“You’re such a romantic, did anyone ever tell you? No, wait. I can answer that. No.” Sean smirked, then lost his breath as Tristan backed him up against a car and kissed him until his head spun.
“How’s that for romantic? I’m kissing you on Fifth Avenue, across from Central Park.”
Touching his tingling lips, Sean stared at him. “Uh, yeah. That’s…that’s pretty good.”
A delicious, wicked grin tipped Tristan’s mouth. “Just good? Damn. Guess I’d better practice some more.”
“Well, not with anyone else but me.” He poked Tristan. “So you’ll have to wait. Try not to miss me too much at your lunch with Ray.”
At his busking at Carl Schurz Park, he’d become friendly with a group of ladies and had entertained at most of their children’s parties, which was a little problematic, as he needed to have fresh ideas for each one. But considering how much money they were paying him—between this and his job at the restaurant his bank account had never been healthier—he had zero complaints. Today it was a little girl’s party, and her mother made it easy for him.
“Any Princess but especially Moana and Jasmine. And she lovesThe Lion King. We’ve seen it three times on Broadway.”
He hadn’t been able to afford a Broadway show for five years, and even then it was through TKTS and he had to crane his head from way, way up. These kids, man…
He had the whole repertoire of favorite songs and brought costumes to wear. He didn’t mind dressing up in warrior-princess costumes, and so far, none of the parents had objections.
“Okay. Here we are. Pretty fancy, huh?” They’d walked around Central Park before heading down 67th Street toward the single-family town house where the party was being held.
“Not too shabby.” Tristan squinted. “Want me to come and help you set up?”
“No. Go have fun with Ray.”
“Okay,Mom.” Tristan chuckled and grimaced. “Ouch.” He rubbed his shoulder and reached his arms overhead to stretch. His T-shirt slid up, displaying taut abs, and Sean’s thoughts turned from kiddie parties to dirty. It had been a long two months of recovery from his shoulder wound, but Tristan had been diligent about his PT and worked out every night in the neighborhood gym they’d joined. There would always be a scar, but Tristan was already contemplating another tattoo to cover it.
“If it still hurts later, I’ll rub it for you to make it feel better.”
Tristan slid an arm around his waist and nuzzled his neck. “I’d rather you rub something else.”
“That could be arranged too.” He kissed Tristan’s cheek and stood admiring him as he did a few shoulder rolls. “You’ve really gotten in incredible shape with all that working out.”
“Yeah. Reminds me of my stripping days.” He struck a pose.
Sean burst out laughing. “Words I never thought I’d hear coming from your mouth.”
“I was good, if I do say so myself.” Tristan winked, his grin bright, and Sean loved him so damn much it hurt.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen your moves.”
“Stick with me, kid, and maybe you’ll get lucky. Pick you up at four?”
“Yep.” He watched Tristan walk off. He hefted his bag and took the brownstone stairs two at a time. The housekeeper let him in, and he heard the sounds of children running around and yelling.
“I think I’ll be able to find them.”
The mother, Reagan, spotted him and waved. “Sean, great, you’re here. Come. They’re just sitting down for pizza. We were waiting for one more girl, but her mother woke up sick, and her father’s away on business. She’s getting her uncle to bring her, but he always runs late, so we’re starting without her. Hopefully she’ll get here before we have to leave for the American Girl store.”
He didn’t even want to know what that was.
“Sounds good. I can sing to them while they eat. And point out Lexi to me, please. She’s such a whirlwind on the playground.”
Reagan’s smile was wry. “You can’t miss her. Lexi is wearing a huge Happy Birthday crown.”
He peeked into the room, and sure enough, he immediately found Lexi wearing the aforementioned crown along with a sparkly green-and-blue dress.
Okay. Here we go again.
“How’re you all doing?” He sprang into the room and began singing “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King,” except he changed it to queen. Lexi squealed and clapped her hands, and all the kids began singing with him.
