Chapter 1 #2
“Have a good dinner, Milo.” He said my name perfectly. Most people struggled with the Spanish pronunciation. I wondered where he’d learned it, but I never got to ask because after I nodded and waved back, Tom just walked away.
Ayako, who knew me a little too well and could probably tell I was disappointed, gave him some side-eye and mouthed “his loss.” I finished up my drink and looked around to spot where Thomas and his friends were sitting.
I almost choked when I saw them take their seats at a table right next to the stage.
The tables I knew for a fact went for ten grand a plate.
I heard a whistle from my side as I tried to pick my jaw off the floor.
I turned around to find Ayako looking very impressed by Tom’s status at the very top of the gala food chain.
“Damn he was pretty low-key for a dude dropping thirty grand on Friday night dinner. He’s just like you like ’em, too.
” She lifted a hand, so it was hovering way above my head.
“Huge and looks like he could fuck your lights out.” I would not deny what we both knew was true. That was very much my type.
“We don’t even know he’s gay,” I offered, prompting an eye roll from Ayako.
“I’m going to point out the facts,” she said, holding up two perfectly manicured pointy bright pink nails.
“We’re at an LGBT benefit and the guy dropped ten grand a piece for three tickets.
If that’s not commitment to the cause I don’t know what is.
So there’s at least a slim chance the dude’s into dick.
He was certainly eyeing your privates with interest.” She gave my crotch area a pointed look, like there was some kind of indicator down there I was too dumb to notice.
I sighed and gestured to the other side of the room. “Fine, you may be on to something. Let’s go find our seats way back there.” Ayako sipped the last of her champagne and signaled for another as I made my way to our table.
Just as I was sitting down I opened my Instagram app and saw a new post from my ex, which only worsened my sinking mood.
It looked like the adoption he and his partner were working on finally went through.
I scrolled through his recent posts and saw photo after photo of a tired but elated couple, looking adoringly at the bundled infant in their arms.
I didn’t even know why seeing the photos made me feel like someone was squeezing my heart out.
Paul wasn’t a guy I wanted to co-parent a kid with.
At least not based on how he behaved while we were dating.
It wasn’t even about the baby though; it was about how fast he’d found someone whom he wanted to make that kind of commitment with.
Yet when we were together he could barely agree to keep a toothbrush at my place.
When would I find someone who saw me as their forever person? Who looked at me and saw exactly who they wanted? Not just a warm body to pass the time with until their soul mate came along.
And that was my other problem, despite all the firsthand knowledge I had of just how fucked up relationships could be, I was still holding out for some kind of fairytale.
I always jumped in too fast, gave too much, put all of myself out there, and every time ended up getting my heart crushed.
Why were these photos even bringing all of this up?
I didn’t have any feelings for Paul, and we’d been barely speaking when we broke things off over two years ago.
Why did I care?
“Oh no you don’t,” Ayako whispered as she swiftly took my phone from my hand and put it in her clutch.
“Ayako, please give me my phone back.”
“Why, so you can mope over that asshole and his stupid baby?” I gasped at the infant slander, but Ayako kept going.
“Camilo, don’t you remember how much of a jerk he was to you?
” She sighed squeezing my hand. “Babe, Paul was not baby-daddy material. If you’re going to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for the poor bastard who’s now stuck co-parenting with him for the next twenty years.
He already looks like he wants out and that kid is only like three days old. ”
I chuckled at her attempt to make me feel better but still felt annoyed with myself. Paul and I had been over and done with a million years ago. Why was I letting this ruin my night? A night at an amazing event for a cause I was passionate about, where I could drink as much as I wanted.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I took a deep breath and tried to shake off my funk then turned around to give Ayako my best smile.
“You’re one hundred percent right. Fuck Paul and his perfect baby. I have unlimited champagne at my disposal tonight, and two days to recover before work on Monday. So Imma put that open bar to good use.”
“Attaboy!” she said enthusiastically then held up her hand. “I solemnly swear to monitor your alcohol intake and phone use if you want to take your drinking to the next level. You held it down this summer when we went to that beach party in the Hamptons, and I owe you.”
I saluted her, remembering the very wild night in question. “Anytime, babe. Let me finish this one and I’ll go get myself another.” I sipped from my glass, looking around the room. It really was beautifully decorated, with gorgeous centerpieces laden with lilies and roses in fall colors.
Each place setting had a menu printed on bloodred card stock and gold font.
On one side we could read the courses we’d be enjoying during dinner, and on the other the story of one of the young people who benefited from the center’s services.
It was a smart and touching way to get people to pull out those checkbooks again before the end of the night.
After a few minutes, the servers started coming around with bowls of delicious butternut squash and apple soup and to pour more champagne for us, and we got busy eating and moaning over how good everything was.
Gorgeous courses kept coming as Ayako and I chatted with the other people at our table.
Before long, dinner was over and the lights in the room were dimmed to begin the more formal part of the evening.
Between the couple of glasses of bubbly I’d had and the delicious meal, I was feeling pretty relaxed. As the speeches started to get on their way, I stood up and touched Ayako’s shoulder to get her attention.
“Hey, do you want to go with me to the bar for one last glass of bubbly?”
She looked up at me smiling and pointed at her half-full glass. “No thanks, hon. I’ll wait for you here.” She turned around and went back to the conversation with a woman sitting next to her.
When I got to the bar I found it empty again, so I got the bartender’s attention immediately.
He poured me another glass of Moet without asking and pushed it toward me across the bar with a flirty smile.
I thanked him but could not muster up the energy to flirt back.
I stood by the bar sipping slowly and listening to the person speaking on the stage.
“Still enjoying the open bar, I see.”
Thomas.
His voice was coming from behind me this time, and I felt a flutter in my belly. Suddenly my lack of enthusiasm was replaced by a burst of energy. I smiled to myself before turning around.
“Yes, I am. How is your evening going so far?”
I gazed up at him and saw him lift a shoulder, as he asked the bartender for a Zacapa on the rocks.
“It’s another gala. This organization’s mission is particularly important to me, so I try to push through.
Once you’ve gone to enough of these, they all sort of blend together.
” He took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass, his eyes fixed on me.
“Nothing terribly memorable ever happens at these things.”
He paused then and tipped his glass at me, a very suggestive smile on his lips. “Although I must say, this year’s attendants have been particularly impressive.”
We stood there with a charged silence between us for a few breaths.
Thomas looked me up and down with hungry eyes—like he wanted to rip all my clothes off and maul me where I stood—while I kept sipping from my glass and staring at him.
I noticed a little bit of gray on his temples I hadn’t seen earlier, which only made him that much hotter.
As Ayako pointed out earlier, he was one hundred percent my type.
It had been a while since I’d been with anyone, even longer still since someone had looked at me the way Thomas was right now.
Like he wanted to pounce. Anonymous sex was probably not the cure to whatever was niggling at me about seeing my ex’s new family.
But it would get my mind off it for a while.
I let my gaze slide down to Thomas’s big hands and wondered what they’d feel like.
Suddenly an insane urge took over me and I grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the ballroom and towards a sitting room I’d seen on an earlier trip to the men’s room.
To my surprise he let me lead him away without much resistance.
Just as we crossed the threshold and turned in the direction of the restrooms, he asked offhandedly. “Where are we going?”
“To make this gala memorable for you.” He didn’t respond, just laughed quietly and squeezed my hand tighter.
When we got there I walked through the door, pulling him in with me. As soon as we were both inside, I locked the door, walked over to where he was standing by the wall on the far side of the room, and went down on my knees.