But this time around, I had to go with Bryan to a fancy brunch with his parents, and then help Toby with his hospital adventure with his little brother.I wasn’t really sure what to expect with either of them, but promises were promises.
Even if all I wanted to do was hide in Seth’s living room, playing some game I was terrible at.
Instead, I waited at my house with Janice fussing over my face with small makeup touch ups as Bryan waited for us.
“Okay, we seriously need to go,” Bryan said for the tenth time while glowering at his phone.“My mom is starting to lose her patience.We need to be there like ten minutes ago.”
“Okay.”Janice moved her hands away from my face.“I’m sorry.I relinquish Cadence now.”
“About time.”Bryan grumbled, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me out of the house.
I glanced back at Janice.She raised an eyebrow at me, amused by the whole situation.
And then we were gone and all too quickly in front of the fancy country club.
“On a scale of one to ten, how wary of your parents should I actually be?”I asked.
“A twelve.”Bryan jumped out of the car and came over, opening my door for me.
“Seriously?A twelve?”
He shrugged.“We have the upper class and then we have theupper class.My family is practically at the top, with a handful of other families.And I’m not just talking about this town, or this state.I’m talking about the country.They have only known the life of living above everyone else, never having to lift a finger to clean or do any of the rough work.They’re the final decision makers who tell people how to do their jobs.They’re a twelve while the rest of the people here are a ten or below.”
I gaped at Bryan, not expecting that intense, elaborate response.I slowly wrapped my head around what he said as he led me toward the building.There were others also headed in, all nicely dressed, looking like they ate plates of money for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Bryan stopped us at the stairs and pulled me to the side, leaning in close to make sure only I heard him.“Remember, you’re my girlfriend today.I...I can’t let my parents know about the whole multiple boyfriends thing.I just can’t.They won’t react well to that.I’d probably have a better reaction telling them I was gay even if it meant they disowned me.Okay?”
“You think they’d disown you for being gay?”
“They’ll disown me for anything they perceive as a stain on the family reputation.And even if times are changing, they are not supporters of the LGBT community.”
“Okay.”
“You still want to go in?”he asked.“Or did I scare you away?”
“You need to go in.”
“I do.”
“Then I’m going in.Even if your parents are a scary twelve and can probably eat me as a snack.”
Bryan smiled for the first time today, pulling me into a quick hug.Then he grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs.
Our invites were checked at the door and then we stepped inside, following the sound into a massive, elegantly decorated space.The room buzzed with people’s soft voices.In the background, the low notes of a gentle melody hummed through the air.
“So what’s first?”I asked.
“We need to say hello to my parents so they know I’m here.”
“Right.Okay.”I nodded.“We can so do this.”
“Yeah, we’ll crush it.Let’s go.I just spotted them.Looks like the mayor of a nearby town is trying to get his claws into them.”
“Will it work?”
Bryan snorted.“Never does.They don’t blindly make connections at these kinds of parties.”
As we weaved through the crowd full of elegantly dressed people, I couldn’t help but notice that some of them glanced our way.Bryan’s way to be exact.They knew exactly who he was and their calculating gazes sent a cold tremor down my body.They were scheming.
