Chapter Fourteen
“Oh, wow.” Danny’s mouth fell open the moment he opened the door to Eliot. The first time he’d seen him, he’d thought Eliot was pretty—but all dressed up, he was stunning. The way he dressed most days made him look a little younger, though Danny had gotten used to seeing past that and seeing an intelligent adult behind the oversized glasses and eclectic combination of clothes he wore, which Danny assumed were in fashion.
Now, he looked all grown up. Confident, masculine, and more put-together than Danny ever had any hope of being. He could see now why they put Eliot in charge of writing about men’s grooming. Most days, he wasn’t even trying. Today, he wouldn’t have been out of place on the cover of Cocky himself.
Eliot grinned at him, obviously happy with Danny’s response.
That was good. Danny had been terrified that Eliot would be mad at him, and that the whole evening would be uncomfortable. It looked like Eliot was happy to just pretend the other night hadn’t happened.
Danny had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, he’d been taken by surprise and freaked out a little bit.
On the other hand, no one had ever kissed him like that before. He’d never felt so earnestly wanted, and that was a shock, too, but he was still trying to decide whether or not it was abadshock.
Eliot’s sudden transformation from frazzled reporter to cover-model beautiful wasn’t helping at all.
Not that he hadn’t been cute before. Not that what he looked like was the single most important thing. Danny liked Eliot for a thousand other reasons, but…
Well, he was kind of a visual man.
“Uh, I should probably invite you in, huh?” Danny said, stepping back from the door. Eliot followed him inside, as he always did.
“I’m glad you approve,” he said, looking Danny up and down. “You clean up nice, too.”
“Thanks.” Danny shifted his weight between his feet. “I feel like an idiot.”
“You look very handsome,” Eliot said, his tone sincere. “It’s a big change from sweatpants, which is what I normally see you in.”
Danny chuckled. “Yeah, I guess. We should, uh…” he waved at the door, still unsure how he and Eliot fit together right now.
“Go?” Eliot suggested.
“Yeah. I mean, unless you don’t want to…”
Eliot raised an eyebrow. “You asked me to, and I’m here. I sense thatyoudon’t want to, but I also think that maybe youhaveto.”
Danny swallowed. How could Eliot see right through him so consistently?
He supposed that was why Eliot was a reporter and he rammed into people on skates for a living.
“I hate these things,” Danny said. “But there are a lot of important people going who really like to be able to reach out and touch the players. Thing is… they all talk about stuff I don’t understand or care about. I don’t know if being bored or feeling stupid is worse.”
Eliot gave him a soft, sympathetic look, and then offered Danny his arm. “That’s why you’re bringing me. I’m very good at pretending I care.”
Danny paused for a second, and then took a deep breath. Eliot was right. With the two of them there together, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad. The attention would be spread out.
He let Eliot drag him out to the car and got in, feeling a little better about the state of affairs now that he knew Eliot was there to support him. He hated these things, sure, but at least he didn’t have to face it alone this time.
That was more than worth what he was paying Eliot. He would have paid a lot more.
The knowledge that Eliot was maybe not there for the money anymore hit him again. As he drove off, he blushed, remembering exactly the way Eliot had kissed him.
They clearly had an unspoken agreement not to talk about it, but that didn’t stop Danny thinking about it now that they were alone together. He could smell Eliot’s bright, woody aftershave—or maybe shampoo?—from his own side of the car, the same familiar scent he’d been close to before.
When Eliot wasn’t around, it was easy for Danny to pretend that this was purely a business relationship. The moment he was nearby again, that got a whole lot harder.
Once they got to the party, Danny got to see just how good Eliot was at pretending he cared. He’d expected some of the older men to be weird around Eliot, but it only took him a few minutes to charm them into smiling and laughing with him.
It helped that he’d said he was a reporter. Unlike Danny, they understood that they couldn’t say anything they didn’t want repeated in front of him, and that made them hold their tongues.
