t here. Hunter’s not late. Hunter’s never late.

I check the time yet again. Reese slips away from the guys to set a hand on my shoulder.

“Everything okay? Is Hunter still coming? If he doesn’t show, we’ll just return to the original plan. No need to worry.”

“I’m not worried,” I say to cover up.

The truth is something has been eating at me all day, and I want to snag a private word with my guy before the auction begins.

I grab my phone to see if he’s texted in the last five minutes and I spot a new notification from him.

But then I see something better.

My boyfriend .

He’s walking through the wings, headed straight to me. My breath hitches. Hunter in a suit is dead sexy.

This is a whole new level of hot, and when he reaches me, I tug him into a corner and set a hand on his strong chest. “Damn, my boyfriend cleans up well,” I say.

“Sorry I’m late. I didn’t have a suit with me, so I had to run out this afternoon and get one. I couldn’t very well show up to the auction in trousers and a button-up and have you in a suit.”

“Oh, you should have me in a suit. I’m going to have you in a suit tonight,” I say, with a cocky grin, the one that he loves.

Hunter hums, a dirty, sexy sound that revs my engine. “Later. I promise, Nate. And then, hey, how about again in two weeks when I move here?” he says, exuberant. “It’s all a go with Ilene.”

I punch the sky. “Damn, that’s fast,” I say, yet it’s not soon enough. “I can’t wait till you’re here.”

Excitement over Hunter living in the same town barely covers my emotions. There’s so much more I want. We need to go on stage any second, so I jump off the cliff.

“Will you move in with me?” I ask, right as he says, “I want to tell you something.”

Hunter startles, then tilts his head, curious. “Really?”

I nod. “I don’t want to take it slow,” I say, then stop to give him a chance. “Wait. What were you going to say?”

He grins, bright and buoyant. “I was going to say—I love you.” He grabs my lapels. “I’m in love with you, and I had to tell you as soon as possible. I’m just so in love with you.”

My heart fills with joy. “I love you too, Hunter,” I say.

Reese’s voice carries from somewhere nearby. “Places, gentlemen. We’re about to begin.”

The opening notes of an instrumental piano tune float across the stage as Reese heads to the podium. “I am pleased to share your emcees for the evening. The San Francisco Hawks star receiver Nate Chandler and his husband, Hunter Colburn, an associate producer in sports and documentaries with our streaming partner, Webflix.”

She motions to us with a sweep of her arm, and I square my shoulders. The audience cheers. The theater is full.

We walk on stage, hand in hand, and I am so freaking proud of my man.

“It’s great to be here, San Francisco,” I say to the packed house.

“I love this city. It’s my new hometown,” Hunter says, and then flashes me a grin.

Yup. I know. I’m certain. He is it.

#

Tanner’s the last guy on the roster. I gesture to my buddy swaggering across the stage in a three-piece suit.

“The star shortstop for the New York Comets is one of the league’s most valuable players. He’s passionate about minor league fair pay, youth homelessness, and every single one of Stone Zenith’s songs.”

Tanner flashes a grin at the crowd as I talk him up.

“Also, do not cross him at poker,” Hunter chimes in. “Let the bidding begin.”

Paddles shoot up in the audience. Numbers fly higher. Five thousand, seven thousand, then ten thousand in under a minute.

Then the bidding slows. “And can anyone top ten thousand?” Hunter asks.

A hand goes up in the front row. A guy in a tailored suit. No idea who he is. But he lifts his paddle and offers fifteen thousand. Damn. Someone wants my bud.

The guy is a few rows in front of Jason and Beck and Jason mouths whoa over the number.

“Going once, going twice, gone,” I say.

“Sold to the man in the front row,” Hunter declares.

Tanner smiles at the crowd, then winks at the guy. “See you later,” he says, and the man in the suit just smiles, pleased with the prize.

I’ll have to ask Tanner how it goes. Right now, it’s time to finish the auction. I glance down at the script.

“I’d like to thank my husband for hosting with me tonight,” I say. It’s so damn weird saying that word.

Husband .

It feels off.

“And thank you all for having me,” Hunter says, then, with a wave, strides off stage and waits in the wings.

It’s my job, as the local guy, to finish up. But first it’s high time for me to deal with the weirdness over the word husband .

Like I’m in Vegas, sidling up to the big spender tables, I roll the dice as I lean into the mic, and say, “Before I thank the sponsors, I have a last-minute bid.”

The audience shifts. Reese tries to flag my attention from the wings, find out what I’m doing. Tanner shoots me a questioning look too.

A couple rows back, Jason’s eyes widen. Beck scans the stage.

I look at Hunter, the guy I love madly.

I hope he wants the same damn things I do. But I won’t know unless I take a big chance. This is the real gamble.

“I’d like to bid one hundred thousand dollars as a donation to this evening’s charity…for my husband. Hunter Colburn.”

Hunter’s jaw drops. A bewildered smile spreads on his face, then grows wide and unstoppable.

Jason calls out from the audience. “But he’s not on the list,” he prompts, giving me an opening to explain.

“That’s right. He’s not. But he is my list. All my lists. And I want him to keep being my husband for all time.”

The audience oohs and ahhs. It’s so adorable that I’m bidding on my husband.

But Hunter knows the whole story. He crosses the stage in strong, confident steps, striding right up to me.

He sets a hand on my chest. His eyes shine with passion and joy that matches mine. “Yes.”

My heart soars, and then I kiss the man who’s going to stay my husband.

As the audience cheers, I whisper just for him, “Let’s tear up the papers and stay together.”

“That would make me very, very happy,” he says.

I kiss the groom one more time.

There are limited edition husbands and there are lifetime ones.

He’s always been my real husband, but now he’ll be my real husband for the rest of my life.