“Do you want to stay for the meal?” Arthur asked. “I won’t be upset if you’d rather return home. Especially now that you know you’ll have to sit with my parents for it.”
Seeing the hurt and shame shimmering in Arthur’s eyes, Jesse knew for sure that he couldn’t leave.
“I’ll stay.”
Arthur smiled a little. “Thank you.”
But Jesse’s heart still ached for Arthur. He wished that he could make the man feel better somehow.
“No, thankyou, Mr. Hughes,” Jesse tried. “I know how much trouble you went through to host this.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“Even so, I love it.”
“Really?” Arthur asked, crooking an eyebrow.
Jesse nodded. He shoved his hands in his pockets and made a small circle with his foot.
“I’m sorry about the, uhm, the news you received earlier, too. I know you wanted to be part of the fair.”
Arthur sighed. “I did. At least I can still see it, though. Not that it’ll be as much fun now. Oh well. C’est la vie. Right, Mr. O’Connor?”
Despite Arthur’s borderline ridiculous mispronunciation of the French phrase, Jesse’s chest still pinched upon hearing the obvious heartache behind those words. Fuck, how he wanted to kiss away Arthur’s pain. He returned his eyes to the floor, heartache and sympathy still clinging to him, making him feel heavy.
He had to make Arthur feel better somehow.
“I’d still see it with you. If you wanted,” he offered softly.
Truthfully, Jesse had no idea whether such a thing might help. But he hated that Arthur had obviously lost so much enthusiasm for the fair thanks to the rejection he had just received. Back when they’d first met, Arthur had seemed so enthralled with the idea ofvisiting the fair together, and so, Jesse hoped that maybe his offer might help Arthur regain some of his excitement for it.
Arthur’s eyebrows lifted. “You would?” he asked with what sounded like a hint of hopefulness.
It made Jesse’s stomach flutter.
“Of course,” Jesse replied warmly. “It’s supposed to be the event of the century. Or so I’ve been told.” He leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper. “One of the most irritating but still most charming men I’ve ever met told me as much, as a matter of fact.”
Arthur’s smile blossomed.
“Oh my, he sounds fun,” Arthur said with a little wiggle of his eyebrows.
“He is,” Jesse confirmed. “He’s exhausting, too.”
Arthur sputtered a laugh. He threw his head back to show howveryfunny he found Jesse’s teasing and then caught Jesse’s shoulder with his hand, squeezing once before making a few small circles with his thumb. Jesse’s face caught fire in response to the show of familiarity, his skin burning from the notion that others must have noticed their closeness.
“Oh, Mr. O’Connor. I love that honesty of yours. It never fails to lift my spirits. Really, you are atreasure.” Arthur had somehow managed to master the skill of handing out a compliment in a manner that was obviously familiar while still sounding formal. He inhaled what sounded like a big, cleansing breath and then exhaled. “Thank you for your offer. I’dloveto see the fair with you.”
Jesse couldn’t help but smile back. “Good. I’m sure I’ll love it, too. Or, well, tolerate it, anyway.”
Arthur bellowed another lively laugh, one whose volume rivaled that of the music coming from the ensemble, and Jesse could only shake his head.
Sweet, ridiculous man. Everyone had to have been staring by now.
No matter how battered and bruised Jesse’s heart still was or might someday become, he knew that, from that moment on, it would only ever beat for Arthur Hughes.
Arthur’s boisterous laughter and continued playfulness, even in the middle of what had to have been the fanciest not-fancy party of the whole century, began to nurture a newfound hope in Jesse’s chest, one that he could feel taking root in his still-injured heart.
Hope that Arthur wanted him.
