“I will,” I rumbled in his ear, remembering, but barely, that there were for the moment other people in our suite, “but only so I can peel you out of yourtuxafterward,” I promised.
“Careful,” Jack said. “We are here for the Foundation. You are my arm candy tonight.”
I laughed. We had decided that if I was going to one of these things because of the hospital, he was my date, and if it was for the Foundation, I was his. Those events that would have required both of us we flipped for it. If the entire residential population of Bear Valley hadn’t seen us together by now, there was no doubting it after the first few events. Jack and Iintroducedeach other as boyfriends, but it didn’t feel like either of us needed the label.At least if I was going to be Jack Mann’s boyfriend, Imadethat statement in a tux.
“I hope you remember everything we are celebrating tonight, Perrin,” Jack said quietly against my ear, his hand at my hip, making lazy circles with his thumb.
I swallowed hard. We had both been tested. Me, I was tested regularly for work, but I did it again with him, anyway, and we had just gotten our results back. The decision to ditch the condoms was an easy one; there wouldn’t be any cheating between Jack andme, and the only thing that had held us back this long was the fact that neither of us had ever been bare with someone before.
I shivered as Jack kissed behind my ear, and then cupped my cheek. Somehow, this seemed like a bigger step than exclusivity, or having the code to the door of each other’s space, or staying over with each other on a routine basis. This was trust, and closeness, and intimacy all rolled into one thing.
We stared at each other for a moment, chests rising and falling hard, the realization that we were going to share something together that was unprecedented passing between us.
“I’m glad it’s you,” Jack whispered and I wrapped my fingers around his wrist, holding him in place.
We just looked at each other again for a long moment,butwere interrupted before I could find the words to respond.
“You two make some handsome lovebirds,” Rita called from the doorway, leaning against it for a moment before coming over to straighten both our bowties. “Now, don’t go getting too far off, there are several people I need to introduce both of you to tonight.” She scolded, and soon we were joined by Quinn and Baylor.
Two hours later, I was taking a moment to look over the silent auction items that were on displayandtake a moment from the hand-shaking and conversation. I had passed Jack about ten minutes ago, and dropped a drink in his hand and a kiss to his temple as we came together briefly to mingle, before again breaking apart. That had generally been how the evening went, meeting people together, then getting called off toour own parade of new people to meet and greet. Sometimes it was one of his moms who introduced me to someone, but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually knew some people from my charity work state-side years before.
Peter, a guy I had worked with on some of my first medical projects for kids had just talked my ear off for fifteen minutes, and I was still reeling from seeing someone from so far in my past. He was still in Boston, still working with the same charity - although it had a new name now - caring for inner-city children by giving them new experiences, such as hiking trips to Colorado. He introduced me to his wife, and it had taken me a moment to square that with the very carefree serial dater I remembered from anesthesia school.
I was quietly mulling over a not-first edition, but older and beautifully bound Stephen King novel that was signed, and a small, 5x5 art print that truly caught my eye when Quinn quickly came up next to me.
“Come on, P,” he said, grabbing my elbow and pulling me out of my contemplations of the two pieces and how much I might bid for the sake of charity.
“Where are we going?” I asked, noticing Quinn looked relieved to have found me.
“One, Ellen and Rita wanted me to find you.” He gave me a side glance. “Two, there’s a guy I hooked up with before that seems to think I am the type to double-dip. Save me.”
I laughed at him, mostly because he actually sounded serious and looked pained at the thought of anything too much like monogamy. For Quinn, twice with the same person was likely as monogamous as he cared to venture.
“Sorry, man, I got a date,” I joked. “I don’t do pity kisses to get other men off your trail.”
As he pulled me over to where his mother was standing, I caught the glimpse of something that seemed familiar, maybe it was someone else I knew, but I couldn’t really focus, given his stride. For a guy that came in five inches under me, Quinn could move.
“Oh, there they are!” I heard Ellen say, and the next thing I knew, I was face to face with a distinguished-looking man who was shaking my hand, and a demure but equally distinguished looking woman. I instantly recognized her.
“Justice Katz,” I said, taking her hand. Thanking god for all of those cotillion lessons and the etiquette drilled into me from birth. It definitely helped in meeting a sitting Supreme Court Justice for the first time.
“You must be Perrin,” she said with a smile and a quiet voice. “Ellen tells me you are Jack’s date tonight.”
I couldn’t lie that I was a bit taken aback at the casual reference one of the most influential people in the country had for my lover’s family and the man himself. It made me miss my grandfather with an ache that would never go away. He would have had this easy rapport with people like Ellen and Rita did.
I was also used to Senators and Governors dropping by my mother and step-father’s estate from time to time. That was something more surface-level, not wanting to get in too deep to truly know anyone. And, with certainty, their influence would not have been used to further the advantage of another family member.
“Yes,” I said with a smile, willing all of those manners to please show their muscle memory. “Tonight and every night, I hope.”
Now, that was a sentence I couldn’t ever say without a smile.
“Well, we are mighty pleased to hear he found such a nice young man,” the distinguished gentleman said. “We understand you share some of his interests in charity work for children.”
I agreed, and we talked pleasantly for several minutes about the work of the charities we cared for the most, or had volunteered with in the past.
Suddenly, I felt a pat on my arm, and saw Justice Katz herself had placed her hand there. She looked at me warmly, but I had to bend down to really speak with her.
“Did Jack tell you he worked for me for a summer, Perrin?” she asked, with warmth in her eyes when she spoke of him.
