And that was exactly when things started falling apart for Peyton.
First, I watched in glances as he approached a younger guy with an emerald mask, who seemed to very rudely turn him down. From there, anytime I let myself look, it seemed like something else was going wrong. He tried to start a conversation right as the other person turned to look in the other direction. Then he immediately bumped into an older man. At the worst of it, he appeared to actually get a flirtation going with a woman in a black suit, only to have another woman drag her away from him, mid-sentence.
“Fucking hell,” I grunted.
I needed Peyton to get laid. It was going to wreck me, but not as much as disappointing him would.
My heart lifted a while later when a couple of young people approached him. They must have been in their early twenties, a gorgeous twink with long eyelashes and a movie-star pretty woman with curly red hair and a blue party dress that matched her friend’s suit. They both instantly started flirting with Peyton, and he looked flattered by the attention, and even got that smile I loved on his face when the twink dragged his fingers over Peyton’s collar.
I gritted my teeth. That was fine, I told myself. Totally fine.
When I looked back up, however, Peyton was walking straight toward me, horror wrenching his face, and the other two were out of sight.
He leaned up into the booth. “Sorry, am I interrupting?”
I messed with my laptop, then turned to him. “Looked like you were getting somewhere.”
He shook his head. “I think that’s it. I think I’m done for the night.”
I blinked. “What? What happened? It was that bad?”
Peyton looked frustrated, then grunted something under his breath.
“What?”
“They were looking for a daddy,” he hissed. “And they wanted to feed me cake!”
I stared at him for a second, then busted out laughing. “Peyton!”
“I’m thirty-three!”
I kept laughing. “And I’m sure a lot of people our age would be damn happy to play daddy to those two.”
Peyton let out a puff of air and rubbed his forehead. “I just wasn’t expecting them to say that. And feeding me cake? Is that because I’m a bear? Are they,” his voice dropped, “fetishizingme?”
Damn it, he was being even more adorable than usual. I could tell he wasn’t exactly joking about leaving, though. Without thinking, I turned to my laptop and started to piece together a transition into my prepared set. “I get a break during this thing,” I told him over my shoulder. “The peak crowd is easing… How about I take it now and keep you company? Will a wingman lure you into staying longer?”
Peyton’s furrowed brow softened. “I’d consider it, but honestly, I don’t know if I can relax anywhere those two might appear again.”
“It’s like I told you the first night we met. You were a hot cub, and now you’re becoming a hot bear. The sooner you accept that, the better. And no, that doesn’t mean letting people feed you or treat you like a daddy in bed, not unless you decide you’re into it. It just means that it’s time to develop your self-confidence, and trust that you’re exactly what some people want.”
Some people like me, for instance.
I clicked a few things on my laptop, then popped in a CD. “Anyway, this mansion is filled with private rooms. I like a breather from the crowd, when I can grab it. Join me?”
Peyton crossed his arms, but relented. “Why is it so hard to tell you no?”
* * *
PEYTON
Jet closed the door behind us as I removed my mask, tossing it aside. When I fixed my glasses, he flicked the light on, and I saw that we were in a small, cozy lounge. A ruby tuxedo sofa with tufted fabric sat across from a smoldering fireplace, and there was a wide rug, woven with rich purples and blues, thrown across the wooden floor.
“Damn,” I said as I set my whiskey on the side table. “Whoever hosts this party is certainly well off. I knew people lived like this, but…”
“The house is rented out,” Jet explained. He stretched his arms over his head, which caused his shirt to rise up and expose the dark trail of hair that reached into his jeans. “It’s used for retreats, movies, all kinds of things.”
I chuckled. “All kinds of things, I see.”
