“It was a big thing in college when Rhys and I got involved, and the breakup wasn’t very well received. But then again, not much I do is well received.”
“I find that hard to believe,” he said.
Callahan scoffed. “How so?”
“Look at you.” He laughed. “Look at this. You’re charmed and you don’t even know it because you’re so deep into it.”
Jace couldn’t imagine living the life Callahan had lived and turning around and trying to complain about a single aspect of it.
“You don’t know what it’s like.” Callahan pursed his lips and scratched his nose, frowning and looking away. “Anyway, the event at the college is the unveiling of a new wing they built with the money from my family.”
“A whole wing?” Jace couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping. “How much money does your family have?”
He thought about the eight hundred dollars left in his bank account, and then he thought about all the things he could do with even the barest fraction of the money Callahan had at his disposal. He could pay back Carmen for every cent she’d ever forced on him, and he could pay off Anita’s student loans. He could buy a house for himself and another one for Remington, and he could pay Remington all the money he should have been paying in rent all along.
Jace covered his face with his hands, muttering under his breath. There’d been a part of him that had secretly hoped something real could come from this fake weekend with Callahan McMillian, but it was clear to him in that moment, it was impossible.
Jace and Callahan were from two completely different worlds. Callahan would never understand what it was like to scrimp and save and worry, to eat stale Ramen because he didn’t have any other options, and Callahan wouldn’t ever know what it felt like to really need to work for the things he wanted. Everything had been handed to him for his entire life.
One last wank, Jace decided, clearing his mind.
Jace would allow himself one last private moment in the shower where he entertained the idea of having anything with Callahan, and then he’d wipe the idea from his mind. It would be like three weeks ago when he didn’t even know who Callahan was. Or better yet, three months ago when he’d never met Sebastian St. George.
“A lot,” Callahan answered, and it took Jace a beat to remember what he’d even asked, but then Callahan said, “We have a lot of money and it doesn’t make anything better.”
Jace wanted to feel sorry for him, but he didn’t have it in him.
“So you needed a pretend boyfriend to make it look like money can buy happiness?” he asked, grimacing when he heard how bitter the question sounded.
“I just don’t want them to think that my life stopped when things with Rhys went south.” Callahan opened his mouth like he had something else to say, but he snapped it closed. His teeth clicked together and he turned away from Jace, obviously ending the conversation.
Jace’s eye twitched, and his heart fought against his brain and the decision he’d just made. He didn’t need to feel sorry for poor, little Callahan and his millions of dollars and his cushy job and the building that was about to be named after him. He didn’t even need to feel sorry for himself for being fool enough to fantasize of a better life where he could have tasted something more than struggle.
“Do we have anywhere to be tonight?” he asked, standing and picking imaginary dust off his pants. There was no dust; not even a single speck of lint existed in that room that he hadn’t brought in himself.
“Dinner at six.”
“Alright.” Jace went to his suitcase and kicked it onto its side and unzipped it. He threw all of his clothes onto the floor, and then with trembling hands unzipped the soft and protective pouch where he’d packed his camera. He removed it from the case and examined it, making sure it had survived the flight in one piece.
“What’s that?” Callahan asked, crawling across the couch and looking over the arm.
Jace clutched his camera to his chest protectively, the strap folded in his hand. “My camera.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I need some air.” He straightened up and looped the camera strap around his neck. “I’m going out and I’ll be back in time for dinner, so you don’t need to worry.”
Before Callahan could say another word, Jace swiped the keycard from the coffee table and slipped out of the room. As soon as the door latched closed behind him, he could breathe again.
Chapter Nine
Callahan Thinks He’s Safe
“Where’s your life partner?”
Callahan opened the door to the hotel room and glared at Sebastian, who’d knocked less than ten minutes after Jace walked out on him. “Jace went out.”
“Out?”
