The whys and hows didn’t matter so much right now as treading the delicate line between making a big, potentially sanctuary-saving donor happy, and telling the truth. If Ryan had to pick between those two things…
Lying about Oscar being his boyfriend for five minutes was definitely the lesser evil. He could tell from the enthusiastic way Mrs. Kowalski had said they were adorable that she was really invested in the idea.
Keeping her happy would make her more likely to hand over some cash at the end of the evening.
Besides, trying to awkwardly explain that they weren’t together was a level above Ryan’s social skills. He’d probably end up offending Oscar at minimum, and possibly everyone else present. Without knowing how to handle this other than going along with it, it was too much of a risk to correct the assumption.
Decision made, Ryan reached out link his arm with Oscar’s, heart thudding in his chest as they made contact. If Oscar couldn’t see what he was doing, or backed away, it’d be worse than if they’d let her down gently.
There was a tense moment when Oscar stood completely still, and Ryan had no idea which way this was going to go.
Shit. What if Oscar reallydidn’tplay along? Then he’d look like an incredible idiot, and he’d probably ruin their chances of getting anything useful out of tonight.
Relief washed over Ryan a moment later as Oscar eased into his touch, leaning toward him and even letting Ryan take some of his weight.
The blood didn’t immediately stop pounding in Ryan’s ears, but Oscar’s body heat seeping into his clothes served as a kind of anchor, a grounding force that he could focus on while he got over the initial fear of getting caught lying.
He wasn’t much of a risk-taker. Laura had once said, not even in the heat of an argument, thatboringwas his middle name.
Which meant this was basically on the same level of terrifying as jumping out of a plane would have been for normal people, Ryan supposed. A tiny white lie and he felt like he was going to have a heart attack over it.
Think of Spot, he told himself, as though Spot was less terrifying than this.
But shewas, now that Ryan was used to her just wandering into the house, and she needed a home, and Oscar needed a job, and May needed to keep being proud of him.
“We do,” he said eventually, remembering that it was his turn to respond a moment too late.
Beside him, Oscar chuckled.
Great. In addition to feeling like he was about to have a heart attack, he was never going to live this down if hedidsurvive.
Mrs. Kowalski reached for the elegant, jeweled evening purse that was resting against her hip.
Ryan tried not to watchtooeagerly, but the hope that she was about to write a check was difficult to contain. If he’d gotten this right on his first attempt, he’d be glowing for days.
And he’d never letOscarlive it down if he was the one who managed to secure the first donation of the evening.
“You know,” Mrs. Kowalski said. “We have a summer house down on the coast, with a river running right through the property.”
“Sounds beautiful,” Ryan responded, not sure why they were being told this.
Oscar squeezed his arm, but he wasn’t sure whythatwas, either. He couldn’t exactly look away while Mrs. Kowalski was, after all, extracting her checkbook.
“It really is. We’re actually heading down next weekend. Now, the thing we’re worried about is that we’d like to make a few improvements, but it’s in an area so rich with wildlife that we’re not sure about the impact.”
Oscar squeezed his arm again, more urgently this time, but he was trapped. He couldn’t just walk away from this conversation to figure out whatever the hell Oscar was trying to warn him about.
“We could really use Dr. Reyes’ expert opinion,” she said.
Ryan barely stopped himself from asking who the hellDr. Reyeswas before realizing she meant Oscar.
Oscar, who was now squeezing Ryan’s arm so hard it hurt.
He’d known this was coming. This was what he’d been trying to warn Ryan about.
“Well, uh,” Ryan said, glancing at Oscar. He could see the panic in his eyes, but he couldalsosee the pen Mrs. Kowalski was holding, hovering a sixteenth of an inch above the paper.
This was a condition. They’d get a donation now, but it’d be bigger if Oscar agreed to go with her.
