Curtis stepped out of Andrew’s embrace, much to his regret, but made it all better when he entwined their fingers. With a goofy smile on his lips, Andrew followed his date out into the showroom.
ALMOST TWOhours later, Andrew and Curtis were standing in one of the garden sections of the PAMM, sipping champagne from fragile-looking flutes. The tour of the gallery had been interesting, even though Andrew wasn’t that into art. Just hearing Curtis getting all excited over certain pieces or even single colors in a painting was worth looking at abstract pictures of flower fields and cities. There was a fire in Curtis Andrew hoped transferred to other areas as well. Now the speeches for the opening were done and it was time to mingle. Andrew looked around. Curtis had been greeted by a great portion of the guests, many of whom were dressed as elegantly and posh as Andrew had feared. Curtis had been right, though. There were also some guests, artists, he assumed, whose style was relaxed, highlighting the carefully staged individualism Curtis had mentioned before.
An elderly couple approached them, both with huge smiles on their faces. “Mr. Morris, it’s such a pleasure to meet you here. What a great exhibition, don’t you think? We’ve already talked to the artist, such a delightful man.”
The man’s voice was just loud enough for other people standing nearby to hear him, and given how quite a lot of heads swiveled their way, Andrew knew it was calculated. Curtis smiled graciously, taking the woman’s hand and kissing the back of it before he shook the man’s. “Mr. and Mrs. Abrego, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. Yes, I think the exhibition is vey well done. May I introduce my date, Mr. Andrew Granger, to you?”
Andrew put a smile on his face as well and extended his hand. He didn’t kiss the woman like Curtis had done, but he bowed his head slightly to show his respect. “It’s nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Abrego.”
The woman let out a delighted titter that didn’t manage to move the skin on her face even a bit. It remained a stiff mask of indifference, and Andrew wondered if this inability to show any real emotion made her marriage happier. Realizing that he was getting sarcastic, Andrew focused back on the couple. The man was talking animatedly about a sculpture he had just purchased from Curtis. Mrs. Abrego put her hand on Andrew’s forearm, feeling him up a bit without being subtle. Andrew decided to let it slide in favor of listening to Curtis talking business. Andrew had to admit Curtis was very good at it. When they said their goodbyes to the Abregos, the couple agreed to make an appointment with Patty to see Curtis’s new pieces. After the Abregos came the Wallaces, the Fuenteses, the Rosenbergs, and many others. Half of them were in their late fifties or sixties, and some were younger, clearly wanting to impress customers and peers with their taste in art. And they all came to Curtis. The longer Andrew listened to the discussions, the more he realized only a few of these people knew anything at all about art. They treated it as an investment, both financially and socially, and Curtis, genius that he was, catered to their needs in his perfect, gentlemanly way. At some point, the artist came to talk to Curtis as well, thanking him for coming to the exhibition. This talk was a bit different, Curtis changing his behavior from polite firmness to a softer approach.
After the artist had been whisked away by his agent, they had a moment’s peace. Curtis smiled at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, this must be boring for you. I promise, just one more hour and we can make our escape.”
Andrew picked two virgin mojitos from a tray one of the many waiters moving around held out and passed one to Curtis. They had stopped with the alcohol after the first glass of champagne, Andrew because he didn’t like being inebriated and Curtis probably because he needed his wits about him.
“No, it’s fine. Believe me, nobody is more surprised than me, but I actually enjoy listening to you talk to all these people.”
They clinked glasses and each took a sip. Curtis winked at him. “Don’t say that too loud or I’m going to drag you to every single event I have to attend. I have to admit, it’s a lot nicer with a hot guy by my side.”
Andrew laughed and mock bowed. “It would be my pleasure.” He reached for Curtis’s hand. “I’m really enjoying myself, Curtis. Though I have to admit, those sound installations are not my cup of tea.”
