Chapter Four
Andrej
AND WHAT A man he was .
God, I could kill her. Why did she pick a guy for me? I hadn’t even said anything to anyone about any fantasy I’d ever had about men. Not even her, and she was someone I confided in.
This was insane. Did Sofia think I was gay? Did she do this to get a rise out of me? Did she do this to distract everyone?
Oh.
That was the most likely reason. She’d been acting squirrely. So, what was she distracting everyone from?
My eyes landed on the paparazzi in the hall.
She was distracting everyone from herself. “That sneaky little witch.”
“Who? What?” Quinn looked around.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said, pulling my hand off his arm. “I just realized that my sister pulled this prank on purpose. She’s got something brewing and decided to make me the center of attention to take the spotlight off her shenanigans.”
“Does it have anything to do with Max Rocher?”
“That was a non-sequitur.”
He laughed. “Not really, because here he comes.”
I spun around, directly opposite the hall we had walked in from. Max Rocher was, indeed, walking across the balcony, walking past us, and heading down the stairs.
“What the hell…?” My words were grumbly and low. Quinn moved with me as I headed over to the railing to watch Max descend the steps and walks straight over to where my sister and parents were standing by a table.
Max took Sofia’s hand and gave it a very gentlemanly kiss. She blushed deeply.
“Yeah, that’s pretty distracting,” Quinn said. He took a deep breath. “Do you still want me to hang around? I can go if you like.”
Oh, I did not like. I wanted him to stay. “No, let’s carry on. I don’t mind being seen with a guy. If people have a problem here, at this fund raiser, we have big problems.”
Nodding, he offered an arm. “That’s very true. Shall we?”
I took the offered arm. “Oh, let’s. My darling sister is going to regret it.” I might regret it too.
We walked down the stairs arm-in-arm, heading to the table where my sister was sitting next to one of the biggest silver screen stars this year. I wasn’t sure that my parents were going to be able to close their mouths again, and then they saw me on the arm of a man.
“Andrej?” my mother asked, looking between me and Quinn and Sofia and Max. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Mom, this is my date, Quinn. Quinn, this is my mother, Gemma, and my father Rafael. This is my sister, Sofia and—”
“Hi, Quinn,” Max said.
I slowly turned my head to look at him. He had a sheepish look and a blush on his cheeks. “Hi, Max.”
Max held out his hand, and Quinn took it to shake it. “Good to see you again, man. It’s been a long time…”
“Six years,” Quinn said.
“Mm, six wonderful years.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, as Sofia gave him the stink eye.
“Oh, it’s nothing like that.” Max laughed, grabbing my sister’s hand, giving it a kiss. “Six years ago, I got the hell out of New York for greener pastures. I couldn’t wait to leave the assholes in our circle behind.”
Quinn nodded. “Absolutely. That’s why I’m here now. It was time to leave.”
“So, we made the same wise decision,” he laughed, and grabbed Sofia’s hand. “Looks like we also made some other of the same wise decisions.”
My parents were watching this like a ping pong match. My mother cocked her head. “I genuinely don’t know which of these situations to approach first.”
My father leaned forward. “I know. Sofia, how on earth did you manage to meet Max?”
“Dad, come on. I go to school in New York.”
“I just said I left New York, so that does not answer the question,” Max laughed.
“Exactly.” Sofia nodded, satisfied with herself.
“Okay, fine. Andrej, how did you meet this gentleman.”
Quinn briefly looked terrified, and I felt that, but I coughed and answered. “Dad, come on. I work in Seattle.”
“Copycat,” Sofia stated.
Quinn laughed. “It’s not a secret. I’m a rent-a-date.”
I flat out gasped, and Sofia look like she was going to throw up.
Quinn held still and then started laughing.
“We met at the coffee shop on campus. He was studying and I needed a place to sit and drink while I stared off into space blankly. He had the only seat open, and I was desperate and asked. It was delightful to stare off into space by him, and the next thing I know he’s asking me if I have a tux and time. ”
“So, you’re not dating-dating?” Mom asked.
“He’s here, isn’t he?”
“Andrej, my dearest son, you have not given us any indication that you’re gay. It doesn’t bother me, us. But you’ve just never said anything about it.”
“An appropriate place to do this, though,” Dad said, gesturing.
“Partially the plan,” I said.
“We can talk later,” Dad said, waving it off. “This is going to be an enjoyable—”
“Interesting,” Mom interjected.
