Cade washis. The whole world needed to know it. Maybe a hickey was just as juvenile as a boutonniere, but Aiden didn’t care and Cade wasn’t protesting. In fact, judging by the way he was digging his fingers into Aiden’s back, he was pretty into it. So Aiden made his mark, and when he lifted his head, Cade’s eyes were dark and intense and he lifted his hands to cradle the back of Aiden’s head and pull him in for a long kiss.
“Mine,” Aiden said when they finally broke for air.
“Yeah,” Cade said with a shyness that seemed out of place for someone who kissed like he did. “Okay.”
Chapter Sixteen
Three otherfrats were having their formals the same night as Aiden’s, and the streets of West Lafayette were awash with well-dressed Greeks. Cade had insisted he didn’t need to be escorted from his apartment to the frat, and Aiden had reluctantly agreed to meet him at the front doors. Now Aiden was regretting the arrangement.
It wasn’t that he thought Cade wouldn’t show up. No, he didn’tthinkthat. Cade was responsible and conscientious. If he’d said he would come, he’d come. Aiden knew that in his rational mind. And in his heart, he had no doubt whatsoever. He and Cade were meant to be together, so obviously Cade would be there. It was someotherpart of Aiden that was coming up with nasty scenarios. Cade had tried on the tux and it hadn’t fit and he was sitting in his apartment crying in despair. Cade had tried on the tux and it had fit so well he’d realized he was wasting himself on some stupid frat boy and was currently on his way to the city to meet a real man. Cade had put on the tux and it had been fine but he’d been attacked by gay-bashing freaks on the way over and was lying in a gutter somewhere. Or maybe he’d been hit by a car. Or fallen into some sort of rift in the space-time continuum….
“Is he evenlateyet?” Matt asked. He was on his way out to pick up his own date, but apparently he’d decided it was a good time to stop and watch his roommate for a while. “Seriously, just because you got ready early that doesn’t mean he’s magically late if he shows up on time.”
“Heisalmost late,” Aiden protested. “Two minutes from now, he’ll be late!”
“So one minute and fifty-nine seconds from now, he’ll be totally on time,” Matt observed. He squinted out into the darkness. “Or maybe he’ll be roughly a minute and a half early.”
Aiden swiveled his head, and then he stared. Cade was there. He was wearing an overcoat that Matt had insisted on lending him because it looked good with the tux, but he had it unbuttoned and it was flaring out behind him a little, almost like a cape. Which would make sense, because Cade absolutely looked like a superhero who’d just taken off his glasses.
“He cleans up nice,” Matt commented, and then he grinned at Aiden’s awestruck expression. “Seriously, bro, did you not know he was good-looking?”
The door opened then and Aiden was spared from answering. Aiden introduced Matt as the source of the borrowed tux, and Cade thanked him profusely.
Matt grinned. “You wear it better than Liam ever has. In fact I think I need to get a picture of you in it. I’ll send it to him and tell him to stop bitching about the tailoring—he just needs to go to the gym more often!”
Cade blushed and Matt left, and Aiden and Cade were left staring at each other as couples started wandering past them.
“You do look good,” Aiden managed to say. “Great, even.”
“I feel like a kid playing dress-up.”
“A reallyhotkid.”
“Well, there’s a nice touch of inappropriateness to start the evening,” Cade said with a grin.
He started to shrug out of his coat and Aiden sprang into action, lifting it from his shoulders and folding it over his own arm. His valet fantasy was coming to life. And a few other fantasies as well, because Cade looked unbelievable. His usual baggy jeans and sweatshirts had clearly been covering up things that should have been on display for the world’s enjoyment. Cade’s shoulders were wide, his hips narrow. His face was as beautiful as ever but his hair was smoothed down to make him look older and more sophisticated. A part of Aiden wanted to ruffle it back to its usual state of dishevelment, but he resisted the temptation. They were in public, and Cade was putting on a good show. Aiden could ruffle him later, in private. “You look great,” he said, and he leaned in for a quick kiss.
Cade kissed him back, but he looked furtively around the room as soon as they pulled apart. “That allowed?” he asked.
Aiden deliberately misunderstood. “It’s a frat party,” he said lightly. “Just because they’re dressed up doesn’t mean there won’t be public sex by the end of the night.”
But Cade didn’t want to be brushed off. “Publicgaysex?”
Aiden shook his head impatiently. “I told you. If they care about that, I don’t care about them. It’s tidy.” He gave Cade another quick kiss and then laced their hands together. “Seriously. Everything’s good.”
He led the way to the coat check room and then affixed their white carnation boutonnieres before escorting Cade to the great hall. Tables were crammed in almost too tightly to be elegant. Luckily whoever had done the decorating had gone for a minimalist approach on centerpieces and other accoutrements—white linens with rich dove gray accents and touches of cranberry red. Aiden was pretty sure his mother would approve, and thought about taking a picture to send to her. Maybe a shot with Cade in it. Aiden’s parents had been subjected to enough of his ravings about this perfect new guy, and they’d probably like to put a visual to all the descriptions. But Aiden would have to stand pretty far away from Cade in order for the shot to show the guyandthe decorations, and Aiden wasn’t ready to let go of Cade’s hand quite yet.
They mingled a little, and there were a few awkward moments when people asked Aiden where his date was, but mostly it was fine. And they sat at a table with Matt and Brent and others who knew Aiden fairly well, so dinner was fine. Cade was quiet, but that was justCade. He didn’t seem unhappy to be there, even if he wasn’t saying much. There were a few short speeches after dinner, and then the caterers started clearing tables away to make room for a dance floor. Aiden looked questioningly at Cade.
“I don’t dance,” Cade said seriously. “I’m no good at it and I hate it and it makes me feel like an idiot. Not my thing.”
“Okay,” Aiden said. “We should work on that, I think. I’d like to dance with you someday. But it doesn’t have to be tonight.”
“Or ever,” Cade replied. “Doesn’t have to be ever.”
Aiden smiled at him, and after a moment, Cade reluctantly smiled back. They hung around for a while, chatting to whoever wasn’t dancing, but Aiden figured they’d accomplished what they’d come for. He’d made an appearance—an announcement of sorts, for anyone who hadn’t been aware. And the sky hadn’t fallen. Maybe there were some frat members who didn’t approve, but they’d kept their mouths shut, at least anywhere that Aiden could hear them. The dominant rule was acceptance, and if someone didn’t want to follow that rule, thentheywere the ones who were getting shoved into a closet. Aiden figured it was the best he could expect.
“You want to head out?” Cade asked him after they’d stood quietly for a while.
