“Hey,” he greeted me.
“Hey,” I replied. I scratched the back of my head. “I need to ask you something.”
“Okay?” he asked, his curiosity now peaked.
I sat down on the edge of my bed. “You know those galas I gotta go to?”
“You meant the Christmas and New Year ones? Henry and I have to go to those, too.”
That was a relief. I wouldn’t have to be on my own, then. “Yeah. Um, are those a plus one sorta thing?”
He looked at me gravely. “You want to take Shannon, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“I’ll be taking Cindy Greenfeldt, the daughter of my dad’s VP. Henry’s escorting Mary Schumway. She used to go here, but after high school, she returned home. She now helps her mom with charity work and takes pottery classes, from what I hear. Henry’s had a crush on her since fifth grade. So, yeah, we can take a plus one, but you know Shannon’s not Family. If you’re making things serious, you know what you need to do.”
Ask permission to tell him about me, about us, really. And if he didn’t deal with it well, he’d have to die.
“I just want to take him as my date. He’s got nowhere to go for Christmas.” I explained what he’d told me.
“You’ll have to clear it first, you know. Everyone will have to pretend they are regular people.”
He was right. But, this was doable, it was just for a short while, and it would help cement my image as a young, gay bachelor. I definitely didn’t want them to find me a date. I knew that would probably come later. They’d parade some eligible gay and bisexual men from other branches of the Family and wait to see which stuck, then marry us off to each other. I didn’t even entertain the thought of risking Shannon to tell him, to see if I could later also get permission to have him Made. He was far too precious to risk for that. No, I’d take the happiness with him I could get now then do my best to make sure he found joy again, while never wanting for anything. This I could do, even though it hurt like a knife to the heart.
Mind made up, I girded my loins and took my phone out of my pocket to call Father.
15
“Are you sure it’s okay?” Shannon asked, his eyes wide.
I smiled at him. There was no need for him to know just how fraught with tension my request to bring him with me as my plus one had been, nor the reasons why.
“Of course! My parents are eager to meet the guy who not only helped me get back into the swing of things academically but who managed to capture my heart. I’m afraid you’ll have to come along to the events I mentioned, so it’s not all kicking back sipping cocoa,” I told him.
“And the dinner thing, you said the guys would be there? Why aren’t they flying with us?”
“They’ll be at the gala, yes. It’s a major charity event, so people fly in for it, which is what they’ll be doing. Henry’s Family lives in Tampa, and Rusty is from Seattle.”
“Oh, right. “Shannon wiped his hands on his pants.
“Maybe I should just go back to the campus. I don’t have anything fancy enough to wear to any of those things!”
“My father’ PA is already taking care of that. I told her about your size.” I smirked, knowing exactly how I’d gotten those measurements. That blow job had left us both desperate for more, and the moment we’d both taken our last final, we ran to my room and hung a sock on the outside of the locked door. We didn’t re-emerge until we’d sucked, fingered, and frotted ourselves stupid. I had ample opportunity to look at his clothing labels.
“I can’t afford to pay you back,” he said, a crease forming between his eyes as his anxiety grew.
“Now, we talked about this,” I reminded him as the cab pulled up in front of the airport, within the drop-off and pick up zone. “What good is it having so much money if I can’t spend it on things that make you happy? And me, too. Seeing you enjoy things makes me very, very happy.” I kissed the shell of his ear before opening the door to get out.” Besides, we’re here now, and the pilot is waiting.”
He didn’t argue any further. “I still can’t believe it,” he gushed. “It’s like a fairytale. Me, the son of a hotel maid, getting on a private jet to go spend Christmas at my boyfriend’s beach penthouse in California.”
I watched as the cab driver handed our bags to the steward who appeared. I paid and tipped the driver, then followed the steward as he trucked our bags inside. “Gate 32A,” I told him. I turned back to Shannon. “And you better believe it. I’m no prince, but I hope to make your fairytale Christmas come true.”
He flung his arms around me. “You are the best boyfriend ever!” he cried. “So sweet, kind, and thoughtful.”
I hoped he never found out just how wrong he was about me. I was only sweet with him. Kind people didn’t pull the unwary from their lives and feed on them, and as for thoughtful? If that were true, I’d have spoken to Father and invited him to come weeks earlier than I had. We reached our gate and quickly checked in with the waiting crew, our bags were taken from the luggage cart and taken out to the plane waiting on the tarmac as we walked out to it ourselves.
“That was fast,” Shannon said.