“—evening. Max, did you see all the paparazzi?”
Max delved into details about how much the paparazzi sucked, and I turned to talk to Quinn. He smiled at me, with a touch of smirk in his gleaming eyes.
“That was a good save, thank you,” I said.
“My pleasure,” he answered. “It usually throws people and gives us a second to figure out what to actually say.” He took my hand and scooted closer.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but we can just be casually friendly, or we can play it up.
” His dark brown eyes sparkled and I was oddly transfixed, to the point where he cleared his throat and nudged me. “Is that a play it up answer?”
Jerking myself back out of his gaze, I traced a finger over my lips to give myself another second. “Let’s go somewhere in between. It’s new, and I mean that in every sense. I have never been seen with a guy.”
He nodded and plopped our hands on the table, still together and now visible.
Not for an instant before this night had I ever considered that men were an option for me. A fantasy here and there, but I had always been interested in women.
But had it been nothing more than interest? I hadn’t ever really been around the LGBTQ community. I knew a few gay men, and my boss was a lesbian and she and her wife were lovely. But I had been raised in a hetero home, and it was just… not something I’d ever thought about.
Fern, though… Fern had said that I was decent and boring in bed. I’d always thought that she was a beautiful woman, but I thought a lot of women were pretty or beautiful or even handsome. I had no objections to our relationship.
Looking at Max and Sofia, though, it was clear they were attracted to each other. Like a magnet pulling them closer and enjoying everything about being near each other. Touching, trading looks, leaning toward each other.
My parents were much the same. Touches, looks, leans, whispers and giggles.
I glanced at Quinn. He was handsome. He was attractive, and I wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t expecting my brain to go there. He must have felt my stare because he looked over at me and grinned sweetly.
I felt it down there .
Oh.
That was unexpected.
“You okay?” Quinn asked.
“Uh, yeah… I’m fine.”
“You looked surprised.”
“Well, you did just admit to hanging out with one of the biggest Hollywood stars just casually.”
He laughed. “I did. I used to hang out with a lot of big names. That was a different life on a different coast.”
Through the whole night, I caught myself checking out the man next to me.
I enjoyed the brush of his hand, the lilt of his voice, the shine in his eyes.
He laughed and the sound was wonderful. He danced with my sister, my mother.
He and Max had a blast on the dance floor, and…
he danced with me. More than just five or six times.
By the time it was midnight, I was sure I was either going to turn into a pumpkin or a walking erection—and I was absolutely sure that I was gay and never realized it.
Quinn handed me another glass of champagne as he sat down at the table. He grinned, staring out to the dance floor. “She’s really happy with Max and Max seems to really like her, too.”
Sofia had been googly eyed over him, and she was smiling as they did some ridiculous dance. I blinked a few times. “Is that the Rasputin dance?”
“It is,” Quinn laughed. “It’s insane to see all these people able to do that in sync.”
Glancing down at my watch, I sighed. “What time do you have to go?”
“I’m here until three a.m., or whatever you decide before that.”
The idea that he was going to go made me sad. The idea that he was bought and paid for for me also bothered me. It also bothered me that I was so attracted to someone who I was probably never going to see again once he left.
I took his hand and stood, swaying from the beverages I’d had too many of.
He stood and I led us to the stairs we’d originally come down, up and then down the hall to where a cluster of trees stood with the sparkling lights in the leaves.
Yanking him behind them, hiding from the view of everyone in the room and the hall, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in close.
“I am tipsy and I’m trying to figure out why I’m so drawn to you. ”
He blinked and pulled back a bit. “Andrej…”
“No, no, I’m drunk, but not stupid. I’ve been pretty deep in my head all night, and I think I’ve figured out what’s going on.”
“What’s going on?”
“Being out here with you has been a revelation to me,” I said, and hiccupped a little. “I’m pretty sure I’m actually gay, and I’d like to kiss you.”
“Andrej… you’re a sweet guy, but how can you figure out in one night that you’re gay and you’re attracted to me after so many years being interested in women and… and…”
“Because you have a most adorable ass, and I want to know what you taste like.”
“Champagne,” he said.
“Me too, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”
He put a hand on my cheek and smiled sweetly. “I would like to argue with you, but you’re right, there’s more to it.” His gaze roamed my face, and I held his hand on my cheek.
“A kiss?”
He let out a breath, and before I could fully process what was going on, his lips were on mine. Like I’d asked.
And nothing like I’d expected.