“Fine. This will help me through work today and the meeting with Jasper. Thank you. And for the record, Andrew, I love you too.”
Andrew felt a silly smile tugging on his lips. “Good to know, boy. See you on Wednesday.”
“See you. Bye, Master.”
The line went dead. Andrew kept staring at his cell, drunk on his own confession and the fact that Curtis loved him back. He was so lost in his thoughts, he only realized he had a customer when Tim’s voice resounded directly in his ear.
“What has that poor cell done to you that you keep staring at it like you want to devour it?”
Andrew flipped Tim off. “Nothing, Mister I’m-all-over-your-business. It just happens to be the medium through which I confessed my love to my boy.”
Tim whistled. “You’re moving fast.”
“I’m too old to take it slow.”
Tim raised a brow.
“Fine, Curtis might have told me something I wasn’t too happy to hear, one thing led to another, and instead of having a fight with him, I told him I love him. Happy?”
“Not yet. I need to hear the entire story.” Tim’s eyes gleamed. Andrew knew by now how much his new friend loved juicy gossip, so he told him the whole story about Jasper and the dinner he wouldn’t attend. He still wasn’t entirely over the fact, something Tim picked up immediately.
“You’re not happy.”
“Would you be?”
Tim sighed. “Probably not. I get his reasoning, though.”
“I do too. Doesn’t make it easier to stomach that I can’t be there for him. And it isn’t even about me being the Dom and him being the sub in this case. I want to be there for the man I hope will be my permanent partner.”
“I understand, man.” Tim put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “I think you can be there for him. Call him tomorrow, send him a text before he goes to that dinner. Show him he can rely on you.”
“Thank you. I’m going to do just that. Now, why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.”
Tim grinned. “Actually, I was in the area on business and decided to get some much-needed sugar into my system.” He looked pointedly at the macarons on display. With a roll of his eyes, Andrew took a plate and filled it with the sweets. Tim shoved the first in his mouth, chewed it with half-closed eyes and a happy groan.
“Man, you are a magician. They’re delicious.”
“Thank you.”
Tim ate two more macarons before he started speaking again in a carefully nonchalant tone. “So you said Club Whisper was nice? The people were good?”
“Why, do you want to try it out after all? I’m telling you, Tim, it’s an absolute dream, but how are you going to afford it? If I recall correctly, you said you worked from home. Not to offend you, but I don’t think that earns you the bucks to get into Whisper.”
Tim averted his gaze for a moment. “Uhm, that’s not going to be a problem. Not really.”
It took a moment for Andrew to understand what his friend was telling him. “You’re loaded.” His tone was flat. He didn’t know what to think about this revelation. “When we first met, you said the people at Whisper weren’t your crowd. You let me believe you were close to my financial standing. Why did you lie to me?”
Tim snatched another macaron and stared at it intently before he put it back on the plate. He looked uneasy when he met Andrew’s gaze.
“I didn’t lie. They aren’t my crowd. I fare much better in biker bars, as you should have noticed by now. And I come from a poor background, just like you, so letting you believe we were equals regarding the money wasn’t a lie per se.” Tim raised his hands. “Semantics, I know. What I want to say is, just like you, I’ve worked my way out of it. Maybe a bit farther up than you, but those are details. Can you imagine me at any fancy gatherings like that art thing you attended with your boy? I kept away from Whisper because I didn’t want to be scrutinized by people for who money is just something you have. Plus, I thought we would be looking for a club together, so I didn’t need Whisper. Now you have a boy from there and you said it wasn’t that bad. You talked to Richard Miller without even realizing who he was. That speech I gave you about rich people not all being bad? I should have listened to it as well.”
Andrew looked at his friend, who put the next macaron in his mouth, looking slightly guilty. He put on his sternest Dom expression, making Tim flinch. “Are you telling me you want to ride on my coattails?” He let his grim gaze linger for a moment before he started grinning.
Tim’s head came up sharply. Hastily he swallowed his macaron, stabbing Andrew with his forefinger at the same time. “You bastard!” he yelled as soon as his mouth was empty. “I thought you were going to throw me out! Don’t play games like that. I’m not sure my poor heart can take it.” Tim put his right hand in the general vicinity of his heart.
“You deserved that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t like to brag. And I don’t feel comfortable talking about money. And then you told me your views about the rich, which didn’t encourage me to share, if you get my meaning.”