Curtis entwined their fingers, squeezing lightly. “I can understand. Some forms of art are more elusive than others. It’s the same with sweets, I guess.”
Andrew raised a brow. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I love your macarons; they’re great. And I do love all kinds of other sweets, like éclairs or cookies, but then there’s things like meringues or petit fours with orange liqueur, and I just don’t get those.”
“Ah, now I understand. And you’re right. It’s funny how different people’s tastes run. Though I’m glad you like my macarons. Gives me an advantage.” He winked and enjoyed the blush creeping up Curtis’s neck. The man was adorable, and Andrew couldn’t wait to see where else Curtis could blush.
“Curtis! There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Andrew knew that voice and was just in time to turn around to see Collin flitting past him to hug Curtis, who let go of his hand so that Collin’s assault wouldn’t knock the glasses over.
“Collin! I thought you wouldn’t come?”
The young man leaned back a bit in Curtis’s arms. He seemed completely oblivious to the ruckus he had created. People all around them were whispering and staring, but nobody dared to come closer. A shift in the air to his right alerted Andrew to another presence, and when he looked, he knew why everybody kept their distance. The man next to him was built like The Rock, had the menacing air of a mafioso, and a dark scowl to go with it. He watched Collin like a hawk.
“I thought so, too, but then Martin suddenly had the afternoon off, and he suggested we could come here, even though I know he’s not that interested in other artists, but he insisted and I really wanted to come, because, you know, I love sound and what you can do with it, and so we drove here, and this garden is amazing, have you seen, there’s lots of birds and insects here, and I ate one of those small breads with a funny spread, though it was too salty, and now I’m thirsty, but I can’t wait to have a look around.”
With a smile, Curtis gestured to his mojito. “If you want, you can drink this. But I’m sure there’s going to be a waiter around soon. Hello, Martin. It’s good to see you. May I introduce Andrew Granger to you? He was reckless enough to come here with me on a date. Andrew, this is Martin Carmichael, Collin’s fiancé.”
Andrew offered the huge man his hand. Curtis’s playful tone told him the men knew each other well, so he was anxious to make a good impression. “Nice to meet you, Martin.”
Martin smiled. “Likewise. Has your brain already tried to leak out through your ears from all the art talk, or is it all still new enough to be interesting?”
Andrew couldn’t suppress a grin. Martin was charmingly blunt, which reminded him of Tim and made him feel at ease. It also helped that Martin and Collin were probably the most underdressed people at the opening. Collin’s jeans had several holes in them, his sneakers had most probably been white once, and his T-shirt was old enough to be thin around the shoulders. Martin wore black jeans and black boots, similar to the ones Andrew sported, and a black button-down that did nothing to hide his powerful build.
“No, not yet. This is my first rodeo, so to speak, and only my second date with Curtis, so everything is still new. Hopefully you can ask me the same question in a year.”
It was a bit daring, but it did the trick. Martin chuckled. “I like a man with ambition, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”
“You have forgiven him?” Collin looked at Curtis, his blue eyes devoid of any malice.
“Yes. Andrew explained everything to me and we decided to give it another try.”
“Oooh, that’s so great! I’m happy for you, Curtis, but I have to ask, when did Andrew apologize, and how did he do it, because Peyton and Seth and Leeland need to know because of the bet, though I’m probably not supposed to tell you that, but you would have found out anyway when you told us about this date, and so it’s just a bit early, and since you like Andrew again, perhaps we can get more macarons, and éclairs, and our next meeting is at my place, so I can order it all, and perhaps we just skip the main course, that way we can eat more sweets.”
Martin chuckled and reached for Collin, tugged him against his broad chest. Collin looked very small and vulnerable, very submissive yet, at the same time, completely safe. It was obvious that these two had found not only their common ground, but also their rhythm.
“Collin, baby, you can’t just eat sweets and nothing else. We’ve talked about this. Now why don’t you and Curtis look at the exhibition while Andrew and I tag along in the background?”
