“Oh, are you guys going?” Cade asked, concern and disappointment flashing over his face as he noticed us from the far side of the table.
“Ah,” I started, fumbling for an excuse to give that would work.
“Sorry,” Rowe said cheerfully, taking over. He picked up his cane as he stood, hefting it in the air like it was an explanation of everything. “The journey here was a little more tiring than I expected. I hope you don’t mind. I’d like to regain some energy so I can properly enjoy tomorrow with you.”
Cade’s face brightened. “Of course!” he said, smiling at the easy excuse. “Look at you, Xavi, looking after your boyfriend. You really have turned over a new leaf.”
“Right,” I muttered with a rictus grin, turning to hustle Rowe out of there as fast as I could before anyone else thought to say something that would force me to lie yet again.
Which was when I realized we had nothing else to do for the rest of the night but be alone in the same room together, and I’d already made so much of an ass of myself that Rowe couldn’t possibly want to kick back and chat.
Rowe
As soon as the elevator doors closed and shut us off from the rest of the hotel, I heaved a sigh, sagging back against the wall for support.
“Rowe?” Xavi asked, starting towards me, alarm in his voice and written all over his face. His hands hovered in front of me like he wasn’t sure whether he should touch me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just tired. That was a lot.”
“I’m sorry,” Xavi said, and I actually believed him. “My friends are… I guess they’re not used to me having a boyfriend.”
You still don’t, I wanted to remind him, but I kept it to myself. “There’s a lot of pressure with all this pretending,” I said instead. “Keeping up the act and not being able to ask you questions or talk about our strategy.”
“I know.” Xavi sighed as the elevator doors pinged open and ejected us onto our floor. It felt like a heavy effort to drag myself back fully upright, put my cane on the floor, and move forward. Today, with all its rushing around and then being under intense scrutiny, had taken it out of me more than I realized.
“I wanted to ask you some questions,” Xavi said as we walked down the hall. There was a shyness to his words, but also a slight blurriness around the edges. I thought back to dinner. I’d seen him drain three glasses. He’d barely finished half of his food. If he wasn’t drunk right now, he definitely had to be on the way there.
“Okay,” I said. I was hesitant, but how bad could a few questions be? Anyway, it wasn’t like I’d promised to actually answer them.
Xavi reached the door first, unlocking it on his second try. I watched his hands anxiously. He was definitely a way from sober. I’d had one drink myself, but it hadn’t affected me badly at all. I was wondering why he’d fallen silent as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me – but as soon as I did, he whirled around to face me.
“What’s your full name?” he asked.
I looked at him for a beat. “Colton Nathaniel Rowe.”
“Xavier Eduardo Mendez,” he fired back.
“I know,” I said.
“You know?”
“Last year, you were talking about how you would be much more suave if your parents had called you by your middle name first. Eduardo Mendez. By the way, I think Xavier has plenty of potential to be suave.”
Xavi bit his lip. “You have one sister?”
“Yes. Daisy. She needs a lung transplant. And both of my parents are dead.”
Xavi’s face was so downcast at the information that I sighed. I moved away from the door and sat down on the side of the bed, resting both my legs and my arm from having to use the cane. I’d already proven I knew more about his family than he did about mine, so I didn’t see the point in asking. It was unlikely that anyone would ask me again what his Dad was called.
“I’m sorry,” Xavi said at last. He wasn’t looking at me again. Any kind of difficult emotion seemed to be impossible for him to deal with. But at least he’d had the decency to listen and offer his sympathies.
“Go on, then,” I said, wanting to lighten the mood back up. It was kind of fun, playing this game, anyway. I rarely had the chance to talk about myself – when Xavi was chatting with the others at work, I was trying desperately to keep my head down and not get fired. Maybe work my way toward a promotion. But it was nice to get a tiny bit of attention. “What else?”
Xavi rushed towards me. To my surprise, instead of sitting next to me on the bed, he went to his knees at my feet. He reminded me of a puppy coming to sit by his master, but that wasn’t our relationship at all. He looked up at me earnestly, his face more open at this angle and with the alcohol he’d drunk stripping away some of the walls he kept inside.
“What’s your favorite food?” he asked.
“Burgers and fries,” I said. I patted my stomach, which was flat – but not because I was like his football player friends who spent all my time getting fit. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a gym. Maybe in high school. I just couldn’t afford to eat enough and I was always rushing around from one job to another. “I don’t eat them as often as I want to.” I could spend a couple of dollars at a fast food place, or I could go to the wholesale place near where we worked and get enough supplies to make cold dinners for a week with the same amount of cash. It was a no-brainer, really.
